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Articles On SilTerra
29 Mar 2022
SilTerra launches corruption-free programme, pledges company-wide commitment

Kulim, Malaysia, 29th March 2022 - SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd (“SilTerra”) has launched its corruption-free programme to enhance the company’s firm commitment to upholding integrity and governance at all levels.

Themed “Together, SilTerra Pledge for Integrity,” the programme is aimed at continuously instilling an environment of trust, transparency, and accountability within all aspects of SilTerra’s network of business operations.

In addition, the programme demonstrates SilTerra’s continued commitment to promoting sincerity, desirable and conducive work environment to eradicate corruption in the organisation.

The programme was launched recently at its head office in Kulim, Kedah and participated by the company’s Board of Directors, Senior Management, and all employees. The event was also streamed live from SilTerra’s head office and witnessed by all employees based at its offices in Kulim, Kuala Lumpur, and Taiwan.

At the event, SilTerra’s Corruption-Free Pledge recital was led by Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, the company’s Executive Chairman, and followed by a signing ceremony of the Corruption-Free Pledge certificate, witnessed by Dato’ Shaharom Nizam Abd Manap, Kedah Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (“MACC”) Director.

According to Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, who is also Group Managing Director of Dagang NeXchange Berhad (“DNeX”), the semiconductor foundry’s renewed commitment to enhancing the concept of integrity will prescribe to the enforcement of Section 17A under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (“MACC Act 2009”).

“The implementation of the clause is liable to the Company, including the Board of Directors and Senior Management, to ensure businesses and operations are being conducted in an ethical, fairly, and transparent manner, aligning with the company’s principles and code of conduct,” he said.

He said SilTerra will up the ante towards a holistic approach to raising awareness regarding the threat and consequences posed by bribery while encouraging all employees to collectively partake in the prevention of and the fight against corruption.

 

 

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23 Mar 2022
SilTerra collaborates with top universities - USM, UTeM and UniMAP - to deepen academic engagement in microelectronics technologies

Cyberjaya, 23 March 2022 – SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd (“SilTerra”) has formed collaboration with top universities in the country namely Universiti Sains Malaysia (“USM”), Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (“UTeM”) and Universiti Malaysia Perlis (“UniMAP”), to deepen the company’s academic engagement in a range of areas in microelectronics technologies.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) between SilTerra, USM and UTeM as well as Letter of Intent (“LoI”) with UniMAP, the parties will endeavour to develop and promote education and training programmes for talent development and joint research and development (“R&D”) tailored to the needs of the semiconductor industry eco-system in Malaysia.

The agreements were signed in Penang earlier today where SilTerra was represented by its Executive Chairman Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir; USM was represented by Vice Chancellor Professor Dato’ Dr. Faisal Rafiq Mahamd Adikan; UTeM was represented by Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Ir Dr Ghazali Omar; and UniMAP was represented by Vice Chancellor Lt. Kol. Professor Ts Dr Zaliman Sauli.

The areas of collaboration include talent development through sponsored internship programme, skill-based training, seminars, workshops and development of joint-curriculum.

In addition, the parties will also identify relevant semiconductor materials, manufacturing processes, measurement and testing, as well as research projects relevant to SilTerra’s manufacturing environment to further advance technological innovations.

Moreover, the collaboration also includes pursuing and executing consultation and corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) projects as well as provide students industrial training or staff industrial attachment.

According to Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, who is also Group Managing Director of Dagang NeXchange Berhad (“DNeX”), “SilTerra’s partnership with USM, UTeM and UniMAP is aimed at nurturing local talents via our in-house expertise from SilTerra. This reflects our continued commitment to position Malaysia as one of the biggest suppliers of semiconductor components in the world, thus creating a pool of local talents for the industry’s demand.”

“The partnership will also pledge industrial development comprising research and design capabilities with our partners to inculcate local students with the right training foundation, equipping local talents with the cutting-edge technological advancement familiarisation and practical knowledge,” he said.

USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato' Dr Faisal Rafiq Mahamd Adikan said, “On behalf of USM we are very grateful to have SilTerra for almost two decades of collaboration and today, the collaboration is further strengthened with research and talent development.”

He added that USM has always been enthusiastic about forging partnerships with SilTerra, not only in activities relating to coaching and talent development, research and consultancy projects, and co-supervision but also in inventions and innovations, assisted by the mission of the innovations in artificial intelligence (“AI”), advanced materials and technologies.

