Turkish researchers strive to overcome 'chip' crisis with domestic means

By Selma Kasap

ANKARA (AA) – Researchers at the Middle East Technical University's (METU) Micro-Electro Mechanic Systems (MEMS) Center are conducting scientific studies in an effort to find indigenous solutions to the "chip" crisis, which has severely impacted the automotive industry.

"The MEMS chips and sensors that we produce here will be mainly used in the defense and automotive industries. We aim to overcome the global chip crisis thanks to domestic technologies," Hakan Ozdemir, the head of METU MEMS Center, told Anadolu.

Haluk Kulah, a professor at METU’s Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department and a member of the MEMS Board of Directors, said the chip crisis has brought the center's activities more to the focus of attention.

"MEMS semiconductors, with their small size, low power consumption, and high sensitivity, meet sensor needs in many different fields such as electric cars, defense industry, and health care," Kulah noted.

Product-oriented research projects have been launched in the center to develop innovative and pioneering sensors for the defense industry, as well as brand new sensor systems that meet the needs of smart vehicles for the automotive industry, he said.

He said the center has begun a new EU-backed project to establish a center of excellence to develop smart microsystems for biomedical applications.

Concerning the smart chip-on-organ technology developed at the MEMS center, METU Mechanical Engineering Department Lecturer Ender Yildirim said research has accelerated in the last decade around the world.

Kivanc Azgin, another lecturer from the same department, said, "MEMS chips help meet numerous needs of new generation cars."