Applied Materials recently announced the company’s engagement with more than 40 suppliers and academic institutions as part of the company’s planned collaborative engineering center in Bengaluru. Participating at SemiconIndia 2023, the company is focusing on close collaboration among the country’s top engineers, academia, and suppliers to accelerate innovation in semiconductor manufacturing equipment technologies and build a robust domestic semiconductor ecosystem. The planned center aims to harness the collective expertise of the industry stakeholders and spearhead breakthrough ideas related to India’s domestic semiconductor supply chain and talent development.
Applied aims to reduce the time to commercialization and develop a sustainable semiconductor ecosystem in India. Through its engagement with leading global semiconductor supplier organizations, the center will be designed to provide access to advanced equipment and processes for suppliers to test and validate their solutions, while also creating opportunities to co-innovate, develop, and test equipment subsystems and components to accelerate cycles of learning and speed up the adoption of new concepts. Supporting the objective, Applied is also partnering with top-tier universities and institutions both for innovation and to help develop a capable workforce to support the domestic semiconductor ecosystem.
“This is a pivotal moment for India to position itself as a key player in the global semiconductor landscape,” said Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials. “The establishment of Applied’s collaborative engineering center will be a significant milestone in our commitment to fostering innovation and collaboration in the semiconductor ecosystem in India. The center will promote synergy among industry stakeholders and cultivate a culture of technical research, skill development, and knowledge sharing.”
“We have embarked on a transformative journey to power India’s semiconductor mission,” said Srinivas Satya, Country President of Applied Materials India. “Our objective is to change the way we engage with chipmakers, universities, and other partners to enhance time to market, reduce R&D costs and increase the overall success rate of new technologies. Simultaneously, the center will provide guidance and technical expertise to semiconductor companies, assisting them in developing high-quality, cost-effective semiconductor products that cater to global and domestic markets while generating employment opportunities across various skill levels.”
Applied’s planned center is an integral part of the company’s global innovation approach and is designed to fundamentally change the way chips are made. The benefits of establishing the center in India will extend beyond the country’s domestic semiconductor ecosystem and contribute actively to the global semiconductor industry. With its rich pool of skilled engineers, strong academic foundation, and strategic supply chain partners, India is well-positioned to drive innovation in the global market. In its first five years of operation, the center is expected to create at least 500 new advanced engineering jobs along with potentially another 2,500 jobs in the manufacturing ecosystem.