The University of Cambridge and Hitachi, Ltd. Renew 30 Year Research Partnership
November 19, 2019 at 04:57 am
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The University of Cambridge and Hitachi, Ltd. announced that they have signed a new agreement to continue and grow their long-standing relationship through the Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory (HCL), part of the European R&D Centre of Hitachi Europe Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi. The relationship will build on the 30 year partnership established with the University through the Cavendish Laboratory, home of the University's Department of Physics, and will pursue deep science leading to the development of cutting-edge technology to realize a practical quantum computer. The collaborative activity between HCL and the Cavendish Laboratory which began in 1989 to create new concept advanced electronic and optoelectronic devices, has resulted in many significant technology milestones such as the demonstration of the world's first single-electron memory device (1993), the first single-electron logic device (1995), measurement of the Spin-Hall effect and one of the first silicon qubit devices (2005), the Spin-injection Hall effect (2009) and a prototype Spin-Hall effect transistor (2010). A part of such works led to the development of major activity on quantum computation. Now, the development of an ecosystem in this area, covering activities across the University, as well as companies in the Cambridge cluster - the largest technology cluster in Europe - is a central priority for HCL. Under the terms of the new agreement, HCL will now carry out next-generation computing research with the Cavendish Laboratory in addition to ongoing fundamental research, and the partnership will continue at the Ray Dolby Centre, the new home of the Cavendish Laboratory, due to open in 2022. University researchers pursue research ranging from new devices to algorithms for next-generation computers such as quantum computers, which are exponentially faster than classical computers, revolutionizing fields as diverse as cryptography and drug discovery. The Cavendish Laboratory is currently constructing a new building, the Ray Dolby Centre, due to the generous support of the Dolby family and a major grant from the UK Government. The new home of the Cavendish will operate as a National Facility for the UK physics community and its industrial partners. Hitachi and the University have agreed that the Ray Dolby Centre will be the ideal home for HCL.
Hitachi specializes in manufacturing and marketing of electronic and industrial equipments. Net sales (including intragroup) break down by family of products and services as follows:
- social infrastructure and industrial systems (24.7%): elevators, escalators, industrial facilities, railway systems, power generation units, etc. The group also provides engineering and construction of nuclear, hydroelectric, and thermal power plants services;
- information and telecommunications products and services (20.1%): systems integration, cloud computing, software, servers, hard disks, PCs, ATMs, data communication base stations, payment terminals, etc.;
- materials and components (16.6%): semi-conductor materials, printed circuit cards, cables, copper and forged steel products, magnetic materials, organic and inorganic chemical products, etc.;
- construction equipment (10%) : hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, mining equipment, etc.;
- automotive systems (9.4%): powertrain systems, control systems, etc.;
- electronic products (9.2%): fiber-optic components, screen tubes, testing and measurement equipment, medical equipment, equipment for manufacturing semiconductors, etc.;
- household appliances (4.7%): heating and air conditioning equipments, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.;
- other (5.3%): mainly transport, financial and logistical services.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Japan (49.2%), Asia (21.3%), North America (12.7%), Europe (10.8%) and other (6%).