New Research Group: AT&S Strengthens Microelectronics at TU Graz

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AT&S is setting another strategic milestone for the technological future of Europe and is funding the establishment of a new research group at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in the field of microelectronics with a focus on IC substrates and advanced packaging technologies. The new research area combines expertise from three institutes of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at TU Graz. The aim is the sustainable development of an interdisciplinary field of research and education that focuses on those technologies that make modern microchips powerful, efficient and applicable.

The research group, financed by AT&S for a period of five years, will be anchored at the Institute of Electronics, the Institute of Electrical Drives and Power Electronic Systems and the Institute of High Frequency Technology at Graz University of Technology. Outstanding scientific personalities are being sought for two PhD and one PostDoc position as well as a career professorship to build up the research area. Together they should form an internationally visible research group that develops innovative approaches for IC substrates and advanced packaging technologies. In addition to research, involvement in teaching and the promotion of young talent are key elements of the initiative.

With this step, AT&S is consistently pursuing a long-term research and development strategy: following the opening of the first European competence center for research, development and IC substrate production in Leoben (“Hinterberg 3”) last year, the company is now also strengthening university research. The close integration of industrial practice, cutting-edge research and training is thus being further intensified.

Research for the next generation of microelectronics

The new research area focuses on advanced packaging technologies and IC substrates, a field of knowledge that is rapidly gaining in importance worldwide and is indispensable for high-performance computers, artificial intelligence, networked industrial systems and applications in mobility and medical technology. IC substrates form the technological platform on which modern chips can develop their full potential, even if the requirements for computing power, miniaturization and energy efficiency continue to increase.

“This research initiative is a targeted investment in our technological future,” says Peter Griehsnig, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of AT&S. “Since semiconductor chips alone can no longer enable rapid progress, microelectronics must now be considered as a complete system. Only in combination with highly developed substrates and packaging technologies the full innovation potential of microelectronics can be exploited. It is precisely this complementary knowledge that we want to systematically expand together with TU Graz.”

Graz University of Technology also emphasizes the importance of the initiative: “The close interlinking of scientific excellence and industrial innovative strength brings new technologies into application much faster,” says Horst Bischof, Rector of Graz University of Technology. “The common goal of AT&S and TU Graz is to make systems with integrated circuits more powerful, more compact, more reliable and more energy-efficient. With this initiative, we are jointly taking an important step towards strengthening Europe’s technological sovereignty and the competitiveness of the location in the long term.”