4 June 2024 – SilTerra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. has signed a Collaboration Agreement with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) through the Center of Excellence for Microelectronics Design Collaboration (CEDEC). This signing ceremony marks yet another milestone of fruitful partnerships between SilTerra and USM, specifically with CEDEC which started since 2006 through the Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) Programme.
Under this collaboration agreement, it has enabled the local integrated circuit design community to access cutting-edge technology processes for prototyping at cost-effective rates. The agreement shall be effective for three years, whereby SilTerra will continue to offer 180nm, 130nm dan 110nm for Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) technology to participants from local institutions.
The ceremony saw the Vice President of Emerging Technologies, Mr. Thung Beng Joo, representing the Chief Executive Officer of SilTerra, Dr. Albert Pang signing the CA documents with YBhg. Prof. Dato’ Seri Ir. Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohamed, FASc. Vice Chancellor of USM.
“As a leading industry player in semiconductor foundry services, SilTerra believes that we must play a role in creating and facilitating the ecosystem with the existing capabilities of our foundry to enhance the talent pool. We are actively looking for opportunities to promote industrial collaboration with local universities to not only generate relevant talent for the semiconductor sector but also produce technological innovation to further drive growth of the sector in the country,” Dr. Albert said through his speech as delivered by Mr. Thung Beng Joo.
He added that SilTerra is pleased to leverage this collaboration in fulfilling one of its core corporate social responsibilities by supporting local educational initiatives, particularly in the field of science and technology. This includes contributions to research and development, curriculum development and providing MPW shuttle service as a platform for chip designers to validate their designs.
“Smart partnerships between university-industry like this are vital towards translating academic and research work into real-world problem-solving initiatives. Hopefully, with SilTerra on board, the pursuit towards many more academic, research and commercialization ventures by university experts in the field of semiconductors will be facilitated”, he said.
SilTerra is anticipating this collaboration will benefit the institutions of higher learning in multiple ways as it does not only result in innovative ideas, but also nurtures local integrated circuit (IC) design talents that form the foundation for producing electronic devices. Moving forward, it is hoped that the front-end of the semiconductor supply chain, involving IC design and Wafer Fabrication, significant contribution to the country’s economy will be further enhanced through this type of university-industry collaboration.
