Situated in Belgium, in the heart of Western Europe, KU Leuven has been a center of learning for nearly six centuries. Today, it is Belgium's largest university and, founded in 1425, one of the oldest and most renowned universities in Europe. As a leading European research university and co-founder of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), KU Leuven offers degree programs at campuses in 11 Belgian cities, including Brussels, Ghent and Antwerp and a wide variety of international master’s programs; all supported by high-quality, innovative, interdisciplinary research.

KU Leuven conducts fundamental and applied research in all academic disciplines with a clear international orientation. KU Leuven is currently by far the largest university in Belgium in terms of research funding and expenditure (EUR 426.5 million in 2014) and participates in over 540 highly competitive European research projects (FP7, 2007-2013), ranking sixth in the league of HES institutions participating in FP7. In Horizon 2020, KU Leuven currently has been approved 125 projects. KU Leuven takes up the 10th place of European institutions hosting ERC grants (as first legal signatories of the grant agreement). To date, the 81 ERC Grantees (including affiliates with VIB and IMEC) in our midst confirm that KU Leuven is a breeding ground (41 Starting Grants) and attractive destination for the world’s best researchers. The success in the FP7 and Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions is a manifestation of the three pillars of KU Leuven: research, education and service to society.

KU Leuven employs 8,671 researchers on its academic staff (2014). To strengthen international collaboration, KU Leuven has its own international research fellowship program and supports international scholars in international funding applications. KU Leuven Research & Development (LRD) is the technology transfer office (TTO) of the KU Leuven. Since 1972 a multidisciplinary team of experts guides researchers in their interaction with industry and society, and the valorization of their research results (101 spin offs, …).

EpiGaN N.V. – Belgium
www.epigan.com

EpiGaN is a SME company founded in 2010. It is a fully independent, hi-tech start-up, spun-off from imec and backed by Venture Capitalists Capricorn CCF, Robert Bosch VC, LRM and A-Capital.

EpiGaN commercially provides GaN-on-Si and GaN-on-SiC solutions for efficient power electronics, RF and sensor electronic devices and systems, featuring amongst other things its unique in-situ SiN technology. State-of-art epitaxial layers are grown by MOCVD, the most industrial semiconductor production technology, in its own infrastructure located in Hasselt.

EpiGaN is supplying its epiwafers on Si or SiC and on various wafer diameters up to 200mm. It has a strong track record in GaN epitaxial solutions for electronics: the founding team has been developing GaN technology in imec for about 10 years before incorporating the company.

The company has now grown to a 10 persons’ company, all with a strong background and expertise in the field. EpiGaN is maintaining state-of-art expertise in particular by participating in highly innovative R&D public funded projects with its customers/partners.

Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Angewandten Forschung E.V. – Germany
www.fraunhofer.de

Fraunhofer IAF was founded in 1957 and is one of the leading research institutions worldwide in the area of III-V semiconductors and diamond for the development of electronic and optoelectronic devices based on modern semiconductor materials. The research and development work covers the entire value chain – from materials research through design, technology and circuits to modules and systems.

The main research and development areas cover high frequency circuits for communication technology, robust Gallium Nitride voltage converters for efficient use of regenerative energies, infrared and UV detectors, semiconductor lasers for the detection of hazardous substances, micro-sensors for gas and fluid analysis and innovative diamond technologies.

The business unit «Power Electronics», founded more than 15 years ago, develops high performance transistors and monolithic integrated circuits on the basis of the compound semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN). Modern high electron mobility transistor technology is used to realize power electronics for operating frequencies between 10 kHz and 100 GHz, the research and development work is embedded in national and European research projects as well as direct industry contracts. The focus is on development of an excellent technology with high performance and proven reliability.

