Ireland’s approach to developing microchip design businesses has been recognised as the best in the world with a prestigious international award.
A team led by Professor Peter Kennedy, Vice-President for Research at University College Cork and the Tyndall National Institute, received the Outstanding Chapter of the Year Award from the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society, the world’s largest professional association.
“When we first started to promote microchip design in a concerted way in Ireland 10 years ago, our external advisor told us that it takes 10 years to become good at anything,” Professor Kennedy says.
“Ten years later, our model for interaction with industry has been recognised as the best in the world, and we’re now being asked to show others how it’s done.”
Focus on excellence
The team’s success has been built on its focus on excellence and listening to its customer base, he says.
Ireland now has a thriving sector of circuit design companies, including Analog Devices, Cypress Semiconductor, Intel, M4S, Powervation, Silicon and Software Systems, Synopsys, Texas Instruments, and Xilinx. Most of them have design centres in Munster.
“Industry and academia sit together in Cork to develop solutions to some of the most challenging research problems in microelectronics,” Professor Kennedy says. “In our field, you have to be best in the world to survive”
Learn more
Read our interview on MyScienceCareer.ie with Science Ambassador Susannah Heck about what it’s like to study physics and semiconductors at the Tyndall National Institute
