News

CMC’s foundry partners fabricate over 480 designs

May 10, 2023: In a global environment of ongoing tumultuous shortage of semiconductor chips and significant government investments in advanced technology initiatives, CMC logged another stellar year of prototyping, with over 480 chip designs manufactured. That number is expected to grow by at least ten percent in 2023. 

April 28, 2023: CMC Microsystems, Canada’s leading hardware technology facilitator, and Untether AI^®, the leader in energy-centric AI inference for acceleration, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on providing Untether AI’s acceleration solutions to CMC customers and partners.

National supply chain strategy with strategic trade corridor investments announced in Budget 2023 are encouraging

The following opinion piece was published in The Hill Times and EP&T.

President Biden’s visit to Ottawa was important for Canada, and our semiconductor industry in particular. This is part of a larger semiconductor manufacturing trade agreement, or “corridor” which is great news for Canadian innovation and our national interests.

Amy Karam and Vanessa Little bring extensive experience to CMC Microsystems’ Board of Directors

MONTREAL, QC – March 27, 2023: CMC Microsystems, a leading organization accelerating research and innovation in Canada, is pleased to welcome Amy Karam and Vanessa Little to our Board of Directors. They bring a wealth of experience from industry, research, as well as invaluable governance experience. They will play a vital role in setting CMC’s strategic direction over the course of their three-year mandates.

January 11, 2023: CMC Microsystems, Canada’s leading hardware technology facilitator and accelerator, and the University of Sydney (Australia), on behalf of The Semiconductor Service Bureau (S3B), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote future collaboration and initiatives to support the semiconductor industry in Canada and Australia.

The following text appeared in The Hill Times, December 27, 2022

If you’ve shopped for a new car in the last two years, you’re aware of the shortage of semiconductors.  Manufacture and delivery of vehicles of all kinds has been severely impacted by the shortage of these critical components.  

December 19, 2022: As 2022 comes to a close, I would like to thank our community of clients, suppliers, staff, and funders for continued support.

Over 400 chip designs facilitated last year including fabrication of 7 superconducting designs – a world first via a multi-project wafer service. 

November 30, 2022: A semiconductor chip design for sensing pressure inside the human kidney, a chip that that harvests energy from vibrations and turns them into useful electric charges, a chip that is stretchable and self-healable designed as a wearable electronic device; these are just a few examples of over 400 microchip designs manufactured in the last year via CMC Microsystems. 

October 31, 2022: CMC Microsystems, Canada’s leading hardware technology facilitator and accelerator is pleased to welcome Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) to CMC.

October 31, 2022: CMC Microsystems, Canada’s leading hardware technology facilitator and accelerator, is pleased to welcome the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) to CMC

July 28, 2022: CMC Microsystems has manufactured more than 1,600 customer chips over the past five years and is pleased to highlight one of the most recent using one of the world’s most advanced semiconductor fabrication technologies, the 12LP 12nm FinFET process offered by our partner, GlobalFoundries^® (GF^®).

June 22, 2022:  CMC Microsystems, Canada’s leading accelerator for hardware research, design, and development, is proud to announce the winners of TEXPO 2022. Established by CMC Microsystems, TEXPO offers graduate students in Canada’s National Design Network® (CNDN) a unique opportunity to demonstrate their novel applications of micro-nano technologies to industry representatives and academic peers. TEXPO 2022 was held in-person as part of the IEEE International NEWCAS Conference, held in Québec City, Canada. 

Edmonton, June 10, 2022: MANCEF, an independent international organization dedicated to accelerating the commercialization of micro-nano-emergent technology products and services, and Canadian technology leaders Teledyne MEMS, NanoCanada, and CMC Microsystems announced their intention to partner to deliver COMSWORLD and NanoCanada’s International Conference, co-located in Edmonton, AB in 2023.

In an increasingly competitive market, CMC delivers its best performance in over a decade

May 3, 2022: CMC Microsystems, Canada’s leading accelerator for hardware research, design, and development, is proud to announce in the last fiscal year, CMC delivered chips and wafers for over 400 designs through our global network of semiconductor and photonics manufacturing facilities.

April 12, 2022: CMC Microsystems, Canada’s leading hardware technology facilitator, and manager of Canada’s National Design Network^® (CNDN), is pleased to share results from our recent study on CNDN alumni, and the training of Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) in Canada.

