Oct 8 2009
Advantest Corporation today announced that it has received the prestigious Shokumon Prize, which the University of Tokyo awards annually to individuals or corporations which have made outstanding educational contributions.
Advantest was nominated by the university's VLSI Design and Education Center (VDEC), in recognition of the company's support initiatives in recent years, and becomes the first semiconductor equipment supplier to be honored with the Shokumon Prize.
Advantest's ties with VDEC date from 2003, with the unveiling of the Takeda Building on the University of Tokyo campus, funded by a donation from the company's founder, Ikuo Takeda. In 2004, Advantest presented the center with one of its T2000 SoC test systems - the world's first tester to utilize an open architecture - as well as a groundbreaking e-beam lithography tool, the F5112, with the aim of spurring technological innovation in the semiconductor and nanotechnology arenas. The donations accelerated joint research in leading-edge VLSI test techniques.
The T2000 installed at VDEC is currently being used for nationwide graduate training, taking advantage of VDEC's academic ties throughout Japan to expand the availability of this cutting-edge test environment to future engineers and innovators. Furthermore, the center's F5112 has recently been made available to academics outside the University of Tokyo, with the 2007 inauguration of the Nanotechnology Network Program, a 5-year plan sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Selected as one of the Nanotechnology Network's research centers, VDEC currently receives over 1,000 requests annually for access to the F5112 - an advanced direct-write e-beam tool that enables maskless lithography by etching patterns directly onto silicon wafers.
Furthermore, in 2007, Advantest established the Advantest D2T Research Division on the VDEC campus, coupling the company's expertise in semiconductor test and technical know-how with VDEC's research capabilities.
"Advantest is honored to receive the Shokumon Prize from the University of Tokyo," said a spokesman for the company "This highlights our continuing support for this world-class research center. We remain committed to promoting links between industry and academia, and supporting educational initiatives that both advance semiconductor-related technology and mould the engineers who will give us tomorrow's innovations."