New Freescale Discovery Lab opens in Toulouse
Freescale Semiconductor has celebrated the opening of Freescale Discovery Lab in Toulouse, an incubator where inventors of the next big thing pursue high risk, high reward ideas. This lab is the first located outside the Austin Headquarters (Texas).
Freescale Discovery Labs bring together Freescale's best minds from across the company and around the globe to test and prove unique ideas that offer significant improvements on existing technologies or techniques.
Inventors at the Discovery Lab are working on a variety of technology from exploring alternative materials, creating cutting edge packaging technology to architecting new systems and software that will enable next generation products to fuel major market trends such as IoT (Internet of Things), SDN (Software Defined Networks), and ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems).
Every employee is encouraged to submit ideas and when accepted, that employee is assigned to the lab either in Austin or in Toulouse to work full-time on its project. Over 200 ideas have been submitted already, and more than 20 employees are currently working on nine projects. The Freescale Discovery Lab has forged partnerships with numerous domestic and international universities.
Freescale has a proud history of innovation and has played a significant role in the evolution of embedded technologies. Freescale delivered the first automotive microcontroller designed to improve fuel efficiency and control emissions; it also helped transmit the first words from the Moon with its radio frequency (RF) technology, just to mention a few.
"We couldn't be more proud of what the Freescale Discovery Lab has accomplished in such a short period of time," said Gregg Lowe, Freescale president and chief executive officer. "These labs will continue to be a haven for disruptive innovation that nurtures new ideas, bringing about dramatic improvements in technology that change the face of our industry."
Gregg Lowe and David Kramer, director of Freescale Discovery Lab, have cut the ribbon today to officially celebrate the opening of the structure.
"It's key to challenge the status quo in our industry. FDL is a great mean to continually invent never-before-seen concepts and help us maintain our leadership," said Kramer. "Freescale Toulouse has always demonstrated expertise, passion and enthusiasm for technology and this new Freescale Discovery Lab is the perfect environment to nurture new ideas for all our engineers".