IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2016 - 69

Short Course Attracts Crowd from
Across the Globe to the West of Ireland

A two-day short course, "Selected Topics in Data Converter Design," hosted by
the Circuits and Systems Research Centre (CSRC) of the University of Limerick
(UL), was held on 17 and 18 August at
the award-winning Graduate Entry Medical School building. The short course
attracted 62 delegates from all over
the world, from countries like Ireland,
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MSSC.2015.2495881
Date of publication: 21 January 2016

prof. Murmann and prof. Jespers with csrc staff.

aBOut csrc
The Circuits and Systems Research Centre (CSRC) is hosted within the
Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering at the UL and has
an excellent track record in securing funding in the area of microelectronics research. The team has consistently produced impactful research
outputs, including peer-reviewed conference and journal publications,
commercially focused outputs such as invention disclosures, patents, IP
licensing, spin-outs, and knowledge-transfer activities. In addition, the
CSRC has placed many Ph.D.- and M.Eng.-level students from research
and graduate programs into industry, both nationally and internationally. The CSRC has a strong and established history in VLSI analog and
digital IC design, power management, and energy-efficient microelectronics, both academically and commercially. Two indigenous start-ups,
Powervation Ltd. (sold to Rohm) and Chipsensors Ltd. (sold to Silicon
Labs), have had their origins associated with the CSRC's developed technology, academics, and researchers. The core research group involved
in microelectronics research comprises one of the largest research
clusters for microelectronics in Ireland. The CSRC team has developed
valued-IP, publications, and publicity for the UL and industry since it
has been in existence.
The CSRC staff is working toward a dedicated World-Class Research
Centre in Energy Efficient Microelectronics to sustain and grow existing
competence. The specific aims are as follows:
* Develop UL as a leading education and research institute for
microelectronics-based energy-efficient circuit architectures and
solutions to include data converters, power management control, and digital signal-processing techniques.
* Promote collaboration with other research centers and institutes
involved in medical/health technologies, industrial, materials,
and sensors application, to enable new R&D into technology addressing future and emerging needs.

an aerial view of the uL.

Grow research activities through national- and internationalfunding program participation and securing direct industry funding for collaborative projects.
* Modernize and develop microelectronic course modules by integrating teaching and research to meet industry needs.
* Assist top-class undergraduates and master's/Ph.D. researchers
for transfer to industry.
Key objectives for the center are as follows:
* Develop a center dedicated toward high-value research, training,
and teaching.
* Assist top-class M.Eng. and Ph.D. researchers for transfer to
industry.
* Achieve internationally recognized research impact.
* Promote and enhance opportunities for collaborative and interdisciplinary initiatives.
* Have a dedicated microelectronics research program.
* Become a top-ten world-class mixed-signal microelectronics research center.
For more information visit: http://www.csrc.ie/ and http://www.ul.ie/.
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IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS MAGAZINE

W I N T E R 2 0 16

http://www.csrc.ie/ http://www.ul.ie/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2016