Bromont, Quebec - Yesterday the Government of Quebec and the Government of Canada announced a $178 million grant to the Université de Sherbrooke for the establishment of a state-of-the-art microelectronics innovation center to be located in Bromont, Quebec, the semiconductor manufacturing capital of Canada.

The purpose of the project, supported by $83 million from the Canadian Government and $95 million from the Quebec government, is to create a global center of excellence for research and innovation in 200mm based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and 3D Wafer Level Packaging (WLP) as well as advanced technologies associated with the assembly and packaging of silicon chips.

DALSA is excited to be a founding partner in the innovation center along with IBM Canada and Université de Sherbrooke. The initial founding partners, along with various semiconductor equipment suppliers, and others that may join at a later date, will provide financial and in-kind support to the project for ongoing operations.

As a founding partner, DALSA, one of the world's fastest growing suppliers of MEMS foundry services, will assist in the design of the center, and take a lead role in the specification, installation and ongoing operational responsibility for the MEMS and WLP related equipment, which will be among the most advanced in the world for 200 mm MEMS and 3D WLP processing. The prime purpose of the innovation center is to leverage the best from the Canadian and international research community to address industry's most challenging problems. The end goal is technology transfer as well as development of spinoffs. The center has already received letters of interest from universities, research centers and other industrial partners from across Canada and around the world.