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Robert Yung, newly appointed director of the US$50 million Intel China Research Centre (ICRC) in Beijing, wants to research how to break down the barriers to using computers.

 He said computers still were often too complex for ordinary people.

 'We want to focus on making computers easier to use. We must work out a way to collaborate and co-operate with government as well as academia,' he said.

 Formerly the chief technologist for Asia at Sun Microsystems, Mr Yung is a well-known figure in the microelectronics world.

 He was the chief architect of the UltraSparc microprocessor, the chip that rescued Sun when it was falling behind other companies. Before his distinguished career at Sun, Mr Yung worked for chip company S3 and Nexgen Microsystems.

 While an undergraduate at Berkeley University in California, he helped found Xenologic, a company that made microchips.

 Intel is not willing to be too specific about the kind of research that will be done at ICRC in Beijing. Mr Yung said he was interested in voice recognition and any other systems that would make using computers easier.

 Although he said he would not initially be able to teach - something he did at Berkeley while with Sun - the centre itself would be a place for teaching and learning.

 'We are not going to do short-term research or basic research,' he said.

 'We are going to work on things that will take from three to five years to complete. We must work closely with government and academia as well as with other Intel research institutes around the world.'   Mr Yung declined to give specifics on what the outcome of the research would be, saying that not all research concluded the way one wanted.

 'Not everything works out the way we want, so that's why we do research - to find things out,' he said.

 But he did not rule out the possibility of some work in his old speciality, microprocessor design.

 Mr Yung said he left Sun because the chance to direct such a research centre was too good to pass up.

 'This was an exciting opportunity. We hope to do research that will be of benefit to China as well as Intel.'   Having taught students from Asia at Berkeley, Mr Yung said he was confident that researchers with a high level of expertise could be found.

 'China is a particularly appropriate location for the centre. It's a big and fast-growing market with a rich supply of well-trained scientists and engineers.

 'The Chinese language also poses special challenges in computing, and we are looking forward to doing some good research that will benefit both Chinese computing and other countries as well.'  Richard Wirt, director of Intel's Microcomputer Laboratories, welcomed the appointment of Mr Yung, who he said combined extensive experience in Asia with excellent research credentials.



Researcher aims to tear down barriers to computer usage