Silterra Malaysia

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.
Bruce Gray (left) exchanging documents with Prof Othman Said. With them is Hassan Said

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.

Silterra Contact

Koh Meng Kong

Tel: +6-012-491-0425 (Cell phone)

Tel: +604-401-4166 (o)
Email: mengkong_koh@silterra.com

Lu Ping Chiang
Tel : +886-3-574-1587 (o)

Email: pingchiang_lu@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