PENANG, 22 January 2021 – Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has entered into a partnership with Infineon Technologies Kulim to collaborate on the Research of Fundamental Characterization of Process Chemicals and Materials for Silicon Wafer Fabrication. 

The partnership was sealed through a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signing ceremony, conducted virtually between both parties on 20 January 2021 due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) travel restrictions imposed nationwide.

USM was represented by its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dr. Faisal Rafiq Mahamd Adikan while signing on behalf of Infineon Technologies Kulim was its Vice President and Chief Finance Officer, Dato' Peter Halm.

Under the MoA, Infineon Technologies Kulim will provide a research grant to the USM School of Chemical Sciences and School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering.

According to Faisal Rafiq: “USM is thankful to Infineon Technologies Kulim for providing the research grant. I believe with the vast experience and expertise that both Schools have in the related field, this collaboration may seamlessly provide a good platform for both organizations to explore and develop novel characterization strategies to resolve industrial needs.

“Although we are facing numerous challenges not only in Malaysia but globally, we are cautiously optimistic of future perspective and looking forward to further strengthening the collaboration with Infineon Technologies Kulim,” he said.

He added that USM is also committed to forging more industrial collaborations and also creating new ones by forming start-ups. It is therefore increasingly important to have university-industry partnerships in order to keep abreast of the latest developments and trends within the context of IR 4.0.

Peter Halm said: “As the global semiconductor industry continuously accelerates technology advancement, there is a strong need to build an industry-ready talent pipeline to support the needs in Industry 4.0, Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics not just for the benefit of Infineon but also for Malaysia as a whole.”

“The collaboration between Infineon Technologies and USM will synchronize development within a specific field of knowledge between Industry and academia for globally connected and highly automated wafer fabrication facilities.

“Combination of industrial and academic expertise will bring great benefit and support our mission in making life easier, safer, and greener for everyone,” he said.

Infineon Technologies Kulim Vice President of Technology and R&D, Dr. Raj Kumar added: “Developing world-class R&D and innovation capability is crucial for the future of any country. Over the years we have developed one of the biggest frontend semiconductor technologies R&D team in Malaysia by training and upskilling Malaysian engineers.”

“The team is now developing multiple advance technologies for Electric Vehicles, Energy Efficiency and Internet of Things. The collaboration between Infineon and USM will further strengthen our ongoing R&D talent pipeline building efforts,” he further explained.

USM’s relationship with Infineon Technologies Kulim began in the mid-2000s with Infineon lending academic support to the undergraduates at the School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering at our Engineering Campus, and later sponsoring the studies of a few postgraduate students from the School.

This was further expanded to a research collaboration between the School of Chemical Sciences and Infineon in 2017. Since then, the number of research projects have grown over the years and have now involved several lecturers from both the aforementioned Schools.

Among those from the USM School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering who attended were its Dean, Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Syed Fuad Saiyid Hashim; and Project Leader, Professor Ir. Dr. Cheong Kuan Yew, while the USM School of Chemical Sciences was represented by its Dean, Professor Dr. Rohana Adnan. Also in attendance were the deputy deans and researchers from both Schools and the senior management team of Infineon Technologies Kulim.

Infineon employs over 12,000 employees in Malaysia. Infineon Technologies Kulim is the company's first and only fab facility in Asia and positioned as the competence centre for megatrend technologies focusing on automotive, energy efficiency and Sensors for Internet of Things with a headcount of close to 2,900 employees.

Text: Tan Ewe Hoe & Mohamad Hafiz Asyraf (MPRC intern)/Photo: Mohd Fairus Md Isa & Mazilifah Mohd Razak (Infineon Technologies Kulim)