Professor Ir Dr Ghazali Omar, Deputy Vice Chancellor of UTeM said, “University-Industry synergy has been and will continue to be imperative in the highly digitised decades to come. For a technical and technology focused university like UTeM, fortifying strategic and dynamic relations with industries such as SilTerra is paramount in ensuring the university’s continued relevance and vigour.”

Professor Ts Dr Zaliman, Vice Chancellor of UniMAP said, “Every year, our graduate employability is more than 90 per cent which also includes job placement in various industries. A strategic partnership with SilTerra especially in talent development and recruitment will boost our graduate employability to a whole new level.”

SilTerra is a strategic investment of DNeX and Beijing Integrated Circuit Advanced Manufacturing and High-End Equipment Equity Investment Fund Center (Limited Partnership) (“CGP Fund”),.

 

 

 

 

 

24 Jan 2022
SilTerra to invest RM645 million on expansion to increase capacity

Cyberjaya, 24 January 2022 – SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd (“SilTerra”), Malaysia’s largest semiconductor wafer foundry, is investing RM645 million on an expansion plan that will increase its annual capacity by 20 per cent.

The investment, sourced from both capital injections by shareholders and internally generated fund, will increase SilTerra’s annual capacity from 8.3 million as at end of July 2021 to 10 million mask layers. The additional capacity is expected to be ready for production by early 2023.

According to Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, Group Managing Director of DNeX, and also Executive Chairman of SilTerra, the investment is the shareholders’ on-going commitment to equip the company with best-in-class manufacturing capabilities and expand the production capacity to achieve a better economy of scale, with lower manufacturing cost.

“The initiatives implemented thus far to transform SilTerra into a profitable and resilient technology company have yielded fruitful results. In the past six months, our debottlenecking and process improvements exercise have resulted in improved productivity and efficiency levels,” he said.

“As a result, SilTerra is now a profitable entity and is well-poised to grow further in view of the continuous strong demand for semiconductors and prevailing capacity constraints within the industry due to the high demand of electric vehicles, Internet-of-things (“IOT”), data centres and electronic commerce. This demand is particularly relevant especially for the 200mm specialty foundries where SilTerra is in. Hence, it is prudent for us to continue our long-term investment programmes for SilTerra to cater to the rising demand,” he added.

Moreover, he said the support from SilTerra’s customers is very strong.

“The recently inked long-term agreements (“LTAs”) with ChipOne Technology (Beijing) Co Ltd and Taiwan-based ILI Technology Corp will provide a stable business for SilTerra in case a market downturn happens. Apart from the business these LTAs will bring, SilTerra is committed to work with our customers to improve the technology cooperation to further strengthen and optimise the product and technology roadmap among the parties,” said Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.

“All in all, the execution of our business roadmap has been progressing well. Alongside the continual positive outlook of the semiconductor industry and our investment, we believe there is still ample room for SilTerra to deliver stronger results moving forward,” he added.

SilTerra is a strategic investment of DNeX, and Beijing Integrated Circuit Advanced Manufacturing and High-End Equity Investment Fund Center (Limited Partnership) (“CGP Fund”).

 

About Dagang NeXchange Berhad
Dagang NeXchange Berhad (“DNeX”) is a global technology company operating in three business divisions namely Technology, Energy, and Information Technology (“IT”). In echnology, the company is a leading semiconductor foundry while in Energy, the company is making its mark in upstream exploration and production as well as equipment supply and maintenance. In IT, the company is a leading provider of award-winning eServices for Trade Facilitation and has a wealth of knowledge, expertise and operational know-how in the provisioning of eServices for Trade Facilitation, Technology Consulting and Systems Integration, as well as Subsea Telecommunications. The company is listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia. For more information on the company, log on to www.dnex.com.my.

 

20 Jan 2022
SilTerra introduces C-SOI®-based technology for MEMS and Photonics devices

Cyberjaya, 20 January 2022 - SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd has announced the availability of a new manufacturing technology for microelectromechanical systems (“MEMS”) and Photonics devices based on Cavity Silicon-On-Insulator (“C-SOI®”) wafers produced and customised by Okmetic, a high value-added silicon wafer supplier based in Finland.

C-SOI® wafers are customised for SilTerra’s needs and suitable for applications in piezosensor, micromirror, accelerometer, microphone, inertial MEMS, resonator and microfluidic devices across such vertical markets as consumer, medical, industrial and automotive for the frequency range of 500kHz or below. The technology can also be used to build sensors that use MEMS-based actuation and Photonic-based sensing.

