December 14, 1998

UCSC to participate in industry-funded center for research on chip design and testing

By Tim Stephens

UCSC is taking part in a new national research network funded by the U.S. semiconductor industry and the federal government to address core issues in technology development.

The network, known as the Focus Center Research Program, will eventually provide $60 million per year in funding to six national focus centers involving the nation's leading research universities. The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced the establishment of the first two focus centers, headed by UC Berkeley and Georgia Institute of Technology.

The UC Berkeley center will bring together researchers from ten universities, including UCSC, to study issues relating to design and testing of computer chips. Wayne Dai, associate professor of computer engineering, will lead UCSC's participation in the consortium. The center will also involve researchers at UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Princeton University, and Stanford University.

The focus centers will conduct exploratory research on silicon-based integrated circuits to address gaps and barriers anticipated in the development of new technologies. The program is intended to support long-range, broad-based research that will generate new approaches to technological challenges. The design and test research will focus on the software programs used to create chips and test semiconductor components to ensure circuits work correctly.

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