January 22, 2008 — /HSINCHU, TAIWAN/ — IMEC today officially established IMEC Taiwan in the Hsinchu Science Park. IMEC Taiwan initially starts as a representative office, but is expected to grow into an R&D center within the coming six months.
IMEC Taiwan aims to set up a win-win situation by facilitating the access for Taiwanese semiconductor companies to IMEC’s R&D programs and tap into the local high technology skills. The establishment of IMEC Taiwan follows several memoranda of understanding and collaborations between IMEC and leading Taiwanese companies, R&D institutes, and universities, with the strong support of the National Science Council Taiwan.
IMEC intends to reinforce its collaborations in Taiwan by focusing on semiconductor process technology research with foundries, on IC and system design with companies and academia, on dedicated training, on facilitating the interaction between Europractice IC service and the Taiwanese foundries for low-cost IC prototyping and small volume production, and on developing heterogeneous process technologies for fablite and fabless companies.
“Taiwan is worldwide recognized as the core of semiconductor foundry manufacturing. Combined with its innovative power, the Taiwanese industry will also become a leading player in the development of new applications. We are convinced that an institute like IMEC Taiwan can add value in this evolution,” says Professor Gilbert Declerck, president and CEO of IMEC. “By bridging the cultural, language, and geographical gap, we can facilitate the access to our programs and easily interact with local companies. We intend also to tap into the local pool of highly schooled labor to strengthen our system and IC
design team.”
About IMEC
IMEC is a world-leading independent research center in nanoelectronics and nanotechnology. Its research focuses on the next generations of chips and systems, and on the enabling technologies for ambient intelligence. IMEC’s research bridges the gap between fundamental research at universities and technology development in industry. Its unique balance of processing and system know-how, intellectual property portfolio, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and its strong network of companies, universities, and research institutes worldwide position IMEC as a key partner for shaping technologies for future systems.
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