The ELDORADO Institute develops technological and innovative projects and solutions for national and international companies in the areas of software, hardware, microelectronics, testing, education and consultancy.
ELDORADO recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with INESC TEC. This partnership will focus on R&D activities and human resources training for the creation of an innovation ecosystem at the service of the semiconductors sector, benefiting Brazil and Portugal, while aligning the strategies for this sector with the European agenda and initiatives like the EuroHPC and the EU Chips Act.
Interview
Why did you choose INESC TEC as the Portuguese partner to support ELDORADO in meeting the objectives in terms of microelectronics and microfabrication?
INESC TEC stands out for the significant expertise in microelectronics, microfabrication and HPC, which attracted the interest of the Brazilian Government for an exploratory endeavour. It all started when the Ministries of Science and Technology of Brazil and Portugal expressed mutual interest in establishing a partnership in the semiconductors domain. From that moment on, our delegation – ELDORADO, MCTI and Professor Guido (Unicamp) – strengthened the ties of collaboration, resulting in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between ELDORADO and INESC TEC.
The partnership will focus on R&D activities and HR training for the creation of an innovation ecosystem at the service of the semiconductors sector. What will be the main activities within the scope of this collaboration?
The main goal is exploring Brazil’s current activities in terms of capacity-building in semiconductors, through programmes like PNM, CIBRASIL and the latest INNOVATIVE CI, while seeking theological partnerships in new projects.
How can this collaboration contribute to the creation of an innovation ecosystem at the service of the semiconductors sector?
One of the key challenges in the semiconductors industry lies in the shortage of qualified professionals to perform integrated circuit designs: from initial planning to the encapsulation and testing phase. Through this partnership, we aim not only at the development of advanced technologies, but also at the qualification of a skilled workforce, with the potential to boost the creation of spin-offs and innovative start-ups. Hence, we envision the generation of significant value for the semiconductors ecosystem.
In addition to microelectronics and microfabrication, the MoU signed between INESC TEC and Eldorado establishes activities in areas like advanced computing, AI and data science. What activities are we talking about? And how/when will you implement them?
The interdependence between microelectronics, HPC (High Performance Computing) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly clear. Without the use of HPC supercomputers, AI becomes unfeasible; and without advanced semiconductors, it is impossible to build these supercomputers. Therefore, these three elements are intrinsically connected. We believe that, in addition to their expertise in microelectronics, ELDORADO and INESC TEC could be deeply involved in the development of HPC and AI solutions.
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