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Chip scandal hurts high-tech push (chinadaily.com.cn/NYtimes) Updated: 2006-05-15 09:27 While in Texas, he impressed a lot of people. He co-authored several
scientific papers at the University of Texas with Jacob Abraham, a professor of
computer engineering and his dissertation supervisor.
"He was a good
student," Abraham said by telephone. "His PhD research involved some innovative
ideas for testing analog circuits."
Once back home, Chen worked for a
time at Motorola's Suzhou research center, not far from Shanghai, before taking
a job at Jiaotong University, one of China's most prestigious universities. By
then, creating a homegrown digital signal processor chip - a sophisticated
microchip that can process digitized data for mobile phones, digital cameras and
other electronic devices - had become a priority of the government.
No
Chinese company had been very successful. Yet the government, some industry
officials say, was pressing Chinese scientists to create such a chip fast. Chen
did. Within two years, he announced his breakthrough: a digital signal processor
that could process 200 million instructions per second.
This was
something big for China. His invention hit the headlines of all major national
newspapers in February 2003, like "Homegrown Digital Chip Developed," "China
Makes Breakthrough in Chip Development," and "Shanghai Chips Away at High- Tech
Industry."
Some stories said China was spending billions of dollars
buying foreign made chips to put in electronics equipment. Now, they suggested,
China could use its own chip.
That was a banner year for Chen. He was
named founding dean of the microelectronics school at Jiaotong. He headed a
university research center. He was heavily financed by the government. He was
named a Chang Jiang Scholar by Beijing, one of the most prestigious positions
for a young scientist.
Chen had overseen a lab of more than 100
researchers. He was highly regarded in his field and also busy creating his own
family of companies.
According to press reports, he formed several
companies to help design chips, including one based in Texas, which was founded
with the help of a former Texas classmate. Everyone in China seemed to be
backing him.
When he announced creation of Hanxin II and III in 2004,
Beijing's Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the
National Reform and Development Commission and the Shanghai government were
helping finance his operations.
At that time, the company he formed
reported having orders for 3.5 million chips, with possible deals from major
companies like IBM. Two years later, according to press accounts, the
whistleblowers came forward. Some colleagues had a dispute with Chen and they
began contacting the government. They claimed, according to the media, that
migrant workers had simply scratched away the name "Motorola" from a chip and
replaced it with "Hanxin." They gave details of an array of companies that Chen
operated to profit from the big government contracts he received.
Indeed,
there were lengthy press reports about the fake chip scandal well before the
government investigation was completed this year. On Friday, however, the
official Xinhua news agency reported that government had concluded Chen had
faked the computer chips findings.
Jiaotong University issued its own
press release Friday, saying Chen had breached the university's trust and
exaggerated his findings.
The school also said, "None of the Hanxin chips
can be ranked as world leading DSP chips."
The government in Beijing
canceled the Hanxin project and recalled all of its scientific funds.
The
case is also a serious blow to the enormous ambitions of Shanghai, which is fast
developing into a microelectronics and semiconductor design and manufacturing
center.
On the Jiaotong campus, several students expressed dismay at the
scandal Sunday, worrying about how it might affect their careers, but also
wondering whether Chen was unfairly singled out.
"Professor Chen is
really unlucky," said a student named Wu. "He lied and was caught. I think there
are other people faking their research but they haven't been caught yet. He's
probably not the worst."
Another student, named Wang, who asked not to be
completely identified, added: "I'm not surprised by the scandal. Now a lot of
professors are like businessmen. They are good at talking and promotion and many
of them have their own companies and make as much money as they
can."
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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