Semiconductor manufacturer Infineon is setting up a new development center in Germany to cope with the demand of innovation in microelectronics that electrified and autonomous vehicles bring with them.
Initially, the new center should create 100 additional jobs in Dresden when it opens later this year, with 150 more to follow in the medium term. Development work will focus on products and solutions for automotive and power electronics, as well as artificial intelligence.
“Microelectronics is responsible for around 90% of all innovations in the car. Semiconductors are a prerequisite for electromobility and autonomous driving, trends that are major growth drivers for Infineon,” said Dr Reinhard Ploss, CEO of Infineon Technologies.
“Algorithms, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things play a key part in the increasing networking of traffic systems. The new development center will also address those issues intensively.”
“The State Government of Saxony offers us ideal conditions to do business in Dresden,” said Mathias Kamolz, managing director of Infineon Technologies Dresden. “We can also leverage a broad network of suppliers, universities, research establishments and public institutions in Saxony. The new development center will help Infineon enhance its development expertise in Dresden and deepen its successful collaboration with local partners.”
In Dresden, the Infineon Group already has one of its largest and most cutting-edge locations for developing wafer technologies and manufacturing processes, as well as a highly automated production plant; 2,200 employees carry out research and develop technologies for microcontrollers, sensors and power semiconductors and make chips – including for the automotive industry.
System integration is increasingly enabling complex interaction between semiconductors in more and more technically sophisticated cars. Modeling complex systems and developing highly integrated products will be one of the new development center’s core tasks in addition to chip design.