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Microchip Technology Partners With Texas A & M

January 27, 2010

The company will partner with the university for undergraduate research, design projects & engineering labs.


CHANDLER, AZ [NASDAQ: MCHP] -- Microchip Technology Inc., a leading provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors, announced it has partnered with Texas A & M University for undergraduate research, design projects, and engineering labs within the Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering Technology (EET/TET) Programs in the College of Engineering. Microchip Academic Partners receive access to free software, free product samples and access to technical resources that make it easy for educators to provide hands-on learning in engineering labs around the globe. In addition to its free MPLAB and HI-TECH C Compilers for all PIC microcontrollers, Microchip provides low-cost, easy-to-use starter kits for students to utilize in their senior projects, as well as turnkey curriculum for educators.

Dr. Jay Porter, Professor and EET/TET Program Director and Dr. Joseph Morgan, Professor and Mobile Integrated Solutions Laboratory (MISL) Director with Texas A & M University have led the integration of Microchip Technology into the EET/TET curricula over the past two years. In addition to using a wide variety of PIC microcontrollers in undergraduate courses and laboratories, the faculty has developed a series of robotics workshops that have been used for recruitment and outreach to high-school and middle-school students. The workshops not only introduce students to the mechanical aspects of robotics, but also expose them to the fundamentals of microcontrollers, sensors and autonomous control software.

"When we looked around for a company that could provide a range of microcontrollers, supporting electronics and software development toolsets at an affordable cost, Microchip quickly became the manufacturer of choice," said Dr. Morgan. "We are pleased that the two capstone design projects that have been transitioned to the private sector for commercialization were both designed around a PIC24 microcontroller."

Dr. Porter reinforced this statement and added, "We have found that Microchip's ability to support academia is outstanding, whether we are developing fully functional working prototypes as part of our undergraduate capstone design sequence, or getting secondary-school kids excited about robotics. Microchip has been a great partner, and look forward to expanding our interactions with Microchip through its Academic Partner Program."

Steve Sanghi, president and CEO of Microchip, said, "Microchip is pleased to partner with Texas A & M University to promote excellence in higher learning and create successful future engineers. We continue our commitment to helping academics excel by providing easily accessible tools, curriculum and other resources that make it easy for students and professors to use our products in the classroom."

Microchip also announced the MCHP Tube show today, a monthly YouTube-based video series. The show will feature various segments, including news and headlines related to Microchip's products and development tools, university student projects, and much more. Click here to view the inaugural episodes of the MCHP Tube show, which includes a project from an engineering student at A & M. Additionally, Microchip has created Academic Support Fan Pages on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to engage students at the high-school and university levels.

In addition to receiving free software, samples and access to technical resources, Microchip Academic Partner educators can attend training classes at any one of Microchip's 37 worldwide Regional Training Centers, free of charge. Attendance is based upon availability. Additionally, educator partners and students alike can take any of Microchip's online labs for free.

About Microchip Technology
Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP) is a leading provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors, providing low-risk product development, lower total system cost and faster time to market for thousands of diverse customer applications worldwide. Headquartered in Chandler, AZ, Microchip offers outstanding technical support along with dependable delivery and quality.






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