New phase will include larger, more advanced cleanroom, establishment of a Professorship at NUS, and new programmes for talent development
Mr Brian Tan (left), Regional President (South East Asia), Applied Materials, presenting a cheque to NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye (right) for the establishment of the new Applied Materials Professorship at NUS. The aim is to attract experts in semiconductors, materials science and other technology fields
Applied Materials South East Asia Pte. Ltd. and the National University of Singapore (NUS) are furthering their collaboration to bring advanced semiconductor research capabilities and talent development opportunities to Singapore. Supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 (RIE2025) plan, the Applied Materials-NUS Advanced Materials Corporate Lab – established in 2018 and located on the NUS Kent Ridge campus – will be expanded with state-of-the-art semiconductor process equipment in a larger, more advanced cleanroom. In addition, Applied Materials and NUS are collaborating on programmes designed to strengthen Singapore’s talent pipeline.
Mr Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of NRF, was the Guest-of-Honour at a ceremony held today at NUS marking the new phase of the Corporate Lab. Guests from the industry, local research ecosystem and government agencies attended the event.
Hosted at the College of Design and Engineering and the Faculty of Science at NUS, the Applied Materials-NUS Advanced Materials Corporate Lab offers world-class, multi-disciplinary R&D capabilities that span applied chemistry, materials science and microelectronics process engineering. The goal of the Corporate Lab is to accelerate discovery of new materials that can be quickly transferred into commercial applications for manufacturing future generations of semiconductors.
The second phase of the Corporate Lab will elevate the well-established microelectronics research capabilities at NUS to new heights by fostering innovation, accelerating the development of cutting-edge technologies and expanding interdisciplinary collaboration. It will include a new cleanroom in NUS with state-of-the-art materials synthesis and characterisation capabilities. Utilising these enhanced capabilities, Applied Materials and NUS will focus on developing industry-scale solutions to complex semiconductor manufacturing challenges, with an emphasis on integrated processes and interface engineering.