BITS Pilani and Rochester in pact to set up semiconductor lab

By siliconindia   |   Friday, 01 April 2005, 20:30 IST
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BANGALORE:Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) and New York-based Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) today said they are setting up an applied research center in Bangalore with active backing of the Indian Semiconductor Association (ISA) to offer professionals in the semiconductor industry advanced skills in high end areas of the industry. The BITS-RIT Apex expected to be launched in three months will offer short term and long-term courses for IT professionals in the semiconductor space, BITS-Pilani Director Maheshwari said. To be set up with an investment of Rs 1.5 crore, the center will have advanced equipment for applied research. Maheshwari said the semiconductor industry in India faces shortage of manpower and the Center’s effort is to groom skilled professionals. Elaborating on the initiative, BITS-Pilani director Prof Maheshwari said, "An industry-academia JV such as this would definitely help the semi-conductor industry where the rate of change of technology keeps changing. Moore's law poses a problem in this sense and so education and training has to be in step with the industry demand." The lab would be an extension of the BITS' existing Oyster's Lab or OLAB. RIT on its part will set up an international RF-Analog research facility as part of the center. RIT RF/Analog/Mixed signal lab director Dr Mukund said, "There is a distinct lack of expertise in the analog and RF domain in India and this poses a big bottleneck for companies to undertake high value work here. The Bangalore center will foster interaction between universities, affiliate companies and RIT researchers." Some of the courses that would be offered at the center include VLSI design, software testing, technical writing, embedded software development and biotechnology. BITS will award credits for the courses and eventually certification.