The newly established AI Hub for Productive Research and Innovation in Electronics (APRIL), is one of nine AI research hubs across the nation and recently received substantial portion of £80 million in funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), a division of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The primary goal of APRIL is to build AI tools to accelerate the development of key components such as new semiconductor materials, complex microchip designs, and system architectures, which will lead to faster, cheaper, greener, and overall more power-efficient electronics. The hub will be established at the University of Edinburgh. 

“This hub is a very exciting opportunity to nurture new, cutting-edge breakthroughs for the electronics industry not only in the UK but also globally,” said Vihar Georgiev, professor of nanoelectronics and leader of DeepNano Group at the University of Glasgow.

“I am pleased to be part of the APRIL research hub and lead the modelling activities, which have the potential to boost the UK’s productivity and innovation in an increasingly valuable sector of industry.” 

The University of Glasgow team will spearhead APRIL’s simulation, modelling, and AI-driven integrated circuit (IC) design efforts. They aim to develop sophisticated ‘digital twins’ capable of simulating semiconductor production systems under various conditions and facilitating efficient IC block design automation.

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Leveraging extensive automated testing data, these models will inform novel device design and fabrication techniques, enabling higher performance and robust designs at a fraction of the time.

“The University of Glasgow’s contribution to the project builds on decades of experience in semiconductor research and design at our specialised facilities, including the Glasgow Computational Engineering Centre (GCEC),” continued Georgiev.

“I am looking forward to working with my colleagues on this exciting project to harness the power of AI to benefit the semiconductor sector.”