The Samsung Electro-Mechanics Company, Ltd. (SEM) has announced the establishment of a Georgia-based design center to develop next-generation radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) technology. SEM is a corporation within the SAMSUNG group, a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies.

The center is expected to become the company's principal North American research location. The new center's initial focus will emphasize high-speed RFIC technologies and expertise, including providing leadership to industry-critical activities that are setting worldwide standards for next-generation products. As the center grows, it will impact the entire Samsung product line, including communications, consumer and semiconductor products.

Chang-Ho Lee, formerly with the Georgia Institute of Technology's Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC), has been named director of the new design center.

"Samsung is one of today's top electronics companies," said Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. "We are pleased that Samsung has chosen Georgia for this new design center, and we look forward to having them as part of Georgia's growing economy."

Officials of the South Korean company cited the opportunity to collaborate with Georgia Tech researchers and support from the GEDC as their primary reason for choosing an Atlanta location for the new design center. Samsung has had a successful research interaction with Georgia Tech for almost a decade.

"The opening of this RFIC Design Center is just the starting point with Georgia Tech and the state of Georgia and it will expand our ability to play an even greater role in bringing high function, high quality and low cost products to the world marketplace," said Dr. Byeongcheon Koh, chief technical officer of SEM. "Locating in Atlanta and partnering with Georgia Tech assures us of access to both the best faculty and student researchers. We have been most impressed with the support being offered by the state of Georgia and the welcome we are receiving here at the university."

Georgia Institute of Technology President Wayne Clough welcomed the announcement, noting that Georgia Tech is a world-class center for research and enjoys an excellent reputation in the area of RF integrated circuits and related technology.

"The Georgia Electronic Design Center, in partnership with our School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is a world leader in technology for mixed-signal electronics," Clough noted. "As wireless devices and RFIC technology become increasingly important to our economy, these resources will continue to attract companies, top researchers and the best students to Georgia Tech and Atlanta."

The new design center will initially be housed at the GEDC, located in Georgia Tech's Technology Square campus in midtown Atlanta. As it expands over the next few years, the company plans to extend its cooperation with Georgia Tech and Atlanta to include packaging technology. In addition to the economic impact from the center's personnel, Samsung's expanded interaction with Georgia Tech would boost the already-strong research collaboration. The activity will also provide new opportunities for Georgia Tech students to gain real-world design experience and open up the potential for additional collaborative activities in topics such as cognitive radio and power amplifiers, already strong research areas for Georgia Tech.

About SEM: Samsung Electro-Mechanics was established in 1973 as a manufacturer of key electronic components, and the company has grown into one of the industry leaders, thanks to cutting-edge technology and top product quality. SEM pioneered the technological framework for Korean production of A/V components and the company diversified into materials and computer parts. In the early 1990s, the focus was on manufacturing chip components, multi-layer circuit boards, and mobile communication and optical components. In the late 1990s, operations expanded into the production of digital products with applied high- frequency, software, engineering and design technologies. For more information, visit http://www.sem.samsung.co.kr

About the Georgia Electronic Design Center: The Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) supports world-class research, active and solution-oriented industry collaboration, intellectual property generation and revenue generating commercialization efforts. Supported both by industry partners and federal laboratories, GEDC's research is broadly focused on fostering technology at the intersection of today's communications applications: wireless/RF, wired/copper and fiber channels. For more information, visit http://www.gedcenter.org.