Joint establishment of an education center for training microcontroller (MCU) personnel

Hanyang University and Infineon Technologies (Korea CEO Seung-soo Lee) announced that they will jointly establish an education center to train specialized personnel in microcontrollers (MCUs), which are core components of eco-friendly and smart cars.

Hanyang University and Infineon, Germany's largest semiconductor company, signed a contract at Hanyang University on the 19th regarding the establishment of the 'Hanyang Infineon Collaborating Automobile Research Center (HICAR)' with officials in attendance, including Professor Sunwoo Myung-ho of Hanyang University's Department of Future Automotive Engineering, Andrew Chong, President of Infineon Asia Pacific, and Lee Seung-soo, CEO of Infineon Korea.

The demand for eco-friendly vehicles is growing worldwide, and research and development on autonomous vehicles are also progressing rapidly. Microcontrollers, such as Infineon’s 32-bit multicore MCU AURIX™ family, are core components of the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) that electronically controls the vehicle by using various sensors to perceive surrounding conditions and calculating optimal algorithms.


▲ Professor Sunwoo Myung-ho of Hanyang University’s Department of Future Automotive Engineering (right) and Andrew Chong, President of Infineon Asia Pacific,

To develop eco-friendly and smart cars, it is urgent to cultivate technical personnel who understand microcontrollers and to develop application technologies. Accordingly, Hanyang University, a leader in automotive engineering, and Infineon, Korea's largest supplier of automotive semiconductors, have collaborated to establish a joint research center. Through this initiative, they are researching cutting-edge technologies and training specialized technical personnel through microcontroller education.

Professor Sunwoo Myung-ho of the Department of Future Automotive Engineering at Hanyang University stated, “Through this collaboration, we will foster skilled personnel in advanced automotive electronic control technology, which will significantly contribute to enhancing the technological competitiveness of the Korean automotive industry.”

Andrew Chong, President of Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific, said, “Hanyang University and Infineon will continue to develop system know-how for the realization of smart cars through the Power Semiconductor Academy, which has been operating for three years, and the newly established HICAR Center.” He said.

According to a report by market research firm Strategy Analytics (April 2016), Infineon was the largest supplier in the Korean automotive semiconductor market, including semiconductor sensors, in 2015 (with a market share of 13.4%), and ranked second in the world with a market share of 10.4% in the $2.7 billion global automotive semiconductor market.