TowerJazz announces agreement with Tecnopolis del Sur to assist with research and technological development in Argentina

NEWPORT BEACH, USA & BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA: TowerJazz, the global specialty foundry leader, announced a signed agreement with Public and Private Consortium Tecnopolis del Sur (Tecnopolis del Sur) to help foster research and technological development in Argentina to enable product competitiveness in the international market.

The terms of the agreement include training of the R&D groups of Tecnopolis del Sur by TowerJazz on process design kits and technology, and TowerJazz will provide discounted multi-project wafers (MPW) space in its Migdal Haemek, Israel and Newport Beach, California fabs.

In exchange, Tecnopolis del Sur will grant TowerJazz the right to use its facilities in Bahía Blanca, Argentina helping TowerJazz enter into a new region and expand its global reach into South America. This program will be using the broad spectrum of technologies that TowerJazz offers including: power management, RF CMOS and Silicon Germanium (SiGe).

Tecnopolis del Sur promotes the economic and technological development of Argentina, mainly through design, prototyping and testing of high added-value electronic systems, and builds on the capacities of Universidad Nacional del Sur (leading academic institution of Argentina in IC design), INTI (National Institute of Industrial Technology), UIBB (Industrial Union of Bahía Blanca) and the infrastructure of the Trade Free Zone (TFZ) Bahía Blanca - Coronel Rosales.

Tecnopolis del Sur is located in the Trade Free Zone area of Bahía Blanca and Coronel Rosales counties in the province of Buenos Aires. The location in Bahía Blanca will be built next to the airport and the location in Coronel Rosales is already located next to the seaport, providing close proximity to air and sea and easy access for product trade.

A ceremony to sign the agreement was held at the Flags Room of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation (Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva - MINCyT) in the city of Buenos Aires on June 6, 2011, presided by MINCyT Director of International Relations, Eng. Agueda Menvielle. Also invited to attend the ceremony were members of the Argentine media and members of the Israel Embassy.

MINCyT was created to incorporate science and technology for economic and social development of the country. This goal has required a series of innovations with respect to organizational structure and financing instruments. An example of this is an initial private and public investment of $8.6 million by MINCyT in Tecnopolis del Sur. This MINCyT sponsored initiative is aimed at producing the first scientific park of the country in the electronics area.

Dr. Pedro Julian, the Principal Investigator of Tecnopolis del Sur, who was awarded the MINCyT Houssay Prize in Engineering in 2010, said: “Tecnopolis del Sur is a platform to empower Argentine talent by enabling conception, design and prototyping of high added-value electronic systems. We are strategically located in a Trade Free Zone with access to air and sea, offering optimal conditions to target niche electronic product markets. In a sense, Tecnopolis del Sur and TowerJazz share common roots: we both base our value on specialty solutions.”

Dani Ashkenazi, VP of Sales for TowerJazz, said: “South America is a growing market that we are thrilled to become a part of. By working with Tecnopolis del Sur and the exceptional engineers in Argentina, TowerJazz will contribute to the expansion of their ecosystem of technology development by providing the essential components of manufacturing excellence and innovation, and in turn we will greatly expand our global reach by gaining access to this important region.”