Q&A: 'IPad deconstructed' forum makes case for federal research

22.09.2011
WASHINGTON -- In an effort by organizers to spark the interest of lawmakers, a closed-door U.S. Capitol forum on the future of federal research was given a provocative title: "Deconstructing the iPad: How Federally Supported Research Leads to Game-Changing Innovation."

The researchers at the forum tried to use Apple's iPad to help stop Congress from deconstructing the , which helps support development of technologies that lead to successful commercial products like the popular tablet computer.

The forum was held by the Task Force on American Innovation, an industry and academic group, and was closed to the press so those attending could speak openly, a spokesperson for the task force said.

The congressional sponsors of the forum were U.S. Randy Hultgren (R-Il.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.).

The panel was moderated by , an associate professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and a staff research scientist at Google, who may be best known for his work on CAPTCHAs, which are widely used by Web sites to verify human users. He was the founder and CEO of ReCAPTCHA Inc., which was , in 2009. He has also been awarded a $500,000 MacArthur genius grant.

The expert panelists included William Phillips, Nobel Laureate in physics, who works at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.