April-1, 2025 — imec, a world-leading research and innovation center in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, today announced the establishment of its Advanced Chip Design Accelerator (ACDA) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. This €40 million center, funded over the next five years, will focus on accelerating the development and adoption of automotive chiplet technology, bolstering Germany and Europe’s position in the global semiconductor industry.
Located at the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (IPAI) in Heilbronn, the ACDA will collaborate closely with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, a prominent German research organization. The center’s research will encompass pre-competitive chiplet design, advanced packaging, system integration, sensing technologies, and edge AI, all crucial components of imec’s Automotive Chiplet Program (ACP).
“We are excited to bring our expertise and global partner network to the state of Baden-Württemberg, the cradle of the automotive industry in Germany,” said Luc Van den hove, President and CEO of imec. “We also look forward to expanding our collaboration with Fraunhofer to leverage on our complementary expertise and lay the foundation for future chiplet solutions.”
The ACDA’s work directly supports the strategic goals of both the Baden-Württemberg state government and the European Commission. It aligns with Baden-Württemberg’s chip design strategy and the European Commission’s initiative to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty and launch the European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance. The project builds upon the recently launched APECS project, which is developing the technological foundations for pilot production of chiplets.
“Chiplet technology is a key component for the next generation of semiconductors. We expect this new technology to fuel innovation across industries, be it automotive, aerospace or artificial intelligence,” noted Prof. Dr.-Ing. Holger Hanselka, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. “We believe that establishing a national chiplet center is the next logical step. Based on industry-specific boundary conditions, this is where we will analyze use cases together with companies, derive technological solutions and align the pilot line being established in the APECS projects with industry needs,” he added.
“This will be a decisive milestone on the way to becoming an international leader in the development and production of chiplets and thus an important contribution to the technological sovereignty and economic strength of Germany and Europe. The close collaboration between research and industry across Europe, as exemplified by Fraunhofer, will enable us to optimally leverage the innovative strength of chiplet technology. This will allow us to quickly transfer new developments into applications, thereby achieving a real competitive advantage on an international level.”
Beyond technological advancements, the ACDA will prioritize talent development. “To realize the region’s ambitions, we will also focus on growing the talent pipeline across Europe by training engineers in close collaboration with the local ecosystem, including universities,” stated Van den hove. “In addition, we aim to expand the developed high-performance computing solutions to the European level, thus contributing to the acceleration of innovation in the European automotive industry with unique and distinctive building blocks.”
The Baden-Württemberg state government will further support the initiative with an additional €5 million investment for a network office and scientific cooperation, led by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
