2 days ago
TSMC and Tokyo University team up to establish a chip lab
The University of Tokyo and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) have opened a research laboratory where they will be working together on chip-related technologies and supporting educational and research and development opportunities.
'Today is a milestone occasion for TSMC, as it marks the establishment of our first joint laboratory with a university outside of Taiwan," said Y.J. Mii, a TSMC executive vice president, during a news conference Thursday at the University of Tokyo.
The university and chipmaker said the project will mainly focus on research, education and talent incubation. In chips, they will work on materials, devices and designs. They are also planning to engage in chip-prototyping education.
Makoto Ikeda, a professor at the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, said American and European universities have been boosting efforts in chip-prototyping education over the past few years.
'I think the University of Tokyo has fallen quite behind in this area. In that sense, I want to use opportunities like this to catch up with the world, or even get ahead,' said Ikeda, who will be a co-director of the new lab.
Mii said due to the geographical proximity of Japan and Taiwan, TSMC and the university will be able to communicate effectively and share resources smoothly.
The facility, which will be at the university's main campus in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, will provide educational support for doctoral students and internship programs. Research findings from the laboratory are expected to be utilized by TSMC's research and development and manufacturing operations.
The academic-industry partnership goes back to 2019, when the university and TSMC announced an alliance to conduct research on next-generation chips.
They stressed at the time the importance of developing energy-efficient, specialized semiconductors, rather than general-purpose chips, given that the volume of data will further increase with AI processing needs.
Since 2019, the university and TSMC have worked on a total of 21 projects together.
As Japan is aiming to revamp its chip industry, which once dominated the global semiconductor market, the country has strengthened ties with TSMC in recent years.
TSMC has already built a plant in the town of Kikuyo in Kumamoto Prefecture. Operations there began in December.
Construction of a second plant in the same prefecture is scheduled to begin in the second half of the year, according to news reports. The initial plan was to start the construction in the first quarter of the year, but that was delayed.
The Kumamoto Prefectural Government is keen to have a third TSMC plant that can produce cutting-edge chips, but no such plan has been formally announced.
The Japanese government has offered over ¥1 trillion ($6.9 billion) in subsidies to help TSMC build the first two plants, as it wants to shore up economic security and increase chip output inside the country.
With Japan looking to further revitalize the domestic chip industry, developing chip-related skills is essential. More schools, including Kumamoto University, are strengthening chip-related education programs.
