Taiwan ally Guatemala develops first nanometer chip using TSMC technology

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Diplomatic ally Guatemala has developed its first domestically designed nanometer chip.

The University of the Valley of Guatemala announced progress on the “El Gran Jaguar” project, which aims to strengthen the country’s semiconductor capabilities, per Liberty Times. UVG electrical engineering students designed the chip using professional chip-design tools, while TSMC will manufacture it using a 65-nanometer process.

The project initially identified nearly 180,000 technical errors during the physical synthesis process, but students and faculty reduced that number to 179 after extensive debugging and adjustments, according to the university. The 98.9% reduction brought the physical design in line with quality standards required for fabrication at TSMC.

The project is part of an academic effort that began in 2009, when the university's electrical engineering department redesigned its curriculum to introduce microelectronic design and semiconductor development, Liberty Times reported. Engineer Carlos Esquit led the initiative.

The university launched Guatemala’s first microelectronics design course in July 2013 and signed an agreement with Synopsys Inc. in September of that year to obtain professional design software. The university said Guatemala’s first microelectronics design project was completed in July 2014.