Wrapping up the Look-See

Yesterday we visited the campus of India Institute of Science in Bangalore (IISc). It is one of the premier schools in India. The campus is north of the center of Bangalore, still very much surrounded by city but wooded with widely separated low brick buildings. It feels like a jungle outpost miles for nowhere. The have a small cleanroom with a few wafer fabrication tools and they are beginning constructions on a much large facility which will be a resource for the research community through-out India.

We then visited the business park where I will be working. In addition to IBM other clients include NXP. Security starts at the outer gate of the park where a guard waved us through when Anurag showed his IBM badge. (Note from Donna: everyone in India smiles except security guards. Must be a job requirement.) The next checkpoint was at a gate which was the entrance buildings D1 and D2.

Here one guard rolled a mirror under the front of the car to check for bombs before letting us in. Next I needed to log-in with security and get a temporary badge. This badge immediately was able to open the electronically controlled doors of the floors a was authorized to enter. A good thing because you pass through them not only to go from the lobby into the building but also to get into the cafeteria and onto each floor from the lift lobby.

The team in India took care of us in the cafeteria, surveying the menu they concluded a plain cheese sandwich (no vegetables) and bottled juice (not the fresh fruit juice) was the safest option. Some of the team I had already met when the interviewed in the US, some I had only interviewed by phone. I feel very good about the quality of the people we have been able to attract and I am looking forward to working with them.

Today we head down to Mysore to do a little sightseeing before returning to the airport and heading for home.