Semiconductor innovations receive French Star of Europe award
The French government has awarded the EU-funded REFERENCE project the Étoile de l’Europe (Star of Europe) prize for its significant contribution to the field of telecommunications. The award was granted in recognition of the project’s innovations in the area of silicon-on-insulator technology for high-performance radio frequency applications. France’s Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation Frédérique Vidal awarded the REFERENCE consortium, saluting “the emergence of a strong European network, which underpins France’s role as a motor of Europe’s technological autonomy,” according to a press release posted on the website of the French semiconductor designer and manufacturer Soitec. “The joint achievements drive the next generation of semiconductor technologies enabling new solutions for 5G and paving the way for further collaboration and hiring’s [sic] opportunities in Europe,” said Vidal in the press release. Led by Soitec, the multidisciplinary REFERENCE team included semiconductor manufacturers, telecommunications companies, aerospace corporations, universities and research organisations from five European countries: Belgium, Germany, Ireland, France and Portugal.
Support from European public-private partnership
The REFERENCE project was supported by the Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership Joint Undertaking (ECSEL JU), an EU-driven public-private partnership funding research and innovation in nanoelectronics and embedded and smart computer systems. “Our successful and ongoing participation in the European ECSEL program helps us to maintain our pole position in telecommunications,” commented Soitec’s CEO Paul Boudre in the same news item. “It showcases our capacity to translate semiconductor innovations into full-fledged ecosystems and gear them up to end consumer application levels. We pursue the new ECSEL initiatives, in particular BEYOND5, to further enhance the adoption of our technologies, and we remain committed to Europe’s objective to foster environmental sustainability and technological sovereignty.” The project has helped to further the ECSEL JU’s goal of growing Europe’s semiconductor and smart systems manufacturing capability. As stated in the press release, the ECSEL JU’s Executive Director Bert De Colvenaer praised the consortium, noting: “This is exactly what we at ECSEL JU dream of: a sequence of projects, independently selected out of the calls for proposals based on the highest excellence, biggest impact and perfect implementation, building upon each other to deliver unique and important ‘Made in Europe’ technologies used on a worldwide scale. We highly appreciate that one of our projects has been awarded this trophy: it proves again that ‘thinking together, working together, and investing together’ at European scale really does deliver!” The disruptive technology developed by REFERENCE (Rf Engineered substrates to FostER fEm performaNCE) has applications in the cellular, automotive and aviation fields. The project’s achievements are helping to further next-generation connectivity that is compatible with 4G+ and 5G standards. They are furthermore paving the way for safer and more interactive transportation systems in Europe. The 4-year project ended in 2019. For more information, please see: REFERENCE project website
Keywords
REFERENCE, ECSEL, semiconductor, telecommunications, award, Étoile de l’Europe
