The Generalitat Minister of Business and Labour meets with the IMB-CNM team to discuss the PERTE Chip
Roger Torrent, Minister of Business and Labour of the Generalitat of Catalonia, visited today the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona and its Clean Room, to hold a meeting with the Management team and talk about the Catalan semiconductor ecosystem and the possibilities of PERTE Chip in the territory.
The Minister of Business and Labour of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Roger Torrent, visited this morning the facilities of the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona, headquarters of the National Centre for Microelectronics, of the CSIC, on the UAB Campus. He has met with the center’s Management team and has entered the Micro and Nanofabrication Clean Room, a unique facility in Catalonia where chips can be manufactured. At the meeting, it was highlighted the strategic nature of this space and of the IMB-CNM in the PERTE Chip (Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation of Microelectronics and Semiconductors).
The IMB is the largest national center within its area and also one of the few that has received the most income in the field of microelectronics in the European Horizon 2020 projects.
Torrent, accompanied by his chief of staff, Jordi Martínez, has been received by the Management team of the IMB-CNM, headed by the director Luis Fonseca, the Vice-rector for Innovation, Transfer and Entrepreneurship of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Rosa M. Sebastián, and the institutional Delegate of the CSIC in Catalonia, Luis Calvo. First, they held a meeting to talk about the latest developments in microelectronics, the many possibilities offered by the Clean Room and the role of the IMB-CNM in the new European design and manufacturing ecosystem.
Afterwards, the Minister toured the Micro and Nanofabrication Clean Room, recognized as a Unique Scientific and Technological Infrastructure (ICTS, seal of the Ministry of Science and Innovation). Torrent has been able to see first-hand how this facility works, one of the largest in southern Europe, with 1,500 square meters dedicated to research and development in micro and nanofabrication of semiconductors. The space is considered a strategic asset in the PERTE Chip, since it has specialized personnel and a track record of more than 30 years.
The PERTE funds represent a transforming impact for the technology industry and they will contribute to the autonomy of Catalonia and the European Union in terms of micro and nanoelectronics and, ultimately, in technological sovereignty.