CITC is full of ambitious plans for 2020

The CITC is a research center in Nijmegen for chip packaging and integration technology. Science and business combined build a bridge between research and new technological products. This is done in collaboration with the participating companies NXP, Ampleon and Nexperia and with financial support from the municipality of Nijmegen and the province of Gelderland. The CITC formally started in July 2019, Peet started on October 1.  

CITC plans for 2020

"You have to see this phase as the start of a start-up," says Peet. “Recently, the main focus was on filling vacancies. Most people start on January 1, 2020. Then we have 15 people in total." The last few months have also been used to prepare the office on the Novio Tech Campus. “The lab is partly set up. It should be fully functional in the first quarter of next year." says Peet. Then the on-site research really starts, but that does not mean that nothing has happened yet: “We have already started with the first program lines. For example, some people have recently worked for us from the TU in Delft, because there are more facilities there. Soon they will also come and work in Nijmegen."     In 2019, the CITC received the aspiring Fieldlab status. Fieldlabs are places where companies and knowledge institutions come up with, develop, test and implement new smart solutions in daily practice. There are now more than forty in the Netherlands. “Everything is ready for the official Fieldlab status. We meet the criteria and only have to choose the right time," Peet explains. “This status is important: it is a signal that is very useful for connecting with SMEs. We also want to collaborate with other Field Labs.”  

"Together with The Economic Board we want to make a link between the semiconductor industry and the expertise in AI of the Radboudumc"

 

The region

Peet considers the CITC important for the region. “The customers are all still in Nijmegen, because this is of course a region where the semiconductor industry is very strongly represented. However, we do not only focus on this region: new customers will often come from outside Nijmegen and outside the Netherlands. However, this means that we remain important for the Nijmegen region, because this is how we attract people and business to Nijmegen and thus ensure even more activity around semiconductors in the region.”   CITC will officially celebrate its opening on 5 March 2020. It has a number of goals for the remainder of the coming year. “Together with HAN, we are developing a course that will start in the second quarter of 2020. Talent development is an important pillar," says Peet. “We also want to organize a major international packaging event at the end of next year. Together with The Economic Board we also want to make a link between the semiconductor industry and the expertise in AI (Artificial Intelligence, ed.) Of the Radboudumc. We think that AI can ensure the optimization of products in our industry."   This article has been written and published by The Economic Board.