"Microsoft senior vice president and head of Microsoft research Rick Rashid said that "the number one producer of new computer science students capable of doing work at Microsoft is China," he said, adding that India is in second place with the United States in third. "The United States still has the largest number of trained people but I think we'll lose that."

"If you look at engineering overall, you get concerned. In my particular field of computer science, it's reasonable to start panicking," he said. The pipeline of new graduates is getting smaller and the likelihood that future jobs will be done outside of the United States is growing, he said.

Part of the problem with getting engineers is the state of education and United States, panelists said."