Applied Materials South East Asia Pte. Ltd.) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have further strengthened their collaboration to enhance Singapore's advanced semiconductor research capabilities and talent development opportunities. With the support of the National Research Foundation (NRF), the collaborative project is incorporated into the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 Program (RIE2025). Since its inception in 2018, the Applied Materials-NUS Advanced Materials Corporate Lab at NUS's Kent Ridge campus will be expanded to be equipped with state-of-the-art semiconductor processing equipment and a larger, more advanced cleanroom. In addition, Applied Materials and the National University of Singapore are collaborating on projects to strengthen talent development in Singapore.
Mr Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore and Chairman of the National Research Foundation, attended a ceremony at NUS today to celebrate the new phase, which was also attended by guests from industry, local research ecosystems and government agencies.
"Six years ago, when NUS and Applied Materials first established a corporate lab, we laid the foundation for a collaboration that has been remarkably successful ever since," said Professor Yongjie Chen, President of NUS. "Many of the innovations developed here have moved from the research phase to the scale stage, paving the way for practical applications that benefit society. We look forward to opening a new chapter of collaboration with Applied Materials to further advance semiconductor science and technology and inspire the next generation of innovators to push the boundaries in this important area."
Figure: Applied Materials deepens semiconductor research collaboration with the National University of Singapore (Source: NUS)
Vice President, Business Development & Growth, Semiconductor Products Group, Applied Materials, Ph.D. Satheesh Kuppurao said: "NUS's Advanced Materials Corporate Lab is an example of how industry-academia collaboration can accelerate innovation discovery and commercialization. Our joint work has resulted in several patents related to chemistry, semiconductor processes, and hardware design solutions, as well as several scholarships. Applied Materials looks forward to building on the success with NUS to further advance semiconductor research and talent development opportunities in Singapore."
Located in the Faculty of Design and Engineering and the Faculty of Science at the National University of Singapore, the Applied Materials-NUS Advanced Materials Enterprise Laboratory offers world-class, multidisciplinary R&D capabilities covering applied chemistry, materials science and microelectronic process engineering. The goal of the corporate lab is to accelerate the discovery of new materials that can be quickly translated into commercial applications to manufacture semiconductors for generations to come. The second phase of the Corporate Lab will further enhance NUS's capabilities in the field of microelectronics research, foster innovation, advance the development of cutting-edge technologies, and expand interdisciplinary collaboration. This phase will see the addition of a new cleanroom with state-of-the-art material synthesis and characterization capabilities. Leveraging these enhanced capabilities, Applied Materials & NUS will focus on developing industry-scale solutions to complex semiconductor manufacturing challenges, particularly in integrated process and interface engineering.
As the new phase of the corporate laboratory progresses, professorships in applied materials have also been established at NUS to attract experts in semiconductors, materials science, and other technical fields. In addition, the enhanced capabilities of the corporate laboratory will provide new education and talent development opportunities for undergraduates, postgraduates and professionals in areas such as microelectronics, advanced materials and process engineering, thereby ensuring the University's continued academic leadership in these key areas and contributing to Singapore's overall economic growth and development.
For Applied, the latest phase of collaboration with NUS is part of its 'Singapore 2030 initiative, which aims to enhance the company's manufacturing capabilities, R&D capabilities, technology ecosystem partnerships and workforce development in Singapore.
