UM joins agreement to drive Malta’s semiconductor innovation

The Malta Semiconductor Competence Centre (MSCC) has been officially launched. This is part of an ongoing initiative to grow the country’s presence in the global semiconductor value chain.

The University of Malta, together with other institutions, signed an agreement to officially launch the Malta Semiconductor Competence Centre to strengthen Malta’s role as a ‘European hub for semiconductor innovation’. The strands of the program that will help achieve this will be through advanced research in chip design, support for start-ups through programs like ChipStartEU, and bringing on the next generation of talent.

“The MSCC adds another piece to the growth [of Europe].” Malta’s Minister for the Economy, Enterprise and Strategic Projects, Silvio Schembri, said at the launch, “Today’s launch is a strategic investment in Malta’s future. Malta may be small, but our ambitions are limitless."

A visit to the University of Malta’s Engineering Research and Innovation Lab, coordinated by Malta Enterprise and the Department of Electronic Systems (Mr Andre Micallef, academic at the Department of Electronic Systems, and Mr Thomas Galea, CEO of ICECAP Systems, a University of Malta spin-off), highlighted how research and knowledge transfer are being shaped by the need to develop materials and make processes more efficient in semiconductor manufacturing.

The visit began with a tour of the manufacturing labs and ongoing collaborative projects with ST, based in the new ERIL labs (Airsave, Maliti3d), the group then toured the Electronic Systems labs in the same building, with demonstrations of the assembly, RF, and EMC facilities. A discussion followed on projects such as Rocksense, Astrea, and the Memento project, along with research into FPGA development, chip-to-chip communication, and high frame-rate imaging. Editor of EE Times, Mr Nitin Dahad conducted an interview with Mr Micallef and Mr Galea, covering ICECAP’s technology, its applications, and the journey towards commercialisation, with the visit concluding at the Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics, where Prof. Ing. Nicholas Sammut showcased the department’s work in MEMS, MOEMS, and chip design.

However, chip design is also a key part of the agenda at UM. Prof. Inġ. Joseph Micallef, Director of the University Semiconductor Competence Centre, highlighted UM’s role in the MSCC, having received around €1.5 million of the €8 million project to address Malta’s skills shortage in IC design, and supporting the growth and development of fabless chip design activity. The facilities include labs for research and development in wireless sensor networks, MEMS sensors and actuators, and other related areas, as well as electronic design, simulation, and prototyping tools.

An access to ICECAP was also given which is an award-winning research project that developed an efficient cooling technology with precision control-based Peltier modules. The company has raised around €400k to date through various research grants, filed for and been granted two patents (with a third one on thermal isolation in the works), and hopes to benefit from joining the Silicon Catalyst incubator program with essential skills to help grow the business from research into a commercial venture and receive funding.