Next-Generation Wi-Fi Spectrum Slicing silicon solutions move to commercialization using industry-leading chip maker

March 29, 2022 – Ottawa, Canada – Edgewater Wireless Systems Inc. (TSXV: YFI) (OTC: KPIFF), the industry leader in Wi-Fi Spectrum Slicing technology for residential and enterprise markets, is pleased to report the selection of an on-shore fabrication services partner. CMC Microsystems has been selected to provide a conduit to North American fabrication services for Edgewater’s next-generation of Wi-Fi Spectrum Slicing silicon solutions via GlobalFoundries^® (GF^®), the global leader in feature-rich semiconductor manufacturing.

March 16, 2022: In accordance with directives from the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, CMC Microsystems will refrain from entering into agreements with Russian research institutions and firms, until further notice.

March 7, 2022: CMC Microsystems is proud to announce that Dr. Taleana Huff of the University of Alberta has been awarded the 2021 Douglas R. Colton Medal for Research Excellence.

See the press releases from the Government of Quebec (in French)
February 3, 2022: Quebec Unveils First Two Innovation Zones

January 28, 2022: Dear CMC community, I hope your 2022 is off to a healthy start. Thanks to you, CMC is on track for a new year of continued growth. I’d like to share some of our ambitions for the upcoming year, starting with an emphasis on our core competencies – what we do best for innovation in Canada.

MONTREAL, QC – January 20, 2021: CMC Microsystems, Canada’s leading hardware technology facilitator and manager of Canada’s National Design Network^® (CNDN) is pleased to welcome Fleming College to CNDN.

Madison Rilling and Marjan Bagheri bring extensive experience in research, innovation, and policy to CMC Microsystems’ Board of Directors

MONTREAL, QC – December 20, 2021: CMC Microsystems, manager of Canada’s National Design Network® (CNDN) is pleased to welcome Marjan Bagheri, and Madison Rilling to our Board of Directors. They bring a wealth of experience from industry and research, as well as invaluable policy experience. They will play a vital role in setting CMC’s strategic direction over the course of their three-year mandates.  

Agreement will bring together the best of Canadian IoT industry and research

November 19, 2021: CMC Microsystems, Canada’s leading hardware technology facilitator, and AIoT Canada, an industrial cluster dedicated to promoting and accelerating the adoption of Internet of Things technologies in Canada, are proud to announce that they have formed a strategic partnership.

As Founding Partner of the new, state-of-the-art global technology centre, CMC celebrates the inauguration of Hub350 and sees a bright future ahead.

November 4, 2021: CMC Microsystems, Canada’s leading hardware technology facilitator, was proud to participate in the grand opening of Hub350, a brand-new technology centre, 5G network application testing ground, and business park in the heart of Kanata North.

CMC has Signed on as a Founding Corporate Partner at Hub350, Canada’s Largest Technology Park

October 22, 2021: CMC Microsystems, Canada’s leading hardware technology facilitator, and The Kanata North Business Association (KNBA) have announced a partnership to support the new, state-of-the-art global technology centre, Hub350.

For 37 years CMC Microsystems (CMC) has provided access to leading edge semiconductor fabrication. Since its inception, CMC has made it easier for researchers and entrepreneurs to design into advanced processes by combining many designs together into a single fabrication run, making it easier for the manufacturer by giving them a single client point of contact with CMC instead of multiple clients and for the designer by providing technical support and sharing the costs of the project.

September 20, 2021: Edgewater Wireless Inc.® (Edgewater) (TSX.V: YFI) (OTC PINK: KPIFF), and CMC Microsystems, manager of Canada’s National Design Network® (CNDN), today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for expanded technology sharing.

September 8, 2021: CMC Microsystems is proud to announce that David Lynch has been named Vice-President, Technology.

September 1, 2021: Graduate students from across Canada had a unique opportunity to learn quantum computing hardware design, fabrication, and testing.

MONTREAL, QC – August 24, 2021: CMC Microsystems (CMC), has brought together 14 project founders from industry, academia and non-profit technology research organizations to support a five year, $700 M program to accelerate high tech manufacturing in Canada.

MONTREAL, QC – June 23, 2021: CMC Microsystems (CMC), a non-profit national organization that accelerates technology research and commercialization, has a plan to accelerate high tech manufacturing in Canada, including specialty semiconductors, by helping existing and new companies achieve high volume manufacturing success.

