Vivek Sharma is the director of STMicrolectronics India Design Centers, Greater Noida and regional vice president, Greater China and South Asia of the Geneva-based STMicroelect-ronics NV (aggregate revenue: $10.35 billion or Rs.46,575 crore in 2010). STMicroelectronics has established two semiconductor design centres in India with a workforce of 2,200 employees. An electronics and communications engineer of Punjab Engineering College with a Masters in communications engineering from IIT-Delhi, Sharma began his career with the Associated Electronics Research Foundation, Noida in 1986, signed up with STMicroelect-ronics in 1991 and was promoted to his current position in April 2009.
Newspeg. STM India hosted its second TechWeek at its Greater Noida and Bangalore design centres from March 7-11 to expose its employees to the latest research and developments in the semiconductors (aka silicon chip) industry. To this end, tutorials in hardware design, embedded systems and information and communication technology domains, were conducted by renowned academics from India and abroad.
History. Since the parent company established its liaison office shortly after registering its Indian subsidiary in 1987, STM India has established design centres in Greater Noida and Bangalore. The company’s activities include very large scale integration (VLSI), embedded software and IT applications software design, infrastructure support, services and marketing. Closely connected with engineering and technology institutions of excellence, STM has established on-site collaborative labs to work on R&D projects and nexgen technologies in IIT-Delhi; Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani; Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Delhi Technical University (DTU).
Direct speech. “Despite India hosting 18 percent of the global population, a mere 2-3 percent of the world’s semiconductors, which are indispen-sable in automobiles to healthcare, digital TV, computers, mobiles and toys, are sold in India. The power of semi-conductors is doubling every 18-24 months and this rapidly changing technology entails massive research and development, investment and effort,” says Sharma.
Future plans. Sharma is convinced that greater industry-academia cooperation is required to contemporise India’s laggard electronics industry. “Indian science is at the crossroads and the education system isn’t responding adequately. I am of the opinion that our students shouldn’t deviate from core basics and sound fundamentals. Only then can they master applications and innovate. In the electronics industry, huge opportunities are emerging and in STM we believe greater industry-academia engagement will enable us to seize them,” says Sharma.
Autar Nehru (Delhi)