Following the launch of the world’s first industry-grade 200 millimetre silicon carbide open research and development (R&D) line by Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Institute of Microelectronics (IME) arm, the public research agency has further announced new memorandums of understanding (MOU) agreements and initiatives on the second day of Semicon Southeast Asia 2025 (SEMICON SEA).
Hosted under an event titled ‘Innovate together’, A*STAR signed agreements with Uzbekistan’s electronics sector representative, the Uzeltexsanoat Association, the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association (SSIA), the Indian Institute of Technology and German research institute, the Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS.
In an effort to step up international collaborations in semiconductor training and R&D, the partnerships will include internship programmes, joint research projects, and knowledge exchange through training.
“A*STAR, together with our partners and friends from universities and associations, will continue to invest and focus on technology such as advanced packaging, photonics, helium nitride, silicon carbide, with real potential for the country, for A*STAR, to differentiate and to lead,” says A*STAR CEO Beh Kian Teck.
Beh adds: “We will double down on growth areas of compute or power electronics and of semiconductor equipment, while we build a talent pipeline for long-term competitiveness.”
The event also featured expertise from leading institutions on key technological areas within the semiconductor industry, featuring speakers from A*STAR, the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the National Semiconductor Translation and Innovation Centre (NSTIC).
See also: A*STAR announces world's first 200 millimetre silicon carbide R&D line and MOUs at SEMICON SEA 2025
Launch of the EDA garage
A further initiative announced at ‘Innovate together’ was the launch of the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) garage, which will provide start-ups and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) with the required specialised software suites that are used to design, simulate, analyse and verify semiconductor chips virtually before they are fabricated.
The EDA garage comes about as a collaboration between A*STAR IME, Enterprise Singapore and EDA companies; Cadence Design Systems (Cadence), Keysight Technologies (Keysight) and Synopsys Inc (Synopsys).
See also: China’s top chipmaker SMIC plunges after projecting lower sales
Through the initiative, local companies will see a lowered barrier of entry to design their first chips, with the garage allowing the purchase of flexible, pay-per-use tool licenses, with Cadence, Keysight and Synopsys offering training and support to utilise the tools needed.
The A*STAR CEO concludes: “The government will continue to invest in the next many years to support the growth of this sector, because this is about the future of the country, to build a long term and sustainable growth of Singapore's economic growth and GDP, and to maintain and sustain global competitiveness in a sector that we have a strong base in.”
