BITS Connect, a global 'movement' of Birla Institute of Technology and Science alumni and the industry, on Friday announced a Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) initiative to conduct semiconductor research and development in India.
"The Oysters Lab at BITS (OLAB) is a Rs 200 crore initiative to embark on pioneering semiconductor R&D work in the country," Satish Gupta, senior vice president, Cradle Technologies, told newspersons in New Delhi.
OLAB, India's first campus-based VLSI design facility, would have electronic design automation equipment and powerful computing infrastructure, he said. The lab would be 'co-located' across the BITS campus in Pilani and in Bangalore to facilitate active industry collaboration.
OLAB will usher in silicon technology research and chip development revolution in the country, Gupta said.
The launch of OLAB by BITS Connect comes close on the heels of commissioning of Neuron -- Interconnecting Minds -- a Rs 7 crore (Rs 70 million) initiative that wired BITS by setting up a gigabit backbone providing broadband access, IP telephony, streaming media, video-conferencing and wireless access on BITS campuses across Pilani, Goa and Dubai.
OLAB will connect all BITS campuses with an industrial centre in Bangalore and to BITS, Pilani.
Cradle Technologies, OpenSilicon, Logicvision, Magma, Mentor Graphics, Sun Microsystems are the industry participants in the Rs 200 crore initiative.
OLAB is a collaborative effort between stakeholders like BITS, BITS Alumini Association and the industry.
