Merger Between imec, iMinds Completed

The merger between research centers imec and iMinds – announced on Feb. 19 – has been completed. The deed of merger was officially signed in Brussels. iMinds vzw thereby ceased to exist, but its activities are making a new start within imec, which is now stronger than ever as a unique high-tech research center for the digital economy.
 
By signing the deed of merger, iMinds vzw was officially disbanded and integrated into imec. Imec’s broadened research and collaboration offering makes it a unique and world-class research center in the field of nanoelectronics, excelling in software and ICT expertise. The broadened innovation center – which will operate under the imec name – will use this knowledge to develop disruptive technologies and solutions in application areas such as health, smart cities and mobility, logistics and manufacturing, and energy.
 
The imec organization now brings together nearly 3,500 researchers from all over the world, to make the impossible possible in each of those application areas. It also has access to a unique infrastructure, including 12,000 square meters of cleanrooms with the most advanced equipment for research into next-generation IC technologies, and state-of-the-art bio, network and imaging labs, as well as an extensive network of local and international industrial and university partners for intensive collaboration.
 
“Today is a historical day for anyone with a heart for high-tech innovation in Flanders,” said Luc Van den hove, president & CEO at imec. “Together with our colleagues from iMinds, we have successfully finalized this unprecedented merger in a record time. For imec, this is an important breakthrough to strengthen our offering towards industry. We will of course continue to build and confirm our leadership in the field of nanoelectronics, but by combining iMinds’ software and ICT expertise with the miniaturization power of chip technology, we will now be able to offer total solutions to industry in various markets.”
 
“The iMinds staff members and researchers can look back with great pride on what we have achieved over the past 12 years,” added Danny Goderis, EVP at imec and former CEO of iMinds. “These past years, we have put Flanders on the digital world map – not only thanks to our research into digital security solutions or large-scale living lab projects like ‘City of Things’ in Antwerp, but also through our entrepreneurship program, which has been widely praised. Within the extended imec organization, we will be able to do even better: we’re aiming to make our disruptive digital research flow to the market more fluently and will continue to guide promising high-tech start-ups on their path to international success.”
 
As part of the merger, the Board of Directors of imec has been expanded with Board members with iMinds expertise. The members of the Board of Directors are Michel Akkermans, Brigitte Boone, Ann Caluwaerts, Caroline Pauwels, Lieven Danneels, Antoon De Proft (chairman), Georges Gielen, Tom Heyman, André Oosterlinck (vice chairman), Karen Maex, Gerard Van Acker and Rik Van de Walle.