MONTREAL, QC – June 3, 2021: Photonics North 2021, one of the world’s most prestigious events for photonics researchers and industry was a huge success. The event, certified by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) was held virtually from May 31-June 2, and drew researchers, innovators, and industry representatives from around the world to discover the latest developments in the photonics space. co-chaired by Gordon Harling, President and CEO of CEO Microsystems and P. Scott Carney, Director of the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics.

MONTREAL, QC – May 19, 2021: A unique course for designing integrated semiconductor chips conceived and organized by Gayathri Singh, Team Leader for Microelectronics at CMC Microsystems is a hot ticket with graduate students at Canadian universities. No other organization in Canada offers such a course based on the most advanced semiconductor chip processes in existence.

May 4, 2021: CMC Microsystems, manager of Canada’s National Design Network® (CNDN), a leading technology and innovation support organization in Canada, is proud to announce that we have joined Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada’s 50 – 30 Challenge.

April 20, 2021 — CMC Microsystems, manager of Canada’s National Design Network® (CNDN), a leading technology and innovation support organization in Canada, welcomes Budget 2021, presented by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. “We congratulate Minister Freeland and the Government of Canada on Budget 2021,” said Gordon Harling, President and CEO of CMC. “The Government of Canada has made it clear that innovation, research, and advanced technology ecosystems will play a critical role in the economic recovery from the pandemic and will fuel growth.”

April 6, 2021: — CMC Microsystems is the industrial partner for the Open HW CORE-V VEC research project, which will optimize RISC-V vector processors for machine learning, sensor data processing, and acceleration of Edge applications. This initiative is made possible by a multi-year $22.5 million investment from the Mitacs Accelerate research internship program, which connects companies with over 50 research-based universities through graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, who apply their specialized expertise to business challenges. The project is also being driven by OpenHW Group, a global, not-for-profit organization where hardware and software designers develop open-source cores, related IP, tools, and software.

February 1, 2021: CMC Microsystems is proud to announce that Dr. Kyle Briggs of the University of Ottawa has been awarded the 2020 Douglas R. Colton Medal for Research Excellence. Dr. Briggs co-invented the controlled breakdown method of fabricating solid-state nanopores. These tiny holes are approximately the same size as DNA or typical protein molecules, and allow scientists to study single biomolecules, one at a time. This innovation allows nanopores to be fabricated for a fraction of the cost of any method that preceded it and allows for integration into previously impossible devices, opening up new potential applications that were believed to be inaccessible.

December 22, 2020: CMC Microsystems, manager of Canada’s National Design Network® (CNDN), and a leading technology and innovation support organization in Canada, has completed an extensive series of virtual roundtable meetings with 35 universities and colleges.

December 21, 2020: CMC Microsystems, manager of Canada’s National Design Network® (CNDN), and a leading technology and innovation support organization in Canada, is pleased to announce the appointment of new members to its Board of Directors.

February 20, 2020: CMC Microsystems, Canada’s leading facilitator of microsystems research and development, has announced the opening of a new Kanata ON facility to support CMC’s CAD software and fabrication services for microelectronics, silicon photonics, and mechanical sensors (MEMS).

December 5, 2019: CMC Microsystems, a Canadian technology organization that helps to enable researchers and industry innovate in microsystems and nanotechnologies announced the appointment of five new members to its Board of Directors.

November 4, 2019: A sustainable solution to a global problem has earned Dr. Yiheng Qin this year’s Douglas R. Colton Medal for Research Excellence.

October 18, 2019: Innovative wireless communications technologies developed by University of Waterloo graduate students took top honours at CMC Microsystems’ 2019 TEXPO Graduate Student Competition and Exposition.

October 1, 2019: CMC Microsystems today announced that the organization will facilitate silicon photonics wafer runs through Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF) of Singapore with local European support from Circuits Multi-Projets (CMP) of France. CMP will be promoting AMF manufacturing services to its European client base in universities, research laboratories, and industrial companies.

August 28, 2019: CMC Microsystems is pleased to welcome Nipissing University to its national network of micro-nano innovator institutions, increasing CMC’s member network to 60 universities and colleges across Canada.

June 3, 2019: Peter Stokes, Director, Canada Foundation for Innovation projects at CMC Microsystems will be the guest speaker at the upcoming June 4th Tech Tuesday event at 6:30 PM, the Marshes Golf Club in Kanata.

