Baden-Württemberg attracts imec to lead development of chiplet-based technology for automotive applications

Luc Van de hofe and Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut

Imec, a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, and the State Government of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, today announced, at the Hannover Trade Fair, the launch of the Advanced Chip Design Accelerator (ACDA). The new imec competence center in Baden-Württemberg (Southwest of Germany) will develop state-of-the-art chiplet, packaging, system integration, sensing, and (edge) AI technology as part of imec’s Automotive Chiplet Program (ACP). By adding this complementary expertise to imec’s existing automotive R&D offering, the new competence center will be able to better support the local and international automotive industry in derisking and accelerating the introduction of automotive chiplets into manufacturing.
The Minister-Presidents of Baden-Württemberg and Flanders have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last year to intensify the cooperation in the field of microelectronics. With the announcement today a big milestone has been reached in presence of Minister-President of Flanders Matthias Diependaele, Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann and representatives of academia and industry.

The Advanced Chip Design Accelerator is part of a chip-design strategy of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg. The project is embedded in the European’s Commission strategy to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty. The competence center is financially supported by Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism of Baden-Württemberg with 40 million euros, initially for a period of five years. It will be located at the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (IPAI) in Heilbronn, Germany.

The new center’s objective responds to the emerging shift from traditional chip technologies towards chiplet-based compute architectures in automotive, a technology more suited to enabling demanding functionalities such as autonomous driving and enhanced in-cabin experience. Chiplets are modular chips specifically designed to perform specialized functions, facilitating rapid customization and upgrades, while reducing power consumption, development time and cost. The project also meets the strategic goal of the European Commission to launch the European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance. 

Furthermore, the State of Baden-Württemberg will support the chip-ecosystem with an additional 5 million euros for a network office and the support for scientific cooperation on chiplet technologies, headed by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Luc Van den hove, President and CEO of imec: “We are excited to bring our expertise and global partner network to the state of Baden-Württemberg, the cradle of the automotive industry in Germany. We also look forward to expanding our collaboration with Fraunhofer to leverage on our complementary expertise and lay the foundation for future chiplet solutions. To realize the region's ambitions, we will also focus on growing the talent pipeline across Europe by training engineers in close collaboration with the local ecosystem, including universities. In addition, we aim to expand the developed high-performance computing solutions to the European level, thus contributing to the acceleration of innovation in the European automotive industry with unique and distinctive building blocks.”

Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann: “We are delighted to warmly welcome imec as a cutting-edge research institution with their new competence center in in Baden-Württemberg. As one of the most innovative regions in the world, with a strong automotive industry and with high expertise in AI, Baden-Württemberg and imec are a perfect match. A big thank you also goes to the Flemish government - today is a milestone in our cooperation. And with our innovative partners like the Fraunhofer Institute, KIT (Karlsruher Institute of Technology), CyberValley or University of Stuttgart and many other partners from academia and industry, we are boosting innovation for the new generation of automotive chips made in Europe. Strengthening our core competencies in chips, software and AI is crucial for Europe’s sovereignty.”

Minister-President of Flanders Matthias Diependaele: “A Flemish legacy, a global future. Imec, with its roots in Flanders, has a globally strong reputation in digital technology. This international collaboration with Baden-Württemberg is essential to maintaining imec's technological leadership. The groundbreaking innovation that this research hub demonstrates in various application areas only further strengthens the economic fabric for both regions."

Thomas Strobl, Deputy Minister President and Minister of the Interior, Digitalisation and Local Government of Baden-Württemberg: "Especially in these times we must strengthen Europe technologically and ensure our technological sovereignty. That is precisely what we are doing by establishing imec in Baden-Württemberg. The cluster will be a technology booster with an impact far beyond the region – strengthening Europe's technological sovereignty. Baden-Württemberg is Europe's powerhouse of innovation and, with the Innovation Park AI in Heilbronn, offers the best conditions. We owe this to the ingenuity and diligence, the courage and entrepreneurial spirit of the people in our state."

Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism of the State of Baden-Württemberg: “High-performance chips are playing an important role for software-driven applications in core industries in Baden-Württemberg and are increasingly shaping mobility, artificial intelligence and digitalization. With the establishment of imec in Baden-Württemberg, we are creating an internationally visible center of excellence that will significantly accelerate business-oriented research and development of chip-based innovations, particularly in the automotive industry, together with start-ups, industry and research in the region and beyond.”

Petra Olschowski, Minister of Research and Science of the State of Baden-Württemberg: “Imec operates based on principles that have yielded excellent results in research and in the transfer of technology to industry. We are convinced that integrating imec into our excellent and diverse research landscape will lead to a very promising long-term collaboration. In particular, the connection to the planned “Landesgraduiertenzentrum” (Graduate School) in Heilbronn will generate major synergy effects. We aim to offer the best talents in their field an outstanding scientific environment to realize their ideas”