Cypress to open design tech lab at BIT

BHUBANESWAR, INDIA: With a view to train students in embedded design, US based chip maker Cypress Semiconductor Corp will open a design technology laboratory on the campus of the Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology (BIT).

In this regard, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in San Jose, US, 31 July, by Rabi Mahapatra, chairman of BIT and Patrick Kane, director of Cypress University Alliance.

“It will be the first programmable system on chip (PSoC) laboratory in the state," an IANS report quoted BIT chief operating officer and executive director Ashok Mahapatra as saying.

Cypress University Alliance is a multi-faceted programme launched by the chip maker to empower electronics engineering and computer science students to develop their skills.

"As part of the agreement, Cypress will provide hands-on training to the faculty and students of BIT in addition to free hardware kits and software tools valued at over $200,000," Ashok Mahapatra said.

With this agreement in place, students and faculty will have easy access to Cypress-sponsored training, technical support and curriculum development assistance, he added.

BIT plans to immediately introduce PSoC training for its 120 students in electronics and communications engineering (ECE), and electrical and electronics engineering (EEE) from 2009, their first year itself.

BIT is among a few select institutes in India and the first in Orissa to be part of the Cypress University Alliance Program (CUAP). Internationally it joins the likes of Stanford University, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M University, Purdue University and University of Wisconsin-Madison as CUAP partners.

Other Indian institutions that are part of the programme are Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay, IIT-Delhi and Anna University.