The technology has led to the commercialization of L-band GaN/SiC power bars by NXP and UMS, supported the GaN high-voltage developments at Infineon and directly resulted in the first European GaN MMIC operating in space (Proba-V mission of ESA, satellite launch in May 2013). In 2015, the total number of staff was 265, the budget 33 Mio. € with investments of 8.2 Mio. €

IBM Research GmbH – Switzerland
www.zurich.ibm.com

IBM Research GmbH (IBM-RES) with approx. 350 employees is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the IBM Research division with headquarters at the T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY, USA. The Zurich research lab (ZRL) was established in 1956 and represents the European branch of IBM Research. At ZRL scientific and industrial research is conducted in four scientific and technical departments: Science and Technology, Cloud & Computing Infrastructure, Industry and Cloud Solutions, Cognitive Computing and Computational Science. The ZRL pioneered several electronic packaging innovations and drives the Microserver activities within IBM. It also provides a state-of-the-art clean room and characterization laboratories with facilities for the interdisciplinary project. Furthermore, strong interactions with the IBM Watson IoT and IBM Smart City business units guarantee the fast implementation of innovations

AT&S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG – Austria
www.ats.net

AT&S is currently Europe’s largest printed circuit board manufacturer and one of the market leaders in high-end printed circuit board technology. Depending on technological and economic requirements, AT&S offers the widest possible range of printed circuit boards specially tailored to customers’ needs: single-sided, double-sided plated-through, multi-layer, HDI (high density interconnection, laser-drilled), IMS (insulated metallic substrate), flexible, rigid-flex and semi-flexible. AT&S has the following core businesses: Mobile Devices & Substrates, Industrial & Automotive and Advanced Packaging. With a 54% share of total sales, Mobile Devices & Substrates (printed circuit boards for smartphones, tablet PCs, digital cameras, mobile music players, etc.) is still responsible for the biggest share of revenues. As supplier to most of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers, AT&S is a leading player in this global market. Industrial & Automotive accounts for around 45% of sales. Its customer base includes nearly all of the major automotive component suppliers in Europe. Industrial is geared towards the European market

IHP GmbH – Innovations for High Performance Microelectronics – Germany

Leibniz-Institut für Innovative Mikroelektronik GmbH – Deutschland

www.ihp-microelectronics.com

IHP is a publicly funded research institute. IHP has a team of 300 R&D professionals with core competence in micro-electronics: process technology, circuit design and system design. As a member institute of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Society, the core funding comes from the German Federal Government and the State Government of Brandenburg. The institute aims to establish the area of East-Brandenburg as a high-tech region and to create jobs through innovation. Therefore IHP uses its R&D to enhance the competitiveness of German and European businesses and works closely with the Federal and State Governments to attract international companies to the region.

The institute is focused on developing innovative solutions for wireless communication, particularly in the 5-120 GHz range. Its expertise ranges from system prototyping and circuit design to the implementation and optimization of protocol stacks and the development of system-enabling CMOS-compatible technology modules. IHP is an established international foundry and development partner in the area of THz hetero-bipolar transistors, heterogeneous integration and silicon photonics.

The strength of the IHP is evident in the scientific contributions to leading conferences around the world, by continuous success in attaining third party funds and the steadily increasing number of international users of the Multi-Project Wafer and Prototyping Services. Along with the IHP staff's exceptional competence, the cutting-edge modern technological equipment plays an important role in this success.

Tyndall National Institue (TNIUCC) – Ireland
www.tyndall.ie

The Tyndall National Institute (TNI) was founded in 1982 as the NMRC (National Microelectronics Research Centre). In 2004 at the initiative of the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment and University College Cork (UCC), Tyndall was asked to bring together complementary activities in photonics, electronics and networking research across several UCC academic departments and the Cork Institute of Technology (CIT). The objective was to create an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) research institute in Ireland, to support industry and academia nationally. It employs over 450 staff and students. The strengths of the institute lie in the areas of Microsystems, Photonics, Micro/nanoelectronics, Materials, Theory and Modelling & Design.

Tyndall’s Integrated Magnetics group are widely recognized as World Leaders in the area of Integrated Magnetic Passives for Power Supply on Chip technology. With over 100 man years of research effort in this field, the group has demonstrated multi-disciplinary skill set for Power Magnetics research which makes it unique within the European Power Electronics landscape. Over a period of 20 years, Tyndall’s Integrated Magnetics group has demonstrated World beating results in the area of Integrated Magnetics for PCB and On-Silicon applications. In this period group has developed innovative solutions in all aspects of Power Magnetics research, including design, material & process development, micro-fabrication, electrical characterization, packaging and reliability.

