The Nature of R&D in the High-Tech Industry

The phrase "research and development" apart from its conventional meaning of scientific research and technological development has a special commercial significance and may be thought of as "activities conducted by specialized units or centers belonging to companies, universities and state agencies". These activities are usually future-oriented, longer-term, and without predetermined outcomes and with broad hope of commercial yield. In this sense, R&D in industry is a well-planned targeted activity involving roadmap planning, gap analysis, identification of break points in hope of capability, cost and quality improvements using applied research. R&D is not basic research. In this talk, we will try to present a description of the nature of R&D activities in the high-tech industry, highlight its scope, boundary and limitations and draw a realistic picture of what physics graduates may anticipate entering work environments other than academia.