Instead he founded the core of the new company with what he considered the best and brightest graduates coming out of American engineering schools.

Over the years, the institute has produced bright, innovative graduates employed at some of the most respectable firms all over the world.

There is something odd in having teachers applaud the news that for years the brightest graduates haven't been going into teaching.

In the 1980's, an era marked by preoccupation with wealth, many of the brightest graduates joined Wall Street.

Instead, Shockley started scouring universities for the brightest graduates to build a company from scratch, one that would be run "his way".

Christopher Love who lived from 1618-1651 was a bright graduate of Oxford and a strong Presbyterian.

He said: "We want to see bright and ambitious British graduates going out and taking up that opportunity."

Much of the most innovative technology work that would attract the brightest graduates now occurs at private companies, the critics said.

The sad fact is that most of our brightest graduates - and especially smart engineering talent - have traditionally been lured by the blue chips.

Already, engineering departments all over America are full of bright young graduates studying soil contamination and leachate control.