Master of Science in Integrated Circuit Design

Changes in IC technology have had a huge impact on our day to day life. Incredible technological advances over the last 50 years enable us to integrate billions of transistors on a single integrated circuit. At the same time the cost of a single transistor has decreased exponentially. The result is that every day new attractive applications for the use of ICs open up, enabling the semiconductor industry to grow much faster than the overall economy. However, the semiconductor industry's capability to make intelligent use of all these transistors in designing successful products has not kept pace with the manufacturing capabilities. The electronics and semiconductor industries are therefore constantly looking for well-educated IC design engineers. An important current technical trend is the drive towards "System on Chip" ICs which implement a complete system on one integrated circuit, combining digital and analog circuitry. Complex processor cores are combined with specific hardware, and software for the processors. Thus, value creation shifts from the electronics industry to the semiconductor industry.   The international Master of Science programme in Integrated Circuit Design which is jointly offered by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) will educate the next generation of engineers and leaders for the semiconductor industry. The programme contents ranges from analog, digital and mixed-circuit design over architectural concepts for integrated circuits to design methodology and automation. Product manufacturing and testing are also addressed. Integrated circuit design is also placed in a broader context, e.g. by teaching fundamental concepts of signal processing which are at the core of today's communications circuits. Students will also be taught essential non-technical topics such as product marketing, international management, patent law and aspects of culture and globalization. This will be mainly done by freelancers from our industry partners. Upon successful completion of the programme students will be awarded a joint Masters degree from NTU and TUM.