| Posted: October 29, 2007 |
CATRENE program to succeed MEDEA+ as European nanoelectronics R&D champion |
|
(Nanowerk News) MEDEA+, the EUREKA pan-European Programme for
advanced co-operative Research and Development in Microelectronics, announced details of the new EUREKA programme called CATRENE (Cluster for
Application and Technology Research in Europe on NanoElectronics) that will take
up the challenge of increasing Europe’s strength in micro- and nanoelectronics after the
highly successful MEDEA+ programme reaches its conclusion in 2008. A public/private
partnership aimed at ensuring the continued development of European expertise in
semiconductor technology and applications, CATRENE will build on the success of
MEDEA+ and the previous EUREKA programmes JESSI and MEDEA in fostering the
continued development of a dynamic European ecosystem with the critical mass
necessary to compete at a global level in high technology industries as these move into
the era of nanoelectronics.
|
|
Since its inception in 2001, MEDEA+ has made significant contributions to establishing
and maintaining European leadership in fields ranging from smart card and image
sensing technologies to automotive electronics. European IC companies have
successfully developed three basic CMOS process generations in a time schedule in line
with or even ahead of the global ITRS roadmap. Three European semiconductor
companies are ranked amongst the world wide top ten and Europe’s semiconductor
industry has 10% of the world wide market. European champions with a strong global
market position as wafer processing equipment suppliers, lithography tool and
infrastructure suppliers as well as substrate and material suppliers have been added to
the industrial landscape.
|
|
Like MEDEA+, CATRENE embraces all key actors in the value chain – including
applications, technology, materials and equipment suppliers – as well as involving
industrial companies of all sizes, universities and other research institutions, supported
by Public Authorities. In this way CATRENE will benefit from the strong infrastructure for cross-border cooperation that has been developed by MEDEA+ and its predecessors.
|
|
An important feature of CATRENE is the concept of Lighthouse Projects, which address
major socioeconomic needs such as transportation, healthcare, security, energy and
entertainment through focussed R&D programmes. In the foreseeable future, the role of
electronics and information systems will further increase as European society is faced
with structural problems such as ageing of the population, exploding healthcare cost,
transportation bottlenecks, rising energy costs and the need to increase productivity to
be competitive on a worldwide basis. These societal challenges are also major
opportunities for European industry and are designed to help European companies to
address these new lead markets and to become worldwide market leaders. The
“umbrella” lighthouse projects will serve as a focus for specific technology and
applications development projects that address these challenges.
|
|
“For more than a decade, the EUREKA JESSI, MEDEA and MEDEA+ programmes have
made it possible for Europe’s industry to reinforce its position in semiconductor process
technology, manufacturing and applications, and to become a key supplier to markets
such as telecommunications, consumer electronics and automotive electronics”, said
Jozef Cornu, Chairman of MEDEA+ and designated Chairman of CATRENE.
“Nanoelectronics will offer enormous opportunities to those who are the first to master
and bring to market new technologies and applications and we believe that CATRENE
will play a vital role in helping Europe’s microelectronics industry to go from strength to
strength.”
|
|
While the JESSI, MEDEA and MEDEA+ programmes were divided into technology and
applications sub-programmes, CATRENE recognises the increasing convergence of
technology and applications. It will therefore focus on large identified application
markets, deriving from these the roadmap of required technologies. Key technology
goals include maintaining and increasing Europe’s strength in IP (Intellectual Property)
across the entire electronics supply chain and its leadership in lithography and Silicon on-Insulator materials; ensuring that European companies are among the world leaders in the advanced semiconductor technologies that allow entire systems to be integrated in
a single package; and strengthening European expertise in applying a deep knowledge
of semiconductor process technology to efficient design for new electronics applications.
|
|
About MEDEA+
|
|
The MEDEA+ programme (2001-2008) comprised 77 projects involving 20,000 personyears
and around 450 partner organisations from large companies (38 %), SMEs (37%),
institutes and academia (25%). It delivered important innovations in key application
areas such as automotive and traffic control, broadband communications, secure
society, energy saving and healthcare.
|
|
About CATRENE
|
|
CATRENE is a four-year programme, starting 1 January
2008 and extendable by another four years. This is in line
with the changing landscape of the semiconductor
industry as well as the present view on technology evolution and the time span over
which most of the major applications will develop. Resources required will be annually
around 4,000 person-years, equalling about € 6 billion for the extended programme.
|
|
For more information on MEDEA+ and CATRENE visit http://www.medeaplus.org
|
|
Source: Medea+
|
