Mobile phone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) plans to launch its first semiconductor chip facility in the US midwest with support from a state transition assistance package from the Indiana Economic Development Commission, the company said on Tuesday.
MediaTek unveiled the new talent development initiative during the SelectUSA Investment Summit in National Harbor, Maryland, following in the steps of silicon wafer manufacturer GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), which on Monday announced an investment of US$5 billion for an advanced 12-inch factory in Texas.
MediaTek said in a statement that it intends to form new research partnerships with Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, to collaborate on developing engineering talent, and research on next-generation computing and communications chip design.
Photo: RITCHIE B. TONGO, EPA
The center would be on the university’s campus, the company said.
It has been working with US universities for more than a decade, but this is the first time it has made such a strong commitment that includes a new MediaTek design team on campus, the firm said.
MediaTek operates eight offices in the US, it said.
“We believe strongly that being in Indiana means we will have access to some of the best engineering talent in the world,” MediaTek USA president Lawrence Loh (陸國宏) said in the statement. “In the post-[COVID-19]-pandemic world, top candidates tell us they want to be closer to home, near family, and they want to have a real house and great schools. Indiana offers all that and more.”
MediaTek said it aims to employ as many as 30 top engineers in West Lafayette by 2025 and up to 10 graduate student interns, with the first interns expected to join the new chip design center in May next year.
Globally, MediaTek invested more than US$3.5 billion in research and development last year.
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