CATRENE DUE TO ENHANCE PROJECT PORTFOLIO CATRENE, has announced its third call for project proposals from 1st February to 1st June 2010.
Paris, 3 February, 2010 - CATRENE, the industry-driven Cluster for Application and Technology Research in Europe on NanoElectronics (EUREKA 4140) has announced its third call for project proposals from 1st February to 1st June 2010. Participation in the Project Outline phase is mandatory until 18th March for participation in the subsequent Full Proposal phase. After the evaluation and selection process, the final decision can be expected on 30th June 2010 with project labelling. It can be assumed that the projects will start from January 2011.
Related information and guidelines for preparation are accessible during this time on http://www.catrene.org/
Considering the pace of the technical and business evolution in the nanoelectronics domain, it was anticipated from the beginning that annual call for proposals would be launched within the first phase of the programme (2008-2011).
With already 21 active projects resulting from the first and second call, involving 300 participating organisations from 16 European countries and almost 7000 person-years of researchers, CATRENE is the leading European programme in nanoelectronics supported by industry and governments.
Paris, 4 December, 2009 - Low CO² emission world act is in strong demand of energy saving in all applications fields in the planet. To cope with this growing demand "More electrical migration" of all applications controlling energy is expected as well as limited use of ecologic resources. This puts a considerable pressure on all industries to innovate on levels of systems, device, technology and manufacturing. Power electronics is a major important element in the global efficiency of the control of energy in automotive, transport, energy. All those factors are calling for rapid advancement in power semiconductor devices, modules and storage technologies
The THOR project aims at developing highly efficient, integrated and reliable power electronics technologies for automotive, aeronautics and healthcare applications (Magnetic Resonance Imaging systems). Key part of this project is the development of high power switches (transistors and diodes) based on innovative silicon process, silicon on insulator or wide band gap materials (Silicon Carbide – SiC or Gallium Nitride – GaN) targeting the voltage from 200V to 3000V. The project covers the development of new technologies for discrete power components (IGBT’s, JFET, Diodes, based on wide band gap semiconductors), power cores, storage elements (super-capacitors). Last but not least develop innovative and affordable packaging for high temperature, thermal and EMC management solutions.
More and more the enabling technologies are driven by the applications using them. This is a prerequisite for successful market entry of innovation which is the main focus of EUREKA Clusters. One of the consequences is that the innovation projects and need more seamless exploration of the technology portfolio of various clusters. The flexible structure of the clusters within the Eureka framework makes it possible. In this case a "Co- labelling" by CATRENE and EURIPIDES was the adequate answer including agreement on one unified monitoring process. This gives maximum freedom to the project consortium and makes it possible to bring the necessary competences to reviewing and monitoring the project together. In addition it gives the participating countries the possibility to make a choice in the funding decision.
COMMON PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY ESIA AND SEMI, AND SUPPORTED BY CATRENE European nanoelectronics research cluster CATRENE said it shares the EC position that micro- nanoelectronics are of “systemic relevance” for Europe and announced “full support of the necessary strategies.”
Paris, 30 September, 2009 - Please be informed that CATRENE, the EUREKA Cluster programme for Applications and Technologies Research in European NanoElectronics, appreciates the European Commission’s recognition that micro – and nanoelectronics are of ‘systemic relevance’ for Europe.
“CATRENE will fully support the rapid implementation of necessary strategies in the area of R&D and innovation,” said Enrico Villa, Chairman of CATRENE.
For your information, we have attached the common Press Release issued by ESIA and SEMI.
CATRENE RELEASING « 2009 EUROPEAN EDA ROADMAP » The 2009 European EDA Roadmap, released today, is a substantial update of the 2005 edition of the MEDEA+ EDA Roadmap.
Paris, 10 March, 2009 - The whole European EDA excellence and expertise from industry, SMEs, institutes and academia organised by Europe’s most prominent cluster for cooperative R&D in nanoelectronics have contributed to the new programme.
Enrico Villa, CATRENE Chairman commented: “The global strategic European objective of this new Roadmap is to engineer design solutions more rapidly, originating from system users specifications in a top down design flow within various silicon application platforms of choice and to develop early parametrisable and reusable system IPs for the next generation of products.”
