Freescale opens business and technology center in Mexico

By Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News -- 6/8/2009

Freescale Semiconductor is expanding its business and technology center in Guadalajara, Mexico, and today opened its new 65,000-square-foot facility there.

The center is three times larger than the company’s previous facility in Guadalajara and offers nearly 22,000-square feet of additional space for future expansion. The facility currently houses more than 250 Freescale collaborators and is large enough to accommodate more than 500 people with laboratories for medical, automotive, appliance, and multimedia applications, Freescale said.

Freescale will focus its engineers at the facility on applications development using embedded processors and microcontrollers, sensors, RF, analog, and mixed-signal ICs for the networking, automotive, consumer and industrial markets. The facility also houses sales and marketing services.

Guadalajara has long been considered "Mexico's Silicon Valley."  Freescale opened its first facility in Guadalajara in 1968 and has since expanded its technology and sales presence throughout Mexico. In 2004, Freescale consolidated its IC design center operations in Guadalajara.

“Establishing this state-of-the-art business and technology center in Guadalajara solidifies Freescale’s commitment to Latin America and will help us to continue attracting and retaining world-class digital and analog chip talent in the region,” said Rich Beyer, Freescale's chairman of the board and CEO, in a statement today.

Freescale said it maintains a strong technical talent pipeline through its university relations program in Mexico, which sees the company collaborate with more than 100 universities by implementing its tools in new courses or upgrading existing courses, providing on-campus training, and involving students and faculty in conferences and company events, such as the Freescale Technology Forum. Universities also receive support through sponsorships on robotic electronic competitions, campus events, and student projects, the company said.
 
“Freescale Mexico’s applications engineering and semiconductor design teams enhance our support for our customers around the world and help strengthen our global leadership in embedded processing," Beyer said. "The opening of this new facility is a proud day for all of Freescale.”

Freescale also has a design center in Campinas City, Brazil, near São Paulo. According to Freescale, that center plays a key role in the company’s advanced microcontroller designs for automotive and industrial applications and serves as a strategic design resource for the joint development program between Freescale and STMicroelectronics.

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