Sensors :
There are only a handful of places in North America to find researchers conducting groundbreaking work in the field of high tech sensors . And it ’ s safe to say only one such location sits across a busy highway from one of the country ’ s most beloved rodeo arenas .
Across from the Silver Spurs Arena , out of sight from day-to-day life halfway between Kissimmee and St . Cloud in Osceola County , sits what many say will be ground zero in the world of sensors . Launched originally as the International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research ( ICAMR ), it is now known as BRIDG , which speaks to its mission of Bridging the Innovation Development Gap .
No other location in North America can offer access to one of the world ’ s leaders in nanotechnology manufacturing and design solutions ... imec , the renowned international research institute .
“ When consumer electronics companies and medical electronics companies have a really tough problem to solve they go to imec ,” said BRIDG CEO Chester Kennedy . “ They ’ ve been servicing U . S . companies out
of Belgium for a long time , but they ’ ve been looking for a U . S . location for years and they ’ ve been courted heavily by every region in the country that has an interest in semiconductor technology .”
“ The fact that they chose to come here to create the imec Florida Design Center says something important about The Corridor ,” Kennedy continued . “ Were it not for BRIDG , Central Florida wouldn ’ t have been in the running ... but it is more . It is a lot that has been going on for a long time .”
“ Look at what ’ s happening in the Orlando region with Medical City and the convergence of life science companies surrounding the University of Central Florida ( UCF ) College of Medicine and planned hospital ; the strong existing industry we have in optics and photonics , and all that is happening on the Space Coast with micro satellites and One Web ; and , in Tampa and near USF there ’ s a lot of autonomous vehicle testing ... this is really an interesting place to be and that is a major part of getting the world leader in nanotechnology to make this its beachhead in North America .”
“ As the U . S . semiconductor market continues to strengthen with semiconductor manufacturing , equipment , materials and systems innovation , we are extremely pleased to collaborate with partner organizations in Florida and see Osceola as an interesting location to drive the next phase of imec ’ s growth and innovation ,” said Luc Van den hove , president and CEO of imec . “ Together with industrial
56 florida . HIGH . TECH 2017