The semiconductor industry has been growing at an unprecedented rate since the early 1960s. It capitalised on the outstanding properties of silicon and its stable oxide, which allowed the advent of the CMOS process, the leading process for the whole semiconductor industry. For more than two decades, a two digit average growth per year in semiconductor sales imposes formidable challenges in terms of huge investments needed for volume manufacturing, complex designs and new research in Electronic Design Automation (EDA) at system level to ensure short time to market and competitiveness.
The new Roadmap focuses on demonstrating a complete top-down design flow, starting at specifications, then System Level Design linking designers to formal customer’s specifications, parametrisable IP creation, standards and Design for Manufacturability (DfM) supported by new TCAD (Technology CAD) developments. Furthermore, the Roadmap includes basic digital functions like multiprocessor cores, value-added functionalities such as analogue, radio frequency, embedded memories and micro mechanical functions, with more design reusability, a major objective of the new programme. It addresses specific needs, at particular points in time, and with a specific time frame of 2008 to 2013.
The Roadmap is available for downloading on http://www.catrene.org/ section Communication, subsection Publications.
Paris, 22 January, 2009 - CATRENE, the recently approved EUREKA cluster programme (∑! 4140), is launching a new call for project proposals. Europe’s high tech industry, small and medium sized enterprises as well as research institutes and academia are invited to submit as a first step project outlines from 2nd March to 30th April 2009, subsequently full proposals have to be delivered. Following the project evaluation and selection process, final decisions and labelling of projects are foreseen at the end of September 2009. It can be assumed that chosen projects will start as of 1st January 2010.
Information and guidelines for the preparation of project proposals are accessible on the CATRENE web pages at www.CATRENE.org (section Project Calls), where the CATRENE White Book, which forms the working basis for cluster projects, can also be downloaded.
With 12 active projects resulting from the first call in 2008, involving 4000 researchers of 140 partner organisations from 13 countries, CATRENE is the leading European programme in nanoelectronics supported by industry and governments.
INDUSTRIAL INNOVATION POLICY IS NEEDED TO KEEP EUROPE IN THE LEAD IN THE GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY RACE
Paris, 3 December, 2008 - The European Nanoelectronics Forum 2008, was held in Paris on December 2 and 3, and successfully gathered more than 300 key players from the field. It was a common event organized by MEDEA+ / CATRENE, the EUREKA cluster programmes, ENIAC, the European Technology Platform on Nanoelectronics and AENEAS, the Association of R&D actors in nanoelectronics.
During the Forum, a clear message was sent out on the importance of creating a European industrial innovation policy to maintain Europe’s knowledge leadership in advanced micro- and nanoelectronics, and also of forming strong alliances for its implementation.
“The time to act is now. To remain at the top when it comes to innovation, the European Semiconductor Industry must cope with a changed landscape. Europe’s economy will become increasingly knowledge-based. In order to fulfil the objectives of the Lisbon strategy and sustain our European core values, we must keep the command of semiconductor technology, which underpins the developments of the Information Society. The European Semiconductor Industry has already proven its capabilities and is leading the market in several fields such as wireless components and automotive electronics. We must keep this momentum and increase it in several other fields, keeping our vision alive even in these difficult times.” said Alain Dutheil, President of AENEAS.
The Semiconductor Industry is in fact crucial for European economic growth and prosperity as it directly enables approximately 10% of the global GDP. Yet, traditional technology leaders such as Europe, the USA and Japan, are faced with the rise of emerging competitors that are successfully attracting international business with financially advantageous operating conditions. And this is not the only challenge. Closer to home, the European economic environment is proving to be less and less adapted to globalised worldwide markets. The European Semiconductor Industry can only be competitive if it competes in the same local economic and policy environment as the other semiconductor regions in the world.
Large European industrial alliances have been formed to address European competitiveness in the sector. For nearly twenty years, programmes such as JESSI, MEDEA and MEDEA+, and today the new programmes CATRENE and the ENIAC Joint Undertaking have made significant contributions to establishing and maintaining European leadership in nanoelectronics R&D ranging from smart card and image sensing technologies to automotive electronics. They embrace 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 and Public Authorities.
Today, however, they are all raising the same concerns for the future of this crucial sector for Europe.
The Chairman of CATRENE, Enrico Villa, stated that “The common vision of the industry is to reinforce the global competitive position of the European electronic food chain by leveraging its competitive advantages and its local industrial infrastructure”, but he also remindedthat“competitiveness in today’s changing landscape requires adaptation. Europe’s Semiconductor companies and all the associated players are working on this by reassessing their strategies, by forming new alliances for research and by developing new market opportunities linked to social needs with a high technology potential”.
