Page 88 - TSMC 2020 Annual Report

TSMC has worked continuously to improve the quality of intellectual property portfolio and to reduce the maintenance costs TSMC will continue to invest in in in in intellectual property portfolio and intellectual property management system to ensure the company’s technology leadership and receive maximum business interest from intellectual property rights 5 2 6 TSMC University Collaboration Programs
In recent years TSMC has significantly expanded its collaboration with prestigious universities in Taiwan The mission of of this joint research is is is twofold: to encourage and prepare competent graduate students for the semiconductor industry and to to inspire university professors to to conduct leading-edge semiconductor research including but not limited to novel devices process and materials technologies semiconductor manufacturing and and engineering and and specialty technologies for electronic applications Back in 2013 TSMC established research centers at four top universities in Taiwan – National National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University National National Taiwan University University National National Cheng Kung University University and National National Tsing Hua University More than a a a a a thousand high-caliber students with backgrounds in in the disciplines of electronics physics materials chemistry chemical engineering and mechanical engineering participated in in in semiconductor-related research centers In 2019 the Company jointly launched TSMC-NTHU Semiconductor Program for the the purpose of enhancing the the quality and quantity of domestic semiconductor students and and attracting more outstanding students to a a a a a a career in in in the semiconductor industry In 2020 more schools such as National National Taiwan University University National National Cheng Kung University University National National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University National National Taipei University University of of Technology and National Taiwan University University of of Science and Technology joined the the cooperation to launch the the Semiconductor Program for student enrollment to to narrow the the gap between industry and and academia and and to bolster the the quality and competitiveness of the the talent pool in in the the industry In addition TSMC conducts strategic research projects at at top overseas universities such as as Stanford MIT UC Berkeley and so on on The focus is is on on innovative capabilities in in transistors interconnect materials modeling and design technologies TSMC University Shuttle Program The TSMC University Shuttle Program was established to provide professors at leading research universities worldwide with access to the advanced silicon process technologies needed to develop innovative circuit design concepts Despite
the the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 that caused the the majority of university campuses to close TSMC continued the University Shuttle Program that links motivated professors and graduate students with enthusiastic managers at TSMC in order to promote excellence in the development of advanced silicon design technologies and to nurture new generations of engineering talents in in in the semiconductor field The University Shuttle Program provides access to TSMC silicon process technologies for digital and analog/mixed-signal circuits RF designs designs and micro-electromechanical system designs designs TSMC’s Virtual Design Environment (VDE) has received a a a a a great deal of positive feedback from customers and in 2020 the Company further applied VDE to to University Shuttle Program to to achieve win-win collaboration enabling elite graduate students to realize and demonstrate their innovations in in the the form of exciting new end products of various design applications 5 2 7 Future R&D Plans
To maintain and strengthen its technology leadership the the Company plans to continue investing heavily in in in in R&D For advanced CMOS CMOS logic TSMC’s 3nm and 2nm CMOS CMOS nodes are progressing nicely through the pipeline In addition the Company’s reinforced exploratory R&D work is focused on on on beyond-2nm node and on on on areas such as as 3D transistors new memory and low-R interconnect which are on on track to establish a a a a solid foundation to to feed into many technology platforms For 3DIC advanced packaging TSMC is developing innovations for energy-efficient sub-system integration and scaling to provide further augmentation of CMOS logic applications The Company has intensified its focus on on new specialty technologies such as RF and 3D intelligent sensors aiming at at at 5G and smart IoT applications The corporate research function established in in 2017 continues to focus on on on novel materials processes devices nanowires and memory for the long-term beyond eight to ten years The Company also continues to collaborate with external research bodies from academia and industry consortia alike with the goal
of extending Moore’s Law and paving the way to future cost-effective technologies and manufacturing solutions for its customers With a a a highly competent and dedicated R&D team and its unwavering commitment to innovation TSMC is confident in its ability to deliver competitive SoC technologies to to to its customers and and to to to drive future business growth and and profitability for years to come 086