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Silterra inks deal with varsity consortium
By Tunku Shahariah
TheStar
Online
URL:
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/12/5/business/16226394&sec=business
Monday
5 December 2006
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.
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Bruce
Gray (left) exchanging documents with Prof
Othman Said. With them is Hassan Said
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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.
About Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.:
Market demand driven, SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd is
a semiconductor wafer foundry offering major
foundry compatible CMOS logic, high-voltage and
mixed-signal/RF technologies down to 0.13-micron
feature size. This includes complete, competitive
contract manufacturing for fabless and IDM
customers’ designs. SilTerra’s wafer fab has a
design capacity of 40,000 eight-inch wafers per
month.
Environmentally vigilant, SilTerra delivers award
winning, world-class performance to its customers
seeking flexible capacity, competitive advantages
and around the clock customer support. SilTerra is
ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 certified. Founded in
1995, the company’s headquarters and factory are
located in Malaysia’s Kulim High-Tech Park, and
SilTerra has sales and marketing offices in San
Jose (California) and Hsinchu (Taiwan). For
additional information on SilTerra or its
services, please visit www.silterra.com.
About Penang Skills Development Centre:
PSDC, the premier learning institution in the
Northern region and Malaysia’s first
industry-led training centre established in 1989.
PSDC has been offering skills enhancement and
career advancement programs to meet the demand of
the industry and public. PSDC has established
itself as a national and international icon for
training – churning out a record number of more
than 100,000 trainees through the years. PSDC, a
world-class non-profit training and educational
centre was built on a tri-partied partnership
model between the Government, Industry and
Academia backed by its 124 member companies. For
additional information on PSDC, please visit
www.psdc.org.my
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