CEITEC S.A., a Brazilian company focused on the development and production of application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), has opened Latin America’s first IC design center. The company will add 60 engineers to its ranks who will design RFID, digital media and wireless communication chips for its fabrication facility now ramping up for production.

With investment of almost $210 M from the Brazilian government, the design center offers an advanced environment to enable CEITEC engineers to develop chips in a new facility located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Over the years, many world-class semiconductor professionals have been trained by Brazil’s Ministry of Science and Technology and it provides CEITEC with a highly-qualified workforce. It is intended to repatriate experienced Brazilian engineers to help develop chips for CEITEC and attract the best talent from around the world to make the company an industry leader in microelectronics design and production.

Dilma Rousseff, Chief Minister of Brazil’s Casa Civil, announced, “The company is creating a center of excellence that is capable of generating its own technology. These are the first steps to see a new matrix of production in Rio Grande do Sul.”

Brazil Minister of Science and Technology, Sergio Rezende, said, “The opening of this facility represents another step in Brazil’s return to the microelectronics industry. The company is now in the process of installing equipment at its fabrication plant in Porto Alegre and the goal is to begin chip production by the end of the year.”