Broadcom Co-Founder Dr. Henry T. Nicholas III Establishes $300,000 Research Competition at UC Irvine; The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology Will Administer The Nicholas Foundation Prize.

IRVINE, Calif. -- Dr. Henry T. Nicholas III, Co-Founder and retired Co-Chairman and CEO of Broadcom Corp., has established a $300,000 prize competition, to be administered by The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Cal-(IT)2), which will promote collaboration among UCI's faculty. The Nicholas Foundation Prize for Cross-Disciplinary Research will recognize "high-risk/high-yield" pilot research investigations that are relevant to Cal-(IT)2's mission and hold potential for leading to further discoveries or large-scale extramural funding. This is the first year in a multi-year program, with future levels of funding to be determined each year depending upon the quantity and quality of entrants. First-year winners will be announced in January.

Dr. Nicholas said: "I've had a long-term relationship with UCI and the Samueli School of Engineering in particular. The establishment of this prize is a logical step as we build our partnership in the areas of telecommunications and information technology. I expect to see more collaboration with our colleagues at UCI in the months and years ahead."

While at Broadcom, Dr. Nicholas anonymously donated $1.5 million to UCI's Center for Pervasive Communications and Computing. Dr. Nicholas has formed a partnership between Cal-(IT)2 and St. Margaret's Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano to develop new ways of applying technology to dramatically improve pre-K-through-12 education. Earlier this year, he donated $10 million to St. Margaret's, part of which is to support Cal-(IT)2.

"Cal-(IT)2 is dedicated to bringing together the most innovative research from all disciplines at UCI and creating collaborative relationships that will produce new and valuable results," said Dr. Albert Yee, Director of the Irvine Division of Cal-(IT)2. "We are excited to be expanding our already strong collaboration with the Nicholas Foundation."

Said Dr. Nicolaos Alexopoulos, Dean of UCI's Henry Samueli School of Engineering: "Dr. Nicholas has long been a friend and fervent supporter of our school. This prize adds a new dimension to our relationship, which will continue to develop in new and exciting ways."

Cal-(IT)2 will issue a Call for Proposals, with teams of two or more tenure-track faculty members eligible for the prize. Funded proposals can commence work after January, 2005. Faculty from all disciplines will be encouraged to apply. Proposals will be evaluated according to the synergy and innovativeness suggested by the team's formation; the extent of involvement of each team member in the research activity and the clarity with which the specific roles of each member are described; the appropriateness of the budget requested for the tasks proposed; the opportunities presented for future funding of the research; and relevance to Cal-(IT)2's mission.

Cal-(IT)2 is a joint venture between UCI and UC San Diego, with research facilities at both campuses. It was established as part of a broad initiative across the UC system to help ensure that California maintains its leadership in critical areas of technology.

The Nicholas Foundation, founded in 1998, is committed to enhancing the quality of life by providing grants to nonprofit organizations, primarily in education, performing arts, humanities and science. Some of Dr. Nicholas' publicly announced philanthropic activities in Orange County include gifts to UCI engineering, St. Margaret's Episcopal School, the South Coast Repertory, the Orange County Performing Arts Center and the UC Irvine crew program. He has made a number of other non-publicly announced gifts.