Cardiff and Swansea explore a joint compound semiconductor pilot foundry
Cardiff and Swansea universities have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore joint compound semiconductor pilot foundry capabilities in south Wales, with the aim of helping businesses develop, fabricate and test technologies before commercial manufacture. A joint delivery group will work with industry and government on a shared roadmap and investment proposition. [1]
The proposal builds on the region’s existing compound semiconductor cluster. CSconnected describes a supply chain extending from design and university research through specialist prototyping, wafer fabrication and packaging to high-volume manufacturing and finished systems. [2]
Its existing Strength in Places programme was valued at £43 million, including £25 million from UK Research and Innovation. That money supported the earlier cluster programme, while the newly proposed pilot capabilities still require a roadmap and investment proposition. No funded construction programme or opening date was disclosed in the universities’ announcement. [1][2]
Howard Rupprecht, managing director of CSconnected, said companies need “facilities to prototype and prove their technology at pilot scale”, aligned with the fabrication infrastructure where the eventual products will be made. [1]
Sources
- Swansea University, joint MoU, delivery group and proposed pilot foundry capabilities, 2 November 2026
- CSconnected, existing cluster capabilities and Strength in Places programme, background
Swansea University’s College of Engineering. Archive photograph from 2017, not the proposed pilot foundry. Photo: Rhys1234567890 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Image source. CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for web.