It is important that a common European industrial innovation policy for the entire Semiconductor value chain be established, not only with the collaboration of R&D actors but also with the full support of the European Commission and National States.
As stipulated in the recent “ESIA 2008 Competitiveness Report”, such a policy should redefine technology and business strategies for the Semiconductor industry and include four important pillars: an enlarged effort on R&D and an increase in R&D funding; a renewal in semiconductor manufacturing; the creation of new market opportunities; and a focus on attracting a highly skilled work-force and encouraging more students to complete technological studies. By inciting a clear vision, the semiconductor industry can create new markets and concentrate on maintaining advanced knowledge leadership.
The MEDEA+ programme has proven to be an ideal frame for the integration of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into the industrial landscape. Drawing on the major successes of the MEDEA+ programme, Enrico Villa, Chairman of MEDEA+ and CATRENE, highlighted: "Partner groups in MEDEA+ are quite balanced: one third are large companies, one third universities and institutes and one third are SMEs. The majority of the corresponding 200 SMEs are involved in two or more projects. On average, around 100 SMEs per year have dedicated engineering resources to MEDEA+ projects, with each SME providing between 3 and 5 person-years per year and this throughout the whole 8 years of the MEDEA+ programme. With 51% participation and 45% contribution of involved SME resources, the French SMEs are the champions in this partner group". The Chairman went on to highlight that SMEs are attracted to three work-areas in particular: lithography with 16% of all SME person-years spent, electronic design automation with 21% and next generation CMOS process technology with 29%. He concluded: "During the past two decades, structural changes in the economy have created essential opportunities for SMEs. They are dynamic, flexible and quickly adapt to new situations, employing the advantages of niche markets and frequently aiming at being involved in or even producing specialised products. Most of their innovation power is based on IPs and patents that can be securely exploited within the frame of MEDEA+ projects. We welcome and encourage SMEs to further enhance their engagement in the new CATRENE programme".
SMEs, defined as having fewer than 250 employees and an annual turnover not exceeding 50 M€, are forming a major part of Europe’s economy. Around 23 million SMEs in the European Union are providing some 75 million jobs and represent 99% of all enterprises. SMEs, being the key part of Europe’s industry, are an efficient source for job creation and innovation, and as such are largely contributing to economical welfare and social cohesion.
MEDEA+, the biggest cluster programme in EUREKA, has successfully focused European advanced co-operative Research and Development in micro- and nanoelectronics to ensure Europe’s technological and industrial competitiveness on a world-wide basis. The programme has concentrated on enabling technologies for the Information Society and has significantly contributed in making Europe a leader in System Innovation on Silicon. The programme will conclude at the end of 2008 and will be succeeded by CATRENE, the Cluster for Application and Technology Research in Europe on NanoElectronics
CATRENE MANAGEMENT TEAM COMPLETED CATRENE, the new EUREKA cluster for Application and Technology Research on NanoElectronics announced today that Werner Mohr has been appointed Vice- Chairman for the cluster programme, effective immediately.
Paris, 16 June, 2008 - Werner Mohr, born October 8, 1947 in Prien am Chiemsee, Germany, graduated with a Ph.D. in physics at Munich Technical University. In 1979, he entered the Semiconductor division of Siemens AG and started his career as engineer for process and product engineering, later as head of manufacturing engineering. In 1997, he was appointed Vice President of the Frontends in Munich, Regensburg and Villach/Austria, and of the Mask House in Munich.
With the foundation of Infineon Technologies AG in 1999, Werner Mohr assumed the position of Senior Vice President of Corporate Frontends and was, as such, member in a number of affiliated Supervisory Boards and Boards of Directors outside of Germany. Since 2002, he was nominated member of the SEMI European Advisory Board, and recently member of the SEMI Russian Advisory Committee.
At the end of May 2008, Werner Mohr retired from his active positions in Infineon Technologies. His excellence and his international experience ensure that he will be an essential pillar in the CATRENE organisation and in supporting the European Semiconductor and Electronic Industry.
