CSA Catapult CEO calls for UK ‘super cluster’
Martin McHugh, CEO of CSA Catapult, the UK’s authority on compound semiconductors, says the UK's semiconductor industry is at a critical stage in its evolution.
As Europe, the USA, China, Japan and South Korea invest, there is a significant risk of the UK being left behind if it doesn't act.
In a response to the UK government's industrial strategy, CSA Catapult has outlined the steps needed to transform the country's semiconductor industry and drive economic growth. These steps include establishing a National Semiconductor Institute, and investing in infrastructure to build a semiconductor super cluster.
There are over 200 dedicated semiconductor companies in the UK, who collectively generate £9.6 billion in revenues and employ 15,000 people. Clusters of expertise are in South Wales, the South West, Cambridge, the North East, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. However, the industry lacks a single, independent, unified voice to bring these clusters together, promote the sector and attract international investment, says McHugh.
The creation of a National Semiconductor Institute would strengthen, lead and co-ordinate targeted activity across the UK. A key role of the Institute will be to grow existing semiconductor clusters in the UK and unleash the full potential of our cities and regions.
The CSA Catapult has laid out a £305m Semiconductor Challenge Fund to provide UK clusters with critical infrastructure. This would include a £150m investment in regional projects such as a UK Centre of Excellence for quantum photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and a world-first centre for AI-powered electronics, photonics, quantum and design automation (AI.EPQDA).
The organisation recommends investment in compound semiconductor manufacturing and infrastructure, specifically open access fabs specialising in SiC, GaN and GaAs. These would will remove commercialisation and scale-up barriers for start-ups and SMEs and allow them to grow quickly and efficiently, according to McHugh.
All of the CSA Catapult's eight recommendations, which include coordinating skills plans, and talent pools; and opening up access to funding, are outlined in a new report, which can be read here.
