The Electronics KTN introduces our “Grand Challenges” Series of events aimed at promoting to industry the microelectronic design themes and the ‘grand challenges’ that were identified by the UKs leading academics.

Background

This event series was inspired by the work that was conducted under the initiative “Developing a Common Vision for UK Research in Microelectronic Design” supported by EPSRC Network Grant EP/D054028/1.

Following a series of meetings under the heading of “Developing a Common Vision for UK research in Microelectronic Design”, latterly funded by the EPSRC under a Network Grant of the same name, a strong consensus emerged that the subject is centred around a number of core technologies and that these can be focussed coherently under a set of Grand Challenges. An open call for Grand Challenge proposals yielded a set of strawman outlines that were discussed in detail at a 2-day meeting hosted by the University of Loughborough on 28-29 September 2006. These were refined into four Grand Challenges, described in detail in the final report from the project.

Exposure to industry

The original objective of defining these Grand Challenges was to develop a consensus as to where the major research challenges lie in the academic research community, and thereby to encourage greater coherence, communication and collaboration across the research community. The project leaders expected this to lead to an increase in the quantity and quality of microelectronic design research proposals.

With this series of events, the Electronics KTN will build upon this objective to engage industry participation and discussion, stimulating a greater level of dialogue and collaboration between industry and academia, and ultimatley knowledge transfer.

The Event Programme

			Grand Challenges Introduction: 28th March, Kensington Close Hotel, London An introduction to the project, its aims and achievements
			µGC1: Batteries Not Included: 16th July, Millbrook Technology Campus, Southampton (sponsored by NXP Semiconductors) Minimising the energy demands of electronics
			µGC2: Silicon Meets Life: 4th Sept, Chancellors Hotel and Conference Center, Manchester Interfacing electronics to biology
			µGC3: Moore for Less: 30th Sept, Computer Labs, Cambridge. Performance-driven design for next generation chip technology
			µGC4: Building Brains: 17th Sept, Edinburgh University. Neurologically-inspired electronic systems
Presentation materials from these events are available via the Grand Challenges SIG portal NOTE: You must be a member of the SIG to access the presentation materials
			VISIT THE GRAND CHALLENGES SIG PORTAL

This series of five events opens with an introductory event aimed at setting the stage and exposing the academic work already conducted in this area to a mostly industrial commercial audience. This introductory event will be followed by a series of four one-day seminar/workshop sessions in which we will showcase academic research from around the UK and discuss ideas for further academic and industry-academic research.

The Desired Outcomes

By bringing together a representation from UK academia with a similar representation from UK industry, the EKTN hopes to stimulate the identification of further academic research projects that could be funded by EPSRC. We also hope that the events may stimulate some industry-academia collaborations. Building on the platform of these events we hope to establish a community of UK industry that has an interest in influencing the shape of research in this area and can ultimately provide a response to this project in the form of a set of “unmet needs” from an industry perspective. We will use these events to build that community and gather volunteers to participate in such a forum.

Who Should Come to this Event Series?

Are you interested in discovering more about trends in cutting-edge microelectronics technology?

Could your company benefit from influencing the research conducted in some of the UK’s universities, or even jointly participating in that research?

Is your company developing technology related to one of the Grand Challenges themes?

If you can answer yes to any of these questions then you should come to this event

We are expecting to attract the following groups of people to this event programme:

• Senior management of SMEs and large companies involved in the electronics industry who would like to have some influence over the research conducted in UK universities.
• Senior technical staff of SMEs and large companies interested in learning about the research being conducted in UK universities
• SMEs developing technology in related areas
• Investors in related technology areas
• Journalists
• University staff interested in engaging with SMEs and large enterprises