C-SOI® substrates have embedded large cavity dimensions with improved and repeatable yields, and SilTerra has successfully integrated and qualified the MEMS and Photonics process modular blocks on the C-SOI® substrates. In essence, with the technology SilTerra can offer precise, high yield and faster time to market MEMS and Photonics devices fabrication to customers.

“We are pleased for SilTerra as one of the early adopters in pure play foundry to introduce CSOI®-based technology for MEMS and Photonics devices, which will strengthen and broaden SilTerra’s offerings in this market,” said Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, Group Managing Director of Dagang NeXchange Berhad (“DNeX”), and also Executive Chairman of SilTerra.

“Moving forward, we will continue to invest and enhance our technical offerings to satisfy the market demand. This is all part of our commitment to turn SilTerra into a world-class specialty foundry player in terms of operational excellence and technology advancement,” he said.

According to Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, the demand for semiconductor chips will remain elevated this year, on the back of major technological shifts occurring around the globe such as the 5G network transition, Industry 4.0, rapid adoption of electric vehicles, and renewable energy.

“These macro trends will persist in the coming years, not only in 2022 and these will provide vast business opportunities to the local technology companies, which help fortify Malaysia’s standing in the global Electrical and Electronics (“E&E”) industry. Local tech firms, including SilTerra, are well-poised to ride on the growth trajectory,” he said.

SilTerra is a strategic investment of DNeX, and Beijing Integrated Circuit Advanced Manufacturing and High-End Equity Investment Fund Center (Limited Partnership) (“CGP Fund”).

 

About Dagang NeXchange Berhad
Dagang NeXchange Berhad (“DNeX”) is a global technology company operating in three business divisions namely Technology, Energy, and Information Technology (“IT”). In echnology, the company is a leading semiconductor foundry while in Energy, the company is making its mark in upstream exploration and production as well as equipment supply and maintenance. In IT, the company is a leading provider of award-winning eServices for Trade Facilitation and has a wealth of knowledge, expertise and operational know-how in the provisioning of eServices for Trade Facilitation, Technology Consulting and Systems Integration, as well as Subsea Telecommunications. The company is listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia. For more information on the company, log on to www.dnex.com.my.

 

29 Nov 2021
SilTerra signs agreement with Taiwan-based ILI TECHNOLOGY CORP

Cyberjaya, 29 November 2021 – SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd has entered into a multi-year wafer supply and purchase agreement with ILI Technology Corp (“Ilitek”), a leading touch controller and driver integrated circuit (“IC”) fabless design house based in Taiwan.

Under the agreement, SilTerra will collaborate with Ilitek on technology development and wafer fabrication targeting touch controller and display driver IC for industrial and home appliances markets.

Ilitek has been SilTerra’s long term technology and business partner since 2006. This agreement marks another milestone for SilTerra’s and Ilitek’s relationship. Both companies will continue to work closely on product development and mass production based on SilTerra’s high-voltage 0.16um and 0.13um technology platforms. High-voltage technology is one of the most successful and important enabling technology from SilTerra for the global display driver IC markets for small panels such as wearables and mobile devices, medium panel for monitors, and large panel for TV applications.

“We are pleased for SilTerra to enter into this agreement with one of the leading semiconductor chip design companies in Taiwan. This marks a significant milestone in SilTerra’s aspiration to become a world-class leader in the world’s semiconductor market in terms of operational excellence and technology advancement,” said Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, Group Managing Director of Dagang NeXchange Berhad (“DNeX”), and also Executive Chairman of SilTerra.

“As part of transformation of SilTerra, the new shareholders are leading the company to ready market access by leveraging on our network including strategic customers and long-term supplier contracts. In addition, we are continuously committed to expanding SilTerra’s production capacity and technology capabilities in the global semiconductor industry,” he said.

He said the agreement will help SilTerra secure a stable wafer loading, ensuring a sustainable growth for the company going forward.

In addition, the partnership will also cover joint technology and market development to grow SilTerra’s business and market share in the industrial touch controller market, he added.

SilTerra is a strategic investment of DNeX, and Beijing Integrated Circuit Advanced Manufacturing and High-End Equity Investment Fund Center (Limited Partnership) (“CGP Fund”).

Recently, SilTerra announced that the company entered into a long-term multi-year wafer supply and purchase agreement with ChipOne Technology (Beijing) Co Ltd worth over US$400 million.