CATRENE ANNOUNCING FIRST CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS CATRENE, the recently approved EUREKA Cluster for Application and Technology Research on NanoElectronics (∑! 4140) is extending an invitation to Europe’s high tech industry, small and medium sized enterprises as well as research institutes and academia to participate in its first call for project proposals.
Paris, 26 February, 2008 - This first call will open from February 29, 2008 and close on April 23, 2008. Based on a diligent evaluation and project selection process, project labelling is foreseen as of or planned for September 30, 2008.
CATRENE projects are complying with the ambition of Europe’s industry to deliver nano-/microelectronics solutions that respond to the needs of society at large, improving the economic prosperity in Europe and reinforcing the ability of its industry to be at the forefront of the global competition. “In the foreseeable future, the role of electronics and information systems will further increase, as the European society is faced with structural problems such as an ageing population, exploding health care cost, transportation bottlenecks, rising energy costs and the need to increase productivity”, stated Enrico Villa, Chairman of CATRENE, and concluded: ”these societal challenges are major opportunities for Europe’s industry to be the first to address new lead markets”.
CATRENE builds on the success of previous EUREKA programmes (JESSI, MEDEA, and MEDEA+) in fostering the continued development of a dynamic European eco-system with the critical mass necessary to compete at a global level in high technology industries.
Information and guidelines for the preparation of project proposals are accessible on the CATRENE web pages: www.CATRENE.org section Project Calls, where the CATRENE White Book, which forms the working basis for cluster projects, can also be downloaded.
CATRENE APPOINTS NEW MANAGEMENT CATRENE, the recently approved EUREKA Cluster for Application and Technology Research on NanoElectronics, today announced two new members of management:
Paris, 21 February, 2008 - Starting from February 01, Enrico Villa has been appointed CATRENE Chairman, succeeding Jozef Cornu, who had accepted a CEO position in a major international company for imaging systems and IT solutions.
Enrico Villa, born 1941 in Vimercate, Italy, graduated in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration at Milano University. He started his professional career as market analyst, joining thereafter SGS Fairchild, later SGS Thomson, in several key technical and market positions. In 1987, Mr. Villa was appointed Vice President for External Technological Coordination and General Manager of SGS Thomson Microelettronica, the Italian subsidiary of the then newly merged STMicroelectronics. In January 2000, he was promoted Corporate Vice President for the Europe region and took on the mission to reinforce ST’s leading position in sales in Europe. In 2005, he became Executive Vice President in ST’s Corporate Executive Committee. End of 2007, Mr. Villa retired from STMicroelectronics.
Over and above his varied functions in ST, E. Villa has been active in several industry associations: in ECCA, the Italian Association for Electrical and Electronic Companies, or as European Chairman of the Joint Steering Committee of the World Semiconductor Council.
At the same time Jacques Dulongpont has taken over the responsibility as new CATRENE Office Director. Dulongpont, born in 1951, graduated from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA Lyon - France) and from the Institut de Formations Sociales pour Ingénieurs (IEFSI Lille France). In 1977, he started in Thomson CSF Telecommunications (now Thales) as designer for analogue and digital chips and joined Alcatel Mobile Communications in 1988 to build-up a chip design center for development of GSM chip sets. From 1993 onwards, he was assigned to lead the signal processing activities of Alcatel Mobile Communications for wireless modems and audio applications in addition.
With the transition of Alcatel’s chip design activities to STMicroelectronics in 2002, he joined with his team the cellular business unit of STMicroelectronics and was responsible for the design center in Paris.
In 2005 he was promoted to manage on three STMicroelectronics locations architecture-teams for defining applications of multimedia platforms based on the Nomadik chip.
The high profile of the new management, their international experience, knowledge and expertise will ensure that CATRENE will enjoy the same high appreciation as its predecessors JESSI, MEDEA and MEDEA+.
MEDEA+ formally will run until year end 2008 and is managed by the CATRENE management team.
MEDEA+ ENTERS ITS CLOSING YEAR WITH FLYING COLOURS Success paves the way for new European R&D Champion, CATRENE
Budapest, 27 November, 2007 - At the MEDEA+ Annual Forum, held in Budapest on November 26/27, an impressing success story on major achievements in micro- and nanoelectronic innovations was delivered. In the rapidly changing global industrial landscape, Europe’s high-tech industry is exposed to ever-increasing technological, economical and societal challenges but has a clear vision on how to exploit new market opportunities.
