European students look ahead after Taiwan IC design program ends

Taipei, July 30 (CNA) Students from 10 European countries have concluded an IC design summer training program in Taiwan organized by the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute (TSRI) that left them impressed and looking to the future.

The program selected European students with some IC design knowledge to come to Taiwan for a month of training in four areas -- analog circuit design, microelectromechanical chip design, silicon photonic chip design, and digital circuit design, the TSRI said.

"It (Taiwan) is the biggest and most advanced semiconductor industry in the world, and I think it's better to ... study in Taiwan than in the USA," Czech student Josef Nagy said during the program's closing ceremony on July 26.

The biggest draws, he said, were Taiwan's advanced technology and its focus on R&D.

"We learned how to calculate, measure, simulate the parameters of the components, how to design the circuit. I think it confirmed my belief, that's what I want to do for living, like analog IC design," he said.

Another program participant, Emanuele Platania from Italy, said it was his curiosity over why Taiwan was able to develop a strong semiconductor industry and companies like TSMC that led him to apply for the summer training program.

Having completed the program, Platania said he has written to professors at National Taiwan University, expressing his desire to pursue a Ph.D. in IC design in Taiwan.

Alexandru Kiraly, a student from Romania, praised the program and said it would help him in his field of research.

"I actually do not have a background in electronics. I study computer science, and I was really surprised at how well the course was organized," he said.

"I learned so much from this that I can transplant it back into my field of research," which Kiraly said was cyber security and artificial intelligence.

After the training program, some of the participants will intern at the Semiconductor Center or companies such as Synopsys and Chroma ATE in Taiwan, according to the TSRI.

At the program's closing ceremony, students received certificates confirming that they completed the training.

TSRI Director General Hou Tuo-hung (侯拓宏) said at the event that this year's IC design course offered a series of lectures, practical projects and corporate internship opportunities to students.

It attracted a total of 79 students from 10 European countries to learn about Taiwan's most advanced semiconductor technology, deepening the bilateral partnership with the support of the National Science and Technology Council's Chip-based Industrial Innovation Program (CBI) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Taiwan-Europe program, Hou said.

Among the 10 countries from which students came were the Czech Republic, Italy, Ukraine, Slovakia, Belarus, Bulgaria, and Spain; and one of those countries that had their representative to Taiwan in attendance was the Czech Republic.

David Steinke, who heads the Czech Economic and Cultural Office Taipei, said Taiwan has achieved an incredible global position after 40 years of hard work.

"I'm very very happy to be here today to see that Taiwan is willing to share some of its knowledge and some of its expertise with its foreign partners," he said.

Marco Lombardi, representative of the Italian Economic, Trade and Cultural Promotion Office, was also in attendance.

"Italy is paying a lot of attention [to semiconductors] and is very happy that there are a number of my fellow nationals here representing Italy and improving their knowledge," he said.

(By Chang Ai, Su Ssu-yun, and interns Meryl Kao, Katherine Kung and Sandy Ye) enditem/ls