Intel is shutting down its 10-year-old research operations near the University of Washington as part of a broader change in the way the company works with universities across the nation.

The chip giant says it will be able to boost its overall funding for university research to $100 million by mothballing costly standalone labs and embedding researchers directly on a wider variety of university campuses. Intel's existing facilities at the UW, Carnegie Mellon and UC Berkeley -- known as "lablets" -- will close in the first half of the year as the company shifts to the new model.

In the short term in Seattle, the surprise decision translates into a sudden spate of researchers looking for new work elsewhere at Intel or at other tech companies, such as Google and Microsoft.

Intel's Seattle lab employed 20 people. It focused on novel ways of using intelligent sensors in everyday life -- such as virtual play spaces, wireless energy reception, and a robot that could automatically detect an electrical outlet and plug itself in. The annual open house at the lab each fall has foreshadowed popular technologies ranging from motion-based game controls to phones that can sense when they're being shaken.

The University of Washington's computer science department worked closely with the lab, providing researchers and leadership. With the closure of the lab, an Intel spokeswoman says some of the projects may be moved to other Intel Labs groups, some will shift back to the university and others will be closed.

Under the new structure, Intel will open a series of Science and Technology Centers focused on particular research areas. They will be based at specific universities but spread work across a variety of institutions. Intel says it will be able to boost direct funding to researchers by up to five times under the new approach.

The first Science and Technology Center, at Stanford University, will focus on visual computing technologies. Seven other universities will be involved in that center, including a sizable group of UW researchers. Intel is also in talks with the UW about basing another of the new Science and Technology Center on the Seattle campus.

Separately this week, Intel announced $250,000 in funding for a new lab at the UW that will work on silicon photonic chips.