Bengaluru : Applied Materials India Private Limited, the Indian subsidiary of materials engineering leader Applied Materials, Inc., has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) at the Indian
The FAB Challenge
Lack of semiconductor manufacturing is turning out to be the biggest hurdle in India s tryst with self-reliance in electronics. It requires out of the box thinking by government and industry
Illustration by Raj Verma
India s largest automotive component maker Bosch faced an unforeseen situation in early December - shortage of semiconductor components. The reason was surge in demand for consumer electronics globally due to work from home and rise in adoption of 5G in household appliances.
This could not have come at a more inappropriate time. Demand for automobiles was just beginning to rebound after a torrid first half of the year when production was disrupted due to lockdown in April-May. Another disruption can impair the recovery, which is what Bosch warned in a letter to market regulator Sebi. Imports of Bosch Ltd have been impacted with severe shortage of imported micro-processors (semiconductors), leading to reduced ability to deliver to the automotive
Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc., is giving a boost to promising technology start-ups in India through mentorship and collaboration as a part of the ASTRA (Applied Start-up Technology and Research Accelerator) 2020 program. At a recent virtual event hosted by Applied Materials India Private Limited, eight start-ups in the areas of Industry 4.0, chip design, life sciences, advanced analytics, sensors, robotics and AR/VR pitched their product offerings and business plans, and will be further considered for potential collaboration with Applied Materials and investment opportunities with Applied Ventures.
The start-ups that presented at the ASTRA 2020 event are: AiNDRA, AjnaLens, AlphaICs, Ecolibrium, Lightspeed AI, Multinanosense, NiMo Planet and SwitchOn. If selected, the start-ups will receive mentorship and consultation from Applied Materials India on design, technology and go-to-market strategy, as well as gain access to Applied’s infrastr