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G.R.N. Somasekhar

Driving on strategic location: Dr Hector Ruiz (left), Chairman and CEO, AMD, and Mr P.B. Mahishi, Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, at the inauguration of AMD’s new engineering facility in Bangalore on Thursday. —

Our Bureau

Bangalore, Nov. 29 With India’s increasing significance in AMD’s global R&D and design operations, the company intends to grow its engineering capacities in the country in the coming years.

The Chairman and CEO, Dr Hector Ruiz, who was in the city to inaugurate the third AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) engineering facility in India, said: “Indian engineering centres are a significant part of our growth. India is a potentially large market and the company would take advantage of the opportunities for engineering and R&D here. Bangalore especially is a critical centre of excellence.”

AMD’s R&D teams in Bangalore are involved in design testing and optimisation of ‘Shanghai’ – AMD’ first 45nm ‘quad-core’ microprocessor. Earlier, the teams were responsible for delivering ‘intellectual property’ for the first AMD quad-core ‘Opetron’ chip.

“Our engineering employees in India play a critical role in AMD’s global design network and this new R&D centre gives them world-class equipment and resources they need to excel,” said Dr Ruiz.

The company is on a continuous headcount “ramp-up mode” in India. The new 52,000-sq.ft. facility in Bangalore can accommodate 350 engineers. (The company has two more facilities in India - Bangalore and Hyderabad with similar capacities.)

On AMD’s manufacturing plans in the country, Dr Ruiz said the company’s intent is “to find partners in India to understand the Indian business and practices.”

The company already has a ‘technology transfer’ partnership with SemIndia to help it “understand the opportunities in the manufacturing sector.”

Dr Ruiz admitted that the partnership was moving “slower than anticipated. But AMD, he added, would be “closely associated” with developments in manufacturing and learn more from partnership, as it is critical for the company to have both a strong R&D and a “control” over manufacturing. AMD also has a joint development partnership with IBM.

California-based AMD is looking to continue providing “advanced next-generation” processing solutions which are consumer focussed. “Customer-centric innovation is the sole of our company and the centre of what we do,” the CMD said. On the economic slowdown in the US, Dr Ruiz said it would have no impact on the adoption of technology in various fields.

Mr M.N. Vidyashankar, IT Secretary of Karnataka, and Mr P.B. Mahishi, Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, were also present at the inaugural event.

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