Tsinghua University, China's best-known technology university, officially inaugurated the School of Integrated Circuits on April 22 to bring up keenly needed IC talents.
Qiu Yong, President of Tsinghua University, said in his opening ceremony speech: "We will concentrate our high-quality educational resources on the core technologies and accelerate cultivating top-notch innovative talents. We will contribute to advancing international academic research on IC and support the self-dependent innovation in China's IC industry. "
Wu Huaqiang will serve as the first dean of the school. He studied at Tsinghua for bachelor's and Cornell University in the U.S. for a doctorate from 2001-2005. He also had worked at Cypress (now Spansion) for two years before.
Tsinghua University is celebrating its 110th anniversary this year. The establishment of its School of IC marks a new milestone in its microelectronics education and research. It established the semiconductor major in 1956 – one of the earliest in China. Since then, it evolved to have set up the Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics and the Institute of Microelectronics, having a complete IC educational and training system for undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate students. Many graduates have become founders and executives in IC companies, covering the entire industry chain from semiconductor equipment and materials to EDA and IC design, from manufacturing to packaging and testing.
According to the school's press release, the operation of the School of Integrated Circuits will combine the original Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics and the Institute of Microelectronics, covering the entire industry chain. It will have three secondary institutions: the Institute of Integrated Nanoelectronics Science, the Institute of Integrated Circuit Design, and the Institute of Integrated Circuit Manufacturing. The school's focus will be on memory, reconfigurable architecture, EDA, semiconductor equipment, and materials. "We target at core technologies and achieving breakthroughs where China faces cut-throat challenges," Wu said.
