UD, IBM launch semiconductor pact, planning $20 million research, education investment

“Look out, world,” UD President Eric Spina said at a press conference at the university’s Kettering Labs. “IBM and UD are working together.”

“This came together because you have two institutions — one public and one private — that have a single common goal about how you leverage technology for society at large,” said IBM Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh, a 1988 UD graduate and veteran of NCR when that company was headquartered in Dayton.

The Dayton-IBM connection isn’t entirely new. Famed IBM Chairman and Chief Executive Thomas Watson worked for NCR in the early 20th century and honed his management style while working for Dayton industrialist John Patterson.

The total investment will exceed $20 million, UD Provost Darlene Weaver said. “The IBM equipment investment represents more than $10 million on their side. And then UD is bringing a similar value to that…