STMicroelectronics and Politecnico di Milano partner on R&D center for sensors

STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor provider, and Politecnico di Milano, a scientific-technological university that trains engineers, architects, and industrial designers, have committed to a five-year collaboration agreement. The announcement was made in the presence of Italy’s Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti.

At the heart of the agreement is the establishment of a joint research center on advanced materials for sensors (STEAM), leveraging the long-standing collaboration between ST and Politecnico.

The joint research center has been created to give professors, researchers, and PhDs a unique opportunity in Italy. This includes the means to conceive, design, and develop MEMS technology and to create new MEMS products.

The agreement will allow the Politecnico di Milano to become even more attractive for talented academics, offering multiple doctoral scholarships and positions for professors and researchers in four areas of common interest and in the related materials sector. The expansion of the existing collaboration will allow the further development of the center of excellence dedicated to cutting-edge sensors in Lombardy.

“This agreement between ST and the Politecnico di Milano will be a key contributor to our MEMS and sensors research and development operations,” said Jean-Marc Chéry, president and CEO of STMicroelectronics. “It is a great example of what can be done within the framework of ST’s global approach to cooperative research with universities and research bodies: supporting leading technology and engineering ecosystems where ST is present, developing talent, and building the future together.”

ST is a global provider in MEMS and advanced sensors, with more than 15 billion MEMS sold to date. The core of its global MEMS R&D operations is in Lombardy, close to Milan. The agreement will also contribute to fuel ST’s research and development roadmap in advanced sensors, MEMS and analog as the teams investigate and develop technologies and skills to future business needs in areas — including advanced MEMS, motion control, power electronics, and galvanic isolation.

The agreement also provides for an infrastructure upgrade for the Politecnico di Milano, starting with the construction of a state-of-the-art 200mm pilot line, which is in addition to the current 150mm line of the PoliFab clean room. Dedicated to the development of new MEMS technologies, the new pilot line will be used to support research projects, training, and thesis elaboration.

“This investment also aims at innovating for the manufacturing sector, driver of the Italian economy,” according to Rector of Politecnico di Milano Ferruccio Resta. “The laboratory, open to companies, is part of an ambitious project to create a real innovation district in the Parco dei Gasometri in Bovisa (a neighborhood of Milan). Here a real world-class ecosystem will develop, capable of competing with the best efforts abroad.”