Other important lab research will include developing security on a chip, a technology now in demand by both consumers and industry sectors.
Steady advances in chips, disk storage and software mean that the new focus is no longer the technology itself – with its arcane language of processing speeds and gigabytes – but on what people and companies can do with it, according to Khosla.
"The new research lab also is designed to contribute significantly to technology developments in Taiwan and Asia," said Tsuhan Chen, a Carnegie Mellon professor and co-director of the ITRI lab along with Shiaw-Yu Sian in Taiwan. For the past two years, semiconductor foundaries in Taiwan have struggled to regain momentum amid one of the worst slumps in the industry's history.
Industry analysts report that the key to the future is developing a network of partnerships with customers and strategic alliances with top researchers.
The educational component of the agreement begins a long-term relationship with National Chiao-Tung University (NCTU), a Taiwanese technical university. Future projects include student and faculty exchanges and educational outreach programs.
One particular outreach program will bring five to 10 outstanding Taiwanese students to study at Carnegie Mellon. Both universities produce students with strong hands-on skills as well as a strong theoretical interdisciplinary academic toolkit.
"Carnegie Mellon is not only a top U.S. university, but the school is a world leader in research involving system-on-a-chip work," said Chun-Yen Chang, president of National Chiao-Tung University. "With the abundant research resources and years of successful international collaboration experience, the Carnegie Mellon/NCTU collaboration will help Taiwan move up the technology ladder," said Chang, who is also leading Taiwan's national research and development of system-on-a-chip.