FROM EDN EUROPE: Eindhoven acquires new research facility

There is a new name in the directory of European research organisations: the Holst Centre. Named not for the composer but after Gilles Holst, a pioneering Dutch researcher and first director of Philips Research, the centre has been set up jointly by TNO and IMEC. TNO is an independent Dutch research organisation; IMEC is a Belgian research centre for nanoelectronics and nanotechnology. The Holst Centre is located on the High-Tech Campus at Eindhoven, and will concern itself with generic technologies and platforms for autonomous wireless transducers and systems-in-foil. The Centre's effort will be on developing technologies supportive of the concepts of "ubiquitous computing." The Holst Centre will be organised on a programme basis, with participation in each programme open to companies and academic organisations worldwide. Initial programmes focus on areas such as medical and lifestyle issues; ultra-low-power DSP and radio; micropower technologies; and appropriate packaging. Projects with input from the founding partners include topics such as ambient energy scavenging; an autonomous, integrated, ambulant EEG system for medical monitoring; and UWB (ultra-wideband) receivers for personal-area-networking. The Campus at Eindhoven (Netherlands) includes extensive fabrication facilities at the MiPlaza centre; although it is geographically within "Philips territory", the Campus runs autonomously from Philips, which has set a maximum limit to its participation in any of the programmes at the new Holst Centre to support the Centre's pan-industry ambitions.

Holst Centre, www.holstcentre.com.