Carnegie Mellon's Erica Fuchs to Discuss Implications of Offshore Manufacturing on Innovation in Washington, D.C.

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Feb 02, 2010, 11:27 ET

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Carnegie Mellon University's Erica Fuchs will be a keynote speaker from 9:30 to 11 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 3 at an event hosted by The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) at the U.S. House of Representatives Rayburn Office Building in Washington, D.C. Fuchs will speak about the impact of manufacturing location on technology competitiveness.

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Fuchs, an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon, will discuss how manufacturing offshore changes the economic viability of emerging technologies in both the automotive and photonic semiconductor industries.

"In both cases, my results show that when U.S. firms shift production from the U.S. to countries like China, the most advanced technologies that were developed in the U.S. no longer pay," said Fuchs, a former fellow at the United Nations in Beijing, China.

Among other issues, Fuchs explains how the above-described phenomena leave the most advanced technologies abandoned, and create a barrier to pursuing innovation in the United States.

Robert Atkinson, president of the ITIF and event host, praised Fuchs for her insightful work. "Her study shows the important relationship between trade and innovation and calls for urgent attention to develop a more robust national innovation and competitiveness policy," Atkinson said. The ITIF's "Atlantic Century" report shows America coming in last place out of 40 nations for innovative competitiveness in areas such as research and development and college graduates.

U.S. Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., who also will speak at the ITIF event, knows that innovation is key to sustained economic growth.

"Investing in cutting-edge small businesses is the best way to drive the long-term economic growth and job creation that our country needs," said Wu, chair of the Science Committee's Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation. "We must foster innovative ideas and then give American companies the support they need to turn new technologies into commercial products and services."

Carnegie Mellon's Fuchs will propose a new framework by which firms and nations should approach offshoring and discuss the implications of her results for the role of government in technology development.

About Carnegie Mellon: Carnegie Mellon (http://www.cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the fine arts. More than 11,000 students in the university's seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A global university, Carnegie Mellon's main campus in the United States is in Pittsburgh, Pa. It has campuses in California's Silicon Valley and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australia and Europe. The university is in the midst of a $1 billion fundraising campaign, titled "Inspire Innovation: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University," which aims to build its endowment, support faculty, students and innovative research, and enhance the physical campus with equipment and facility improvements.