Imec to Honor TSMC Chairman Dr. Morris Chang

imec announced that it will award Dr. Morris Chang, founding chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited (TSMC), the world’s first and largest semiconductor foundry, with a lifetime of innovation award.
 
With his pioneering vision and founding of TSMC, Dr. Chang enabled the rapid growth of the fabless sector and changed the landscape of the semiconductor industry. Imec’s award recognizes Dr. Chang’s profound and unparalleled impact on the global semiconductor industry, and will be presented to him in person on June 23, in Belgium at imec’s annual Imec Technology Forum in Brussels.
 
Dr. Chang founded TSMC in 1987 as a company solely dedicated to manufacturing chips according to customers’ designs. By not competing with customers, TSMC enabled entrepreneurs to build world-class businesses around designing and marketing chips without the need of a manufacturing facility.
 
By partnering for manufacturing capabilities, fabless companies can avoid the mammoth costs of operating their own semiconductor fabrication facility and focus on innovation of the circuits while leaving the manufacturing and yield challenges to their partners in foundry, and thereby accelerating innovation according to market needs. It is the world’s largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry, and many of today’s largest high-tech companies can link their success directly to their partnership with TSMC.
 
“Chairman Chang is immensely respected in the global semiconductor community for his innovative vision and tireless drive to shape the future of technology,” said Luc Van den hove, president and CEO at imec. “Innovation is the cornerstone of economic growth and imec, as the nucleus of the global semiconductor industry for joint R&D on advanced technologies, is a proud partner of TSMC. We are greatly honored to welcome Chairman Chang to Belgium and to present him with this award, representing imec’s and its partners’ gratitude, respect, admiration and appreciation.”