Imec

The Belgium-based research centre imec is setting up a new location in Heilbronn. The aim is to develop chip architectures for the auto industry.

 

The automotive industry is undergoing a period of fundamental change. In the future, engines will be electric and battery systems will be controlled electronically. Assistance systems are achieving more and more precision, while automated driving is slowly but surely gaining traction. All of these developments combined place high demands on the technology that is built into cars. Tiny electronic components play a vital role for the future of the entire industry. It needs to be possible to procure these components reliably, and they also have to meet a whole range of different functions. This is why automotive manufacturers are constantly in need of new innovations from the semiconductor industry. 

Imec, a global research hub for advanced semiconductor technologies, with its headquarters in Leuven in Belgium is dedicated to the development of such components. “We do research for the entire semiconductor value added chain as well as for users such as the automotive and health sectors”, says imec President and CEO Luc Van den hove. The non-profit organisation is a very special outfit. It develops technological action plans for the future and works with different partners from across the entire semiconductor industry. 

Imec is present in several countries, through which they provide access to its state-of-the-art facilities in Belgium, driving ideas for the semiconductor production of tomorrow. The advantage for the partner companies involved is that costs and risks are shared. This allows innovations to emerge much more rapidly than at companies working alone. Imec employs a total of 6,500 people from more than 100 countries worldwide. 

 

New site for imec’s chiplet research

Going forward, imec will also collaborate with companies based in Baden-Württemberg. At the end of October 2025, the organisation opened the ACDA (Advanced Chip Design Accelerator) Innovation Centre on the campus of the Innovation Park AI (IPAI) in Heilbronn. The focus is on ultra-modern chiplet architectures for the automotive industry, which is Baden-Württemberg’s strongest industrial sector, employing almost half a million people. The State of Baden-Württemberg is providing funding of EUR 40 million up until 2030 for the setting up of the imec location and is establishing 10 new chip professorships at the IPAI. 

Chiplets are tiny semiconductor components that can be assembled like Lego blocks to form a complex system and can be combined at will. This allows components to be manufactured more flexibly and efficiently. “The systems developed can easily be applied to the European production, robotics and mobility industry, as they are based on similar building blocks”, explains Van den hove.

The new competence centre is to work on a range of different solutions, including packaging. This refers to the housing for finished semiconductors. Raw chips are very sensitive, which is why they are encased in a protective covering that also establishes the electrical connection in a manner that saves space. 

 

Competencies in Baden-Württemberg raise attractiveness

Van den hove not only appreciates Baden-Württemberg’s strong industrial base but also its outstanding competence centres and third-level institutions: “They are key to the implementation of imec’s value added model and to achieving the project objectives”. At the new location, imec will benefit from a high-tech cluster that has been growing in the region for a number of years. “We want to win and encourage talent for research and development there”, says the imec CEO. 

Heilbronn is also home to the EU Project CHASSIS, which involves collaboration between companies, universities and research institutes. It is involved in developing the next generation of high-performing computing systems (HPC) for the automotive sector. The aim is to develop a highly integrated and energy-efficient computer architecture for vehicles that marries AI with safety-critical systems. Imec will also be involved in the work done by CHASSIS.