 

About Dagang NeXchange Berhad
Dagang NeXchange Berhad (“DNeX”) is a global technology company operating in three business divisions namely Technology, Energy, and Information Technology (“IT”). In echnology, the company is a leading semiconductor foundry while in Energy, the company is making its mark in upstream exploration and production as well as equipment supply and maintenance. In IT, the company is a leading provider of award-winning eServices for Trade Facilitation and has a wealth of knowledge, expertise and operational know-how in the provisioning of eServices for Trade Facilitation, Technology Consulting and Systems Integration, as well as Subsea Telecommunications. The company is listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia. For more information on the company, log on to www.dnex.com.my.

 

26 Aug 2021
SilTerra unveils new technology for automotive application ICs

Cyberjaya, 26 August 2021 – SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd has unveiled a new technology for automotive application integrated circuits (“ICs”) or chips used in vehicles.

SilTerra’s 180nm Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (“BCD”) automotive grade process technology is qualified to meet the AEC-Q100 Grade Zero standard, which is the automotive industry standard that specifies the recommended new product and major change qualification requirements and procedures.

BCD is one of key building blocks of SilTerra’s Smart Power Technology platform developed to deliver optimum energy efficient products based on proven mature process technology, intellectual property and design kits. CMOS refers to Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor while DMOS refers to Double Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor.

“We are excited for SilTerra to introduce the automotive grade 180nm BCD process to the automotive IC market. Every product that SilTerra offers and technology we use is born from our commitment to meet increasing market demands and exceed customers’ expectations. We believe we can offer a significant added value to the automotive application ICs sector,” said Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, Group Managing Director of Dagang NeXchange Berhad (“DNeX”), and also Executive Chairman of SilTerra.

SilTerra is a strategic investment of DNeX, and Beijing Integrated Circuit Advanced Manufacturing and High-End Equity Investment Fund Center (Limited Partnership) (“CGP Fund”)

“The new shareholders of SilTerra will continue efforts to transform SilTerra into a world-class leader in the global semiconductor market in terms of operational excellence and technology advancement. We are also upping the ante with our strategies such as cost optimisation, product mix expansion as well as production capacity enhancement,” he said.

SilTerra’s 180nm BCD AEC-Q100 Grade Zero automotive grade process is now entering mass production phase, and this is the second important milestone since the achievement of IATF 16949:2016 Automotive Certification in 2018 as the company makes strong progress entering the automotive IC market.

SilTerra’s automotive grade 180nm BCD process is able to perform at 60V of operation. It has been qualified with specially tuned golden path process flow for high-yield output. The process is supported by silicon-characterised Foundry PDK and third party intellectual property (“IP”) such as ARM based-Standard Cell Library, SRAM Compiler and eMemory One-Time-Programming IP.  These IP are characterised and validated at temperature ranging from 40oC to 150oC according to AEC-Q100 Grade Zero industry quality standard.

According to IC Insight Inc, the global automotive IC demand in BCD/analogue segment is expected to grow at 15 per cent compound annual growth rate from US$9.14 billion or 15.4 billion IC in 2020 to US$18.1 billion or 33.2 billion IC in 2025.

Conventional hybrid vehicles contain an average of US$650 value of semiconductor content while full electric vehicles with ADAS level-4 features can contain up to US$1,550 value of semiconductor content. One of the key automotive IC applications is power management IC for management of power supplies, motor driver for automatic head lamp, motor controller for power chassis and power doors, LED drivers for automotive lighting, power switches for batteries and other power applications.


SilTerra is a semiconductor wafer foundry offering fabrication and design support services in CMOS logic, High-Voltage, Mixed-signal, RF, BCD, Discrete Power, Silicon Photonics, Life Science and MEMS technologies down to 90 nanometer feature size. SilTerra's wafer fab has a design-in capacity of 46,000 eight-inch wafers per month and currently serves customers in the US, Taiwan, Korea and China.

 

About Dagang NeXchange Berhad
Dagang NeXchange Berhad (“DNeX”) is a global technology company operating in three business divisions namely Technology, Energy, and Information Technology (“IT”). In echnology, the company is a leading semiconductor foundry while in Energy, the company is making its mark in upstream exploration and production as well as equipment supply and maintenance. In IT, the company is a leading provider of award-winning eServices for Trade Facilitation and has a wealth of knowledge, expertise and operational know-how in the provisioning of eServices for Trade Facilitation, Technology Consulting and Systems Integration, as well as Subsea Telecommunications. The company is listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia. For more information on the company, log on to www.dnex.com.my.