The group was the first to develop an optimization CAD tool for design of magnetic passive components on silicon, establish a magnetics processing platform for prototyping on-silicon magnetics and development of best-in class magnetic materials. To date, the group has demonstrated highest efficiency for a micro-inductor (93%), highest efficiency micro-transformer (80%) and ultra-low loss high flux density soft magnetic materials (less than half ferrite power loss density).

RECOM Engineering GmbH & SO KG – Austria
www.recom-power.com

RECOM is an international company group, which develops, produces and sells innovative DC/DC, AC/DC converters, switching regulators, and LED drivers in all markets. Due to many years of experience RECOM has been able to continuously improve the converters’ power spectrum as well as their efficiency. RECOM simplifies and accelerates the development process of power supplies for new products while at the same time supporting a working environment which enables individual fulfillment. RECOM stands for:

Leadership in Technology • Energy Efficiency • Lifelong Learning • Entrepreneurship • Passion for success

Investing in Research & Development as well as further education ensures RECOM’s competitive advantage. Profitability in the core business enables the company to rapidly conquer new markets in terms of locations as well as future key technologies. With a basis of a yearly turnover of 65 million Euros, RECOM employs 385 employees and operates in:

• Gmunden (Austria) - Headquarters: R&D, Tech Support, Supply Chain Management, Marketing, Accounting, Distribution
• Vienna (Austria) - Rep Office for EMEA
• Neu-Isenburg (Germany) - Rep Office for EMEA
• Singapore - Rep Office for Asia
• Shanghai - Rep Office for Asia
• Tokyo - Rep Office for Japan
• Kaohsiung (Taiwan) - Production
• Denver - Rep Office for the Americas

PNO Innovation N.V. – Belgium
www.pnoconsultants.com

PNO is specialized in Innovation Management and funding, providing support services to private and public organizations in Innovation processes, Technology Transfer, IT solutions and funding for research, development and innovation. PNO is a European group, made up of a pool of around 250 professionals including scientists, engineers, consultants, a Brussels policy advisory service, as well as financial and legal experts, with consolidated experience in innovation processes and funding in international working environments.

Created in 1985, PNO is a high-growth knowledge intensive company, operating in 12 European countries. The growth is explained by a unique combination of services, based on profound insight in research, innovation and funding strategies, up-to-date knowledge and over 25 years of hands-on expertise with real-life European innovation projects and more than 500 funding programs in most EU countries. The company has the proven capability to link innovation suppliers and adopters from a unique Europe- wide client network in multiple sectors, using advanced methodologies, ICT solutions and proprietary on-line networking. PNO has its own community building, management and dissemination tools, the core one being Innovation Place © www.innovationplace.eu. With Innovation Place, PNO offers its clients an innovative service concept, up-to-date web-based tool, knowledge base and European wide communities to manage their own innovation, projects, funding knowledge and networks, combined with the best consultancy support.

As key advisor to the European Technology Platform (ETP) SusChem, the European Council for the Chemical Industry (CEFIC) and Association SPIRE PNO supports the development of medium to long term research and innovation agendas for resource efficiency.

Furthermore, PNO recently co-managed the process of developing a Public Private Partnership and the SPIRE 2030 Innovation Roadmap (www.spire2030.eu) for the sustainable process industry, as input to HORIZON 2020.

X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries AG – Germany
www.xfab.com

X-FAB is the world’s largest analog/mixed-signal foundry group manufacturing silicon wafers for mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs). These technologies are not intended for digital applications with the smallest possible structure sizes, but are rather targeting for analog applications that can be integrated with additional functions such as high voltage, non-volatile memory or sensors. By combining solid, specialized expertise in advanced analog and mixed-signal process technologies with excellent service, a high level of responsiveness and first-class technical support, X-FAB optimally manages the product development flow and supply chain for its customers' semiconductor products. At its five manufacturing sites X-FAB fabricates wafers on modular CMOS and BiCMOS processes with technologies ranging from 1.0 to 0.13 μm, and special BCD, SOI and MEMS long-lifetime processes.

X-FAB is following a More-than-Moore strategy since starting the business more than 20 years ago. The focus is on the integration of more functionality in a certain technology node. X-FAB has a long-term experience in combining  different knowledge and process capabilities in a new process flow to enable a higher functional integration in order to support industrial, automotive, medical and consumer customers.