UC Berkeley to Collaborate With Applied Materials on EPIC Center

Applied Materials, Inc. said the University of California, Berkeley will join its EPIC Center in Silicon Valley as a research collaborator. The move places faculty and students in a shared research environment focused on materials and process work related to AI computing.

Applied described UC Berkeley as a source of semiconductor research ideas that can be tested on equipment used by global manufacturers. The company said the EPIC Center provides industry-scale tools intended to support earlier validation and a handoff from discovery to deployment.

The collaboration centers on EPIC Center capabilities that Applied tied to equipment and process innovation and commercialization. Applied said EPIC provides access to semiconductor process equipment and tools in a manufacturing-relevant environment, and that the facility was on track to become operational in 2026. The organizations also cited existing ties through shared laboratory space and semiconductor research collaborations connected to the BETR Center and CITRIS.

Dr. Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials, said, “The EPIC Center is designed to bring together the best minds from industry and academia in a high-velocity, manufacturing-relevant environment to dramatically accelerate the development and commercialization of next-generation semiconductor technologies,”. Mark Asta, dean of UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering, said, “Applied Materials’ new EPIC Center in the heart of Silicon Valley aims to speed the translation of university inventions into commercial products by providing early access to cutting-edge, industrial-scale semiconductor process equipment and technologies.” Applied added that UC Berkeley engineers built the first university-integrated circuits laboratory in 1962 and referenced SPICE and FinFET in its description of the institution’s semiconductor history. Forward-looking statements in the release covered plans and expectations for the EPIC Center and other non-historical statements.

Provided by Globe Newswire on behalf of Applied Materials. Click to read original content. The original article was written by Decision Insights Editorial.