Apple joins imec research program to assist companies reach a net zero carbon footprint by 2030 while potentially tapping into 3D chip technologies
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Imec is a world-leading research and innovation center in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. Imec leverages its state-of-the-art R&D infrastructure and its team of more than 5,000 employees and top researchers, for R&D in advanced semiconductor and system scaling, silicon photonics, artificial intelligence, 3D systems-on-chip [like TSMC 3DFabric], beyond 5G communications and sensing technologies, and in application domains such as health and life sciences and perhaps most interestingly, advanced pedestrian detection using radar-video sensor fusion and automatic tone mapping which could assist Apple's Project Titan.
The research in advanced chip technologies could possibly assist with future chip designs beyond Apple's advanced M1 Pro and M1 Max processors today.
Yesterday, Imec, a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, announces that Apple Inc. has joined imec’s brand-new Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies and Systems (SSTS) research program. The SSTS program is the first initiative rallying stakeholders from across the IC value chain to anticipate the environmental impact of choices made at chip technology’s definition phase. Using concrete and reliable models, and detailed (carbon) footprint analyses, the program will help the IC-making industry cut back on its ecological footprint – as part of the global fight against climate change, resources depletion and pollution.
IC technology is a fundamental enabler of our 21st century, digital lifestyles. It is the secret sauce behind cutting-edge innovations such as the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning and cloud computing applications. But it is also an essential component of countless 'everyday' objects. Think of cars, washing machines, smartphones, etc.
Creating a Snowball Effect – Backed by Apple
Luc Van den hove, CEO of imec: "Many systems companies are carbon neutral today for their corporate footprints and have expressed the ambition to have their entire carbon footprint to net zero by 2030. They are very committed to achieving that goal, yet often lack the data to decipher the IC part end-to-end. That is where imec comes in. We have that data, and are ready to support the industry with all necessary insights, tools, instruments and numbers."
Hove added, "Moreover, companies realize they can only become carbon neutral if their whole supply chain follows suit. So, that is the snowball effect we want to create – together with Apple – today: I would like to call upon the whole semiconductor value chain not to stand at the side, but to act as one and to join forces with us to cut back the entire semiconductor industry’s ecological footprint."
On Wednesday, Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple announces it has more than doubled the number of suppliers committed to using 100 percent clean energy over the last year+."
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