May 15, 2019: A novel technique developed at CMC Microsystems for joining an optical fiber to a semiconductor chip has been recognized with a U.S. patent.

April 29, 2019: Changes to federal funding for science and innovation are good news for CMC Microsystems (CMC) and Canada’s National Design Network® (CNDN), says Gord Harling, President & CEO of CMC. “The increase to the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Major Science Initiatives (MSI) Fund announced today is a significant investment and will directly benefit the CNDN,” he says.

December 5, 2018: CMC Microsystems is pleased to present a two-day event highlighting the challenges and opportunities of an advanced technology that is key to next-generation integrated circuits.

October 24, 2018: An innovative process for manufacturing ultrasound systems from plastic, quickly and at minimal cost, was among the winning technology prototypes demonstrated at CMC Microsystems’ 2018 TEXPO Graduate Student Competition and Exposition. The “DIY ultrasound,” developed by Carlos Gerardo, a PhD candidate in electrical and computer engineering at University of British Columbia, has applications in both medical and oil industries, and has already attracted interest from major companies.

October 23, 2018: Transformative research by Dr. Alphonsus Ng into the use of microfluidics for disease detection and analysis has been recognized with CMC Microsystems’ 2018 Douglas R. Colton Medal for Research Excellence.

October 17, 2018: Canadian entrepreneur, venture capital “Dragon” and tech writer Nicole Verkindt will share her insights into disruptive thinking, technology, innovation and creating successful startups at Innovation 360, Canada’s largest gathering of micro-nano innovators in Canada.

September 26, 2018 OTTAWA — CMC Microsystems presents its pre-budget consultation submission this Thursday, Sept. 27, to the federal Standing Committee on Finance, in advance of Canada’s Federal Budget 2019. Without new sources of funding, CMC will cease operations as of June 30, 2019.

September 26, 2018: Smart-city expert Jean-François Barsoum will share his insights into the future of urban transportation as a keynote speaker at Innovation 360, the largest annual gathering of micro-nano innovators from industry and research institutions in Canada.

Aug. 13, 2018 Synopsys’ ASIP Designer, the leading toolset for accelerating the design of specialized processors found in most modern Systems on Chip (SoCs), is now available to academic researchers in Canada, thanks to a collaboration between CMC Microsystems and Synopsys, a global leader in silicon-to-software solutions. The Synopsys ASIP Designer tool enables the design

July 18, 2018: CMC Microsystems is pleased to welcome the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) to its national network of micro-nano innovator institutions.

July 4, 2018: CMC Microsystems is pleased to participate in the eighth annual Colloquium of Laboratory Nanotechnologies and Nanosystems (LN2), July 8-11, in Escandille, France.

June 13, 2018: U of T microfluidics researcher creates novel material for use in flexible electronics. The Micro-Nanotechnology (MNT) Financial Assistance Program, administered by CMC Microsystems, is pleased to announce the 500th technology prototype enabled through its competitive funding process.

June 20, 2018: CMC Microsystems is pleased to convene its annual meeting of international microelectronic and nanotechnology broker organizations at DAC 2018, the premier conference for design automation for electronic systems. The meeting takes place Monday, June 25 in San Francisco.

June 5, 2018: CMC Microsystems and Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF), a Singapore-based manufacturer of silicon photonics integrated circuits, are partnering to develop a new design automation platform for silicon photonics that will let Canadian university researchers take the lead in developing innovations in light-based technologies.

June 4, 2018: CMC Microsystems is pleased to be a sponsor of Photonics North 2018. As manager of Canada’s National Design Network® (CNDN) we look forward to continuing to help researchers overcome barriers to technology development by providing the tools, manufacturing capabilities and expertise for photonics innovation. And we congratulate CNDN researchers who to date have fabricated more than 700 projects in photonics and optoelectronics, including 500 silicon photonics projects, through CMC Microsystems.

May 1, 2018: CMC Microsystems is pleased to welcome the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy (CCEM) to the Fabrication, Assembly, Characterization and Test (FACT) Network, a cooperative ecosystem of service-oriented labs offering expertise and services for fabrication, assembly, characterization, and test of micro-nanotechnologies.

January 30, 2018: Microelectronics industry executive and serial entrepreneur brings more than 30 years of experience to CMC.