On Thursday 23 November afternoon, European Commission Vice-President Ansip, in charge of the Digital Single Market, and Belgian Deputy Prime Minister De Croo, responsible for the Digital Agenda, will visit imec, in Leuven. On this occasion, results of EU investments in research and innovation will be presented, such as microchips used for better diagnosis and health monitoring. Imec has been participating in EU projects since its creation in 1984 and has become one of the best research and innovation hubs in nanoelectronics in the world.
Imec employs close to 3,500 brilliant minds and hosts state-of-the-art infrastructure. Imec works closely with industrial partners such as ASML. ASML is headquartered in the Netherlands – where it has been constantly growing and is currently recruiting 500 high-skilled people. ASML is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of cutting-edge lithography equipment used in the development and production of semiconductors – materials part of all electronic devices such as mobile phones and computers.This equipment achieves levels of miniaturisation and performance never reached before. For example, in 2016 chip makers produced electronic chip features with geometries of between 20 nm and 10 nm (around 10,000 times thinner than a hair), compared to typical geometries of 10,000 nm in the early 1970s.
The range of applications that benefits imec’s solutions is very broad and includes computing, health, energy, security, communications, and transport.
EU investments leading to success stories
EU research and innovation projects have contributed to imec’s success, based on cross-border cooperation, scientific excellence and collaboration with the industry.
Imec has been involved in European public-private partnerships on electronic components and systems since 2008 (ENIAC & ARTEMIS Joint Undertakings). It is today involved in ECSEL, a European initiative representing EUR 1.2 billion of EU investment for the period 2014-2020, to be leveraged by an equal amount from participating states and twice as much from industry (a total of EUR 4.8 billion).
In the past five years, imec has attracted five prestigious grants from the European Research Council(ERC). The funding is worth in total more than EUR 10 million. ERC-funded researchers at imec – Paul Heremans, Liesbet Lagae, Kris Myny, Bart Vermang, Jan Genoe – push the frontiers of science in the areas of nanotechnology-based sensors, thin-film electronics and photovoltaics, and flexible displays (video).
This visit is an excellent opportunity to discuss EU investments in research and innovation and hear from policy makers, researchers and industry leaders.
In a nutshell:
When?
Thursday 23 November, from 15:30 to 17:30
Programme:
Thursday 23 November, from 15:30 to 17:30
Programme:
15:30-16:05 : Presentation of imec with focus on EU-funded projects, by Luc Van den hove, President and CEO of imec
16:05-16:15 : Collaboration with ASML, testimonial by Markus Matthes, Executive Vice President Development & Engineering, Member of the Executive Committee of ASML
16:15-16:20 : Remarks by Alexander De Croo, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Cooperation, Digital Agenda, Telecommunications and Postal Services
16:20-16:25 : Remarks by Andrus Ansip, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market
Going to the cleanroom
16:35-16:50: Visit of the cleanroom
16:50-17:15 : Possibility of interviews with Andrus Ansip, Luc Van den hove, Markus Matthes and Bert De Colvenaer, Executive Director of the ECSEL Joint Undertaking.
17:15-17:30 : Possibility of interviews with researchers
Where?
Imec Tower, Remisebosweg 1, 3001 Leuven (for GPS: enter Gaston Geenslaan). Around 25 min from the centre of Brussel). For map and details (public transport and car), see link:
https://www.imec-int.com/en/connect-with-us/imec-belgium
Contact person: Please register via Alexia Van Daele, Alexia.van-Daele@ec.europa.eu (0032 460 76 79 76), European Commission, Representation in Belgium, by 22 November 2017.
Follow this news feed: EU