Intersil and Georgia Institute of Technology in joint alliance for high-performance semiconductor development

MILPITAS & ATLANTA, USA: Intersil Corp., a world leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, announced a broad alliance with the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The announcement includes the opening of a major new development facility and the kickoff of several new programs dedicated to the research and development of advanced power management semiconductor technologies.

This unique alliance involves an on-campus Analog Processing Center of Excellence (ACE) and world-class research efforts across multiple Georgia Tech facilities. A keystone of the alliance will be the opening of a new 4,300 square-foot ACE Center on campus. At the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC), Intersil engineers, along with Georgia Tech students and faculty, will focus on creating advanced power management circuit designs.

Intersil and the Institute will also engage in joint development through a strategic alliance on advanced process technology development for semiconductors used in high-voltage power management and distribution. The new center will also utilize a technique developed at a Georgia Tech-founded company known as collaborative signal processing that removes performance-limiting impairments such as signal loss, dispersion, skew and noise.

This initiative is expected to spawn significant power savings in the electrical grid and tomorrow's data centers. The partnership is built on Intersil's longstanding leadership as an expert in the development of power management technologies and recent research advances in semiconductor fabrication processes.

"The clean and efficient generation, transmission and storage of power are key challenges of the twenty-first century," said Dave Bell, CEO, Intersil. "Intersil is delighted to be working closely with one of the world's finest educational institutions to develop innovative technologies that will meet our needs for smarter, greener and more efficient power solutions."

As energy costs soar and greenhouse gases accumulate, there is an increasing need for higher-voltage, higher-performance semiconductor technologies for power grids worldwide. Intersil and Georgia Tech are creating a strategic alliance to co-develop high-voltage power management circuits using breakthrough process technologies. In addition, Intersil will fund two graduate fellowships in electrical engineering.

"Georgia Tech's partnership with Intersil is an ideal example of academic and industrial leaders joining forces to co-develop advanced real-world technologies," said Georgia Tech President G.P. 'Bud' Peterson. "Working together, we will develop sustainable energy solutions and create jobs."

The new Analog Processing Center of Excellence (ACE) is a spinout of the Georgia Electronic Design Center and is located in the Centergy One building in Technology Square on the Georgia Tech campus. The facility already employs eight engineers who use state-of-the-art computer-aided design (CAD) tools to do complex analog systems simulation.