The Minister Presidents of Baden-Württemberg and Flanders signed a Memorandum of Understanding last year to intensify cooperation in the field of microelectronics. Today’s announcement marks a significant milestone – in the presence of Matthias Diependaele, Minister President of Flanders, Winfried Kretschmann, Minister President of Baden-Württemberg, as well as representatives from science and industry.
The Advanced Chip Design Accelerator is part of the chip design strategy of the state of Baden-Württemberg and is integrated into the European Commission’s strategy to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty. The competence center is being funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism with 40 million euros over an initial period of five years. It will be located in the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Park (IPAI) in Heilbronn.
The new center takes into account the shift from traditional chip technologies to chiplet-based computing architectures in the automotive industry. This technology is particularly suitable for demanding functions such as autonomous driving and an improved driving experience in the interior. Chiplets are modular chips with specialized functionality that enable quick adaptations and upgrades while reducing power consumption, development time and costs. The project also contributes to the European Commission’s strategic goal of launching the European Alliance for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.
In addition, the state of Baden-Württemberg will support the chip ecosystem in the future with an additional five million euros for the implementation of an office and start-up funding for scientific cooperation in the field of chiplet technologies under the leadership of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
Luc Van den hove, President and CEO of imec: “We are excited to bring our expertise and global partner network to Baden-Württemberg – the cradle of the automotive industry in Germany. We also look forward to working more closely with Fraunhofer to leverage our complementary skills and lay the foundation for future chiplet solutions. To achieve the region’s ambitious goals, we will also strengthen talent development in Europe and train engineers in close collaboration with the local ecosystem, including universities. In addition, we want to roll out these high-performance computing solutions on a European scale to accelerate innovation in the European automotive industry with unique and distinctive building blocks.”
Winfried Kretschmann, Minister President of Baden-Württemberg: “We are delighted to welcome imec as a highly innovative research institution with its new competence center in Baden-Württemberg. As one of the most innovative regions in the world with a strong automotive industry and a high level of expertise in artificial intelligence, Baden-Württemberg and imec are a perfect match. A big thank you also goes to the Flemish Government – today is a milestone in our cooperation. Together with our innovative partners such as the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), CyberValley and the University of Stuttgart, as well as many other partners from science and industry, we are driving innovation for the next generation of automotive chips from Europe. Strengthening our core competencies in chips, software and AI is crucial for Europe’s sovereignty.”
Matthias Diependaele, Minister-President of Flanders: “A Flemish heritage, a global future. Imec, with its roots in Flanders, has a strong global reputation in digital technology. This international cooperation with Baden-Württemberg is important to secure Imec’s technological leadership. The groundbreaking innovations that this research center is driving forward in various application areas will strengthen the economic fabric of both regions.”
Thomas Strobl, Deputy Minister-President and Minister of the Interior, Digitalization and Communities of Baden-Württemberg: “Especially in these times, we must strengthen Europe technologically and ensure our technological sovereignty. This is exactly what we are doing with the establishment of imec in Baden-Württemberg. The cluster will be a technology booster that will have an impact far beyond the region – and strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty. Baden-Württemberg is the innovation heart of Europe and offers the best conditions with the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Park in Heilbronn. We owe this to the inventiveness and diligence, the courage and entrepreneurial spirit of the people in the state.”
Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism of the State of Baden-Württemberg: “High-performance chips play a decisive role for software-driven applications in Baden-Württemberg’s core industries and are increasingly shaping mobility, artificial intelligence and digitalization. By locating imec in Baden-Württemberg, we are creating an internationally visible center of excellence that, together with start-ups, industry and research in the region and beyond, will significantly accelerate the business-oriented research and development of chip-based innovations, especially in the automotive industry.”
Petra Olschowski, Minister of Science, Research and the Arts of the State of Baden-Württemberg: “Imec works according to principles that have produced outstanding results in research and technology transfer to industry. We are convinced that the integration of imec into our excellent and diverse research landscape will enable extremely promising long-term cooperation. In particular, the connection to the planned State Graduate Center in Heilbronn will create great synergy effects. Our goal is to provide the best talents in their field with an outstanding scientific environment to realize their ideas.”
About imec Imec is a world-leading research and innovation center for nanoelectronics and digital technologies. With its state-of-the-art R&D infrastructure and a team of more than 6,000 employees and top researchers, imec conducts research and development in the fields of advanced semiconductor and system scaling, silicon photonics, artificial intelligence, communication technologies beyond 5G, sensor technologies as well as in application fields such as health and life sciences, mobility, industry 4.0, agri-food technology, smart cities, sustainable energy, education and more.
Imec brings together global leaders along the entire semiconductor value chain, including Flemish and international technology, pharmaceutical, medical and ICT companies, start-ups and academic and scientific institutions. Imec is headquartered in Leuven (Belgium) and has additional research locations in Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as representative offices on three continents. In 2023, imec achieved a turnover (G&V) of 941 million euros.
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Further links
👉 www.imec-int.com
👉 https://stm.baden-wuerttemberg.de
Photo: e-mobil BW / KD Busch
