Infineon Opens in Romania

Today in the Romanian capital, Infineon Technologies AG celebrated the official opening of its newest development center. The initial staff of approximately 60 developers is concentrating on power semiconductors with analog and digital functions (power mixed signals), which are being used increasingly in automotive and industrial applications, and on security controllers for chip cards. The activities in Bucharest are being managed by the regional company for Romania, "Infineon Technologies Romania SRL" which was founded last April as a subsidiary of Infineon Technologies Austria AG. "Our newest development center reflects the increasing demand for intelligent power semiconductors for automotive and industrial applications, and here we are developing security controllers for chip cards, particularly for the areas of mobile communication, banking and identification,” said Infineon CEO Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart during the speech he held for approximately 100 invited guests. "The center in Bucharest will provide additional support for our success with power mixed signal products for automobiles and industry, and it will soon play a significant role." The new development center strengthens the research alliance in the area of intelligent power semiconductors. This alliance currently includes the facilities in Villach (Austria), Padua (Italy), Munich (Germany), and Graz (Austria). These locations will be concentrating even more closely on cooperating with the most important manufacturers of automotive electronics and will be driving product innovations forward. The developmental activities being performed in Bucharest for the area of security controllers for chip cards are integrated into the research alliance with the established centers in Munich and Graz. Chip design, software development, and verification of these high-tech products represent the main focal points of the development efforts in Bucharest. Together with the University Politehnica of Bucharest, master-level programs of study are being developed in order to form the educational structures needed to meet future R&D requirements in the semiconductor industry at an early stage. During the course of this year, about 60 additional developers are to be hired in Bucharest. In April 2005, Thomas Simonis assumed the management responsibility for the local company in Romania and for the development center. From 2002 to 2005, Simonis, who was born in Germany and has been working for Infineon since 1998, enjoyed great success in establishing the software development center in Bangalore/India for Infineon.