Printed On:	September 7, 2008, 4:01 am
	Category:	Technology
	Type:	News
	Posted By:	Visionary
	Date Posted:	August 31, 2007, 1:00 pm

Chartered@NTU Set Up For Research

Nanyang Technological University ("NTU") and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. ("Chartered"), one of the world's top dedicated foundries, today announced the opening of Chartered@NTU, a 100 square-meter joint laboratory set up by the two organisations, to promote technology exchange and collaboration for joint research and development projects. The focus of the research area is cutting-edge nano-scale complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process technology and reliability.

An extension of an existing research partnership between NTU and Chartered, Chartered@NTU, situated in NTU's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, houses state-of-the-art equipment such as 12-inch wafer probers and ultra-fast transient measurement systems. These systems are the most advanced of their kind, allowing very high-precision CMOS characterization. They are particularly critical in improving the performance and reliability of the microchips fabricated using 65 nm CMOS technology, which is being widely adopted for microprocessor chips used in high-performance desktop and laptop computers, network workstations as well as game consoles.

Chartered@NTU leverages the strengths of both organisations. In the joint projects, NTU provides the research talent and expertise, while Chartered provides industry and manufacturing knowledge. The joint lab also provides practical training and industrial exposure opportunities for NTU's postgraduate students to work on real-world projects with engineers from Chartered.

NTU's post-graduate students and researchers have started working on projects at the lab with Chartered's research scientists and engineers. Fully operational since August 2007, the lab is staffed by 20 graduate students from NTU and adjunct staff from Chartered.

Professor Kam Chan Hin, Chair, NTU's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, says, "The semiconductor industry remains one of Singapore's key economic contributors. Therefore, it is important to continuously drive cutting-edge research in this area to ensure that we remain ahead of the technology curve. NTU's established R&D strength in microelectronics, coupled with Chartered's industry experience and marketing know-how, ensures that the projects we work on jointly will be cutting-edge and commercially relevant."

"The objective of this collaboration between NTU and Chartered is to capitalize on each other's present and future resources such as manpower, technology, infrastructure and equipment. Promoting technology collaboration and providing real-time, hands-on training to students are some of the best ways for Chartered to nurture and strengthen local resources," said Mr Ng Seng Huwi, vice president for human resources at Chartered.