GlobalFoundries, MIT Collaborate to Advance Research and Innovation on Essential Chips for AI

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GlobalFoundries (GF) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced a new master research agreement to jointly pursue advancements and innovations for enhancing the performance and efficiency of critical semiconductor technologies. The collaboration will be led by MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) and GF’s research and development team, GF Labs.

With an initial research focus on AI and other applications, the first projects are expected to leverage GF’s differentiated silicon photonics technology, which monolithically integrates RF SOI, CMOS and optical features on a single chip to realize power efficiencies for datacenters, and GF’s 22FDX® platform, which delivers ultra-low power consumption for intelligent devices at the edge.

“The collaboration between MIT MTL and GF exemplifies the power of academia-industry cooperation in tackling the most pressing challenges in semiconductor research,” said Tomás Palacios, MTL Director and Clarence J. LeBel Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Palacios will serve as the MIT faculty lead for this research initiative.

“By bringing together MIT’s world-renowned capabilities with GF’s leading semiconductor platforms, we are positioned to drive significant research advancements in GF’s essential chip technologies for AI,” said Gregg Bartlett, chief technology officer at GF. “This collaboration underscores our commitment to innovation and highlights our dedication to developing the next generation of talent in the semiconductor industry. Together, we will research transformative solutions in the industry.”

“Integrated circuit technologies are the core driving a broad spectrum of applications ranging from mobile computing and communication devices to automotive, energy, and cloud computing,” said Anantha P. Chandrakasan, dean of MIT’s School of Engineering, chief innovation and strategy officer, and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “This collaboration allows MIT’s exceptional research community to leverage GlobalFoundries’s wide range of industry domain experts and advanced process technologies to drive exciting innovations in microelectronics across domains—while preparing our students to take on leading roles in the workforce of the future.”

The new master research agreement was formalized at a signing ceremony on campus at MIT. It builds upon GF’s successful past and ongoing engagements with the university. GF serves on MTL’s Microsystems Industrial Group (MIG), which brings together industry and academia to engage in research. MIT faculty are active participants in GF’s University Partnership Program focused on joint semiconductor research and prototyping. Additionally, GF and MIT collaborate on several workforce development initiatives, including through the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition, a U.S. Department of Defense Microelectronics Commons Hub.