David Savastano, Editor07.26.16
National research institutions are having a major impact in the field of flexible and printed electronics, and are looking at ways to expand partnerships with universities and businesses.
One way is to open new facilities in different parts of the world. Headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, imec specializes in research on nanoelectronics and photovoltaics. Outside of Begium, imec has collaborated with TNO to form the Holst Centre in The Netherlands, and has operations in San Francisco, Taiwan, India, China and Japan. Now, imec is bringing its expertise to the southeastern US, forming imec Florida.
imec Florida will facilitate collaboration between imec’s Leuven headquarters and US-based semiconductor and system companies, universities and research institutes. It will center its research on photonics and high-speed electronics interconect (IC) design, and will be collaborating with University of Central Florida (UCF) and the International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research (ICAMR).
Bert Gyselinckx, VP and GM, imec Florida, noted that the decision to open up its new facility in Osceola County, FL, near Orlando, was driven by its interest in the US market.
“imec wanted to open an R&D facility in the US to be closer to the US market,” Gyselinckx said. “Osceola County, Florida and UCF created the proper win-win environment. Imec will extend its global R&D footprint in the US and will work with the regional administration and business community to accelerate innovation in the immediate area and broadly within the state of Florida.”
Gyselinckx reported that imec Florida will provide IC design needs that will be driving the ICAMR manufacturing research and vice versa.
Gyselinckx said imec Florida’s initial focus will be the IC design of high speed electronics and photonics solutions such as LIDAR and IR to mm-wave imaging micro-systems.
“At the Florida facility, imec will design innovative technologies that will contribute to a better society,” said Gyselinckx. “The integration of nanoelectronics can enable next-generation systems that are less bulky, expensive and advanced, in addition to being smaller, cheaper and with extra functionality. In this way, innovative systems become applicable to a wide range of products and markets, especially those that are strategic for the US, such as healthcare, transportation and security.”
Gyselinckx said that imec Florida will attract leading researchers through future partnerships. “The overarching ambition is to attract top talent to the region and to bring economic impact to the region by jobs that create high added value,” he said. “In five years we expect to see around 100 researchers in imec, and a multiple of that with all our suppliers and partners.”
Ultimately, imec is committed to developing sustainable solutions and technology to accelerate innovation and stimulate economic growth within Osceola County and the state of Florida.
“We can do this by leveraging both the technology and processing expertise at imec headquarters and the design expertise that is being built up at imec Florida,” Gyselinckx said. “For more than 30 years, imec has had a proven track record of collaborating with the leading players of the global semiconductor industry. It has gone beyond this and has expanded its partnerships outside of the traditional chip industry in other domains such as the IoT, healthcare, energy and automotive, all of which require semiconductors or data processing as the backbone. With imec Florida, we can bring the dynamics created by global partnerships to the area, thereby excelling globally in order to create a local impact.”
One way is to open new facilities in different parts of the world. Headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, imec specializes in research on nanoelectronics and photovoltaics. Outside of Begium, imec has collaborated with TNO to form the Holst Centre in The Netherlands, and has operations in San Francisco, Taiwan, India, China and Japan. Now, imec is bringing its expertise to the southeastern US, forming imec Florida.
imec Florida will facilitate collaboration between imec’s Leuven headquarters and US-based semiconductor and system companies, universities and research institutes. It will center its research on photonics and high-speed electronics interconect (IC) design, and will be collaborating with University of Central Florida (UCF) and the International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research (ICAMR).
Bert Gyselinckx, VP and GM, imec Florida, noted that the decision to open up its new facility in Osceola County, FL, near Orlando, was driven by its interest in the US market.
“imec wanted to open an R&D facility in the US to be closer to the US market,” Gyselinckx said. “Osceola County, Florida and UCF created the proper win-win environment. Imec will extend its global R&D footprint in the US and will work with the regional administration and business community to accelerate innovation in the immediate area and broadly within the state of Florida.”
Gyselinckx reported that imec Florida will provide IC design needs that will be driving the ICAMR manufacturing research and vice versa.
Gyselinckx said imec Florida’s initial focus will be the IC design of high speed electronics and photonics solutions such as LIDAR and IR to mm-wave imaging micro-systems.
“At the Florida facility, imec will design innovative technologies that will contribute to a better society,” said Gyselinckx. “The integration of nanoelectronics can enable next-generation systems that are less bulky, expensive and advanced, in addition to being smaller, cheaper and with extra functionality. In this way, innovative systems become applicable to a wide range of products and markets, especially those that are strategic for the US, such as healthcare, transportation and security.”
Gyselinckx said that imec Florida will attract leading researchers through future partnerships. “The overarching ambition is to attract top talent to the region and to bring economic impact to the region by jobs that create high added value,” he said. “In five years we expect to see around 100 researchers in imec, and a multiple of that with all our suppliers and partners.”
Ultimately, imec is committed to developing sustainable solutions and technology to accelerate innovation and stimulate economic growth within Osceola County and the state of Florida.
“We can do this by leveraging both the technology and processing expertise at imec headquarters and the design expertise that is being built up at imec Florida,” Gyselinckx said. “For more than 30 years, imec has had a proven track record of collaborating with the leading players of the global semiconductor industry. It has gone beyond this and has expanded its partnerships outside of the traditional chip industry in other domains such as the IoT, healthcare, energy and automotive, all of which require semiconductors or data processing as the backbone. With imec Florida, we can bring the dynamics created by global partnerships to the area, thereby excelling globally in order to create a local impact.”