SEMI today announced that SEMICON West 2014 will feature Robert "Bob" Metcalfe, professor at the University of Texas at Austin, as the Silicon Innovation Forum keynote speaker. The Silicon Innovation Forum (SIF) is where strategic investors and key decision makers are introduced to new and emerging early stage companies looking for support in developing the future of microelectronics. SIF returns to San Francisco at SEMICON West 2014 (July 8-10, Moscone Center). Coordinated by SEMI, SIF is organized by leading strategic investment groups in the global semiconductor industry including: Applied Ventures, Intel Capital, Micron Ventures, Dow Chemical, TEL Venture Capital, Samsung Venture Investment, and BASF Venture Capital.

Metcalfe, who will keynote at SIF, is a professor of Innovation and Murchison Fellow of Free Enterprise in the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Metcalfe was an Internet pioneer at MIT, Harvard, and Stanford, and then he co-invented Ethernet in 1973 at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (Parc). He founded the 3Com Corporation in 1979. More recently, Metcalfe was a general partner of the venture capital firm Polaris Venture Partners near Boston.

As silicon is ubiquitous in our lives, the objective of the SIF (www.semiconwest.org/sif) is to bring together early-stage technology companies and prospective investors from the venture capital and the high-tech industry investment communities, providing a forum for companies to share their technologies and plans with investors to identify new business opportunities. "Innovation and new ideas need investment; traditional venture capital and private funding of advanced semiconductor technology development has significantly declined in recent years, threatening the future of microelectronics innovation and the industry as a whole," said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI.

The Silicon Innovation Forum will be held Tuesday, July 8 from 9:15am?:00pm in room 134 of the Moscone Center. Following is a snapshot of the program agenda:

nvestor Pitch?Session: Unique semi-private period for SIF exhibitors and investors only; SIF showcase exhibitors will have the opportunity to present directly to a panel of top investors.
General Session: Open to all SEMICON West 2014 attendees. Includes the keynote by Metcalfe on Innovating with Startups; a Strategic Investor Panel; and ame-Changer Presentations.?
Innovation Showcase and Reception: An exclusive networking session for investors and SIF exhibitors; registration is required for qualified investors and partners for a fee.
Attendees to the Silicon Innovation Forum will include entrepreneurs engaged in silicon innovation, early- to mid-stage growth companies with novel capabilities, investment professionals from the angel, venture, corporate and institutional communities, R&D, purchasing, supply chain managers and manufacturing senior executives from the microelectronics industries.

For information on exhibiting at the Silicon Innovation Forum (#SiliconSIF) held at SEMICON West 2014, contact Ray Morgan, SEMI Americas at rmorgan@semi.org or visit www.semiconwest.org/sif.