Out of the 77 labeled MEDEA+ projects, representing about 20 000 person-years, some 48 projects have already been successfully completed and another 9 projects will finish at year end, while another 20 projects will continue in 2008 or even beyond.
Currently, 465 partner organizations from 22 countries are involved in project consortia and the trans-national nature of MEDEA+ is illustrated by the fact that, on average, partners for a project come from five different countries.
"MEDEA+ is perfectly in line with the planning," commented Jozef Cornu, MEDEA+ Chairman. "It has delivered important results in applications ranging from wireless communications to smart cards and automotive electronics, helping European industry to maintain leading positions in these strategic global industries. These results are a tribute to efficient culture and infrastructure of cooperation developed by MEDEA+ and the preceding MEDEA and JESSI programmes."
To maintain the momentum of the programme, MEDEA+ stakeholders jointly decided in May to launch another call for project proposals. This call resulted in 24 project outlines, clearly demonstrating industry’s continued commitment to substantial investment in Research and Development (R&D). The project evaluation process will finish with the project labeling at the end of 2007. This may top-up required resources of the programme by another 10%. With a programme duration of eight years, MEDEA+ will elapse at the end of 2008.
Chairman Cornu also highlighted the new EUREKA strategic initiative, called CATRENE, "Cluster for Application and Technology Research in Europe on NanoElectronics", launched October 25, 2007. This cluster-programme embodies the ambition of Europe and European companies to deliver nano- and microelectronics solutions that enable "Lighthouse Projects". Lighthouse projects address large and global socioeconomic needs such as transportation, healthcare, security, energy, environment, entertainment and communications. They also reflect a clear vision of the technical challenges and of the expected benefits and economic returns and are at the heart of public needs.
The principal added value of the lighthouse projects will be the ability to create a critical mass in terms of R&D scope, effort, participation and support from public authorities around well-understood societal and technical challenges. Experience has shown that the lighthouse philosophy is the way European leadership positions can be built. From those global lighthouse projects, nanoelectronic applications will be defined with the technologies needed to enable them. "For example, direct communication between objects - the internet of things -", said Jozef Cornu, "will become a reality as more and more objects in our environment become intelligent and generate ever more data."
CATRENE, which will build on the highly successful European MEDEA+ nanoelectronics programme, will start in January 2008, with the first call for project proposals expected in the first half of 2008.
"We are concentrating on lead markets, where nanoelectronics will make the difference, and CATRENE is the Research and Development program that will make those technology and application developments happen", concluded Jozef Cornu.
Taking advantage of experience gained, the same team will manage the overlap between the end of MEDEA+ and the ramp-up of the CATRENE programme to ensure full continuity in research and continued efficiency.
CATRENE PROGRAMME TO SUCCEED MEDEA+ AS EUROPEAN NANOELECTRONICS R&D CHAMPION
Paris, 26 October, 2007 - MEDEA+, the EUREKA pan-European Programme for advanced co-operative Research and Development in Microelectronics, today announced details of the new EUREKA programme called CATRENE (Cluster for Application and Technology Research in Europe on NanoElectronics) that will take 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 Siliconon-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.
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3 February, 2010: CATRENE DUE TO ENHANCE PROJECT PORTFOLIO
Werner Mohr, born October 8, 1947 in Prien am Chiemsee, Germany, graduated with a Ph.D. in physics at Munich Technical University. In 1979, he entered the Semiconductor division of Siemens AG and started his career as engineer for process and product engineering, later as head of manufacturing engineering. In 1997, he was appointed Vice President of the Frontends in Munich, Regensburg and Villach/Austria, and of the Mask House in Munich.
Starting from February 01, Enrico Villa has been appointed CATRENE Chairman, succeeding Jozef Cornu, who had accepted a CEO position in a major international company for imaging systems and IT solutions.
At the same time Jacques Dulongpont has taken over the responsibility as new CATRENE Office Director. Dulongpont, born in 1951, graduated from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA Lyon - France) and from the Institut de Formations Sociales pour Ingénieurs (IEFSI Lille France). In 1977, he started in Thomson CSF Telecommunications (now Thales) as designer for analogue and digital chips and joined Alcatel Mobile Communications in 1988 to build-up a chip design center for development of GSM chip sets. From 1993 onwards, he was assigned to lead the signal processing activities of Alcatel Mobile Communications for wireless modems and audio applications in addition.
