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Silterra inks deal with varsity consortium |
Tuesday, December 05, 2006 |
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KULIM: Semiconductor wafer foundry Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd yesterday signed an agreement with the Malaysian University Microelectronics Consortium to allow lecturers and undergraduates from seven universities to fabricate chip designs at Silterra’s factory.
Silterra chief executive officer Bruce Gray said the Multi-Project Silicon Wafer Verification Programme was a joint effort between Silterra and the consortium to carry out the programme without financial ties.
The consortium members are Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Malaya, Malaysian Multimedia University, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Mara.
Gray described the collaboration as an important milestone for both Silterra and the universities.
“Silterra has been collaborating with local universities for the last four years to help develop local core competency and chip design capabilities in leading edge technologies.
“We are committed to this effort as we want to play a catalytic role in moving Malaysia up the semiconductor value chain, which has been part of the company’s vision since its inception,” he said before the signing ceremony at Silterra’s factory yesterday.
Gray signed on behalf of Silterra, and the varsities by their respective representatives. Also present at the function was Higher Education Ministry director-general Datuk Prof Hassan Said, who represented minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed.
Gray said Silterra’s high technology wafer foundry would provide an opportunity for consortium members to test the functionality and validity of their designs for industrial application in Silterra’s fabrication plant.
“To date, the company has tested over 60 chip designs, and it will fabricate more designs with the cooperation programme agreement,” he said.
He also said the cost of designing chips was exorbitant as the work was non-labour intensive and upstream and involved high technology.
“Some local universities have individually been collaborating with Silterra as the cost to test their designs would otherwise be very high.
“The chip designers at these universities require Silterra’s support, as an integral part of developing good chip designs is through fabricating the designs for assessment and validation,” he added.
USM’s Prof Othman Sidek said such a collaboration allowed students and lecturers to undertake research and development activities with leading industry players.
Source: The Star |
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