Microsemi Opens Aviation Centre of Excellence for Intelligent Power Solutions in Ennis, Ireland

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Feb. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq: MSCC), a leading provider of semiconductor solutions differentiated by power, security, reliability and performance, today announced the opening of its Aviation Centre of Excellence in Ennis, Ireland. The 1,900 square-foot research and development facility will support the design, development and manufacturing of Microsemi's new product line of high reliability aviation intelligent power solutions (IPS).

During a grand opening ceremony this morning, Jim Aralis, chief technology officer and vice president of advanced development at Microsemi, joined fellow executives, employees and community members for The Aviation Centre of Excellence's unveiling. Following the event, Aralis is hosting an engineering forum open to the technical community.

"Our new Aviation Centre of Excellence is the latest example of Microsemi's investment in research and development in Ireland, and reflects our Ennis facility's important contributions to the wider Microsemi global product/technology development network. We now offer a complete solution for high reliability aviation intelligent power solutions from design to manufacturing," said Aralis. "The facility will not only provide access to a portfolio of highly integrated, flexible and scalable solutions for aviation electric actuation and power conversion applications, but customers will also have access to a full technical service provider as an extension of their design teams."

The facility's new research and development laboratory is fully resourced with modeling, simulation, analysis and algorithm development capabilities providing accelerated product innovation. The state-of-the-art measuring equipment enables extensive product testing while a dedicated reliability laboratory facilitates product qualification and long-term application specific life testing. As the aviation sector continues to demand higher levels of reliability and integration in the area of power electronics in order to realize the goal of more electric aircraft (MEA), Microsemi's Aviation Centre of Excellence will play a critical role in supporting this objective.

According to professor Pat Wheeler, head of department, Electrical and Electronic Engineering and deputy head of the Power Electronics, Machines and Controls (PEMC) Research Group at the University of Nottingham (UK), power electronics is the enabling technology for the more electric aircraft. However MEA advantages are marginal with current technology and advancements in the areas of reliability, power density, wide band gap semiconductor materials and thermal management are essential to achieve its full potential.

Microsemi is developing IPS products for a variety of growing applications within the commercial aviation industry. According to global market research and consulting company MarketsandMarkets, the actuator, electrical and electronics systems market was valued at $8 billion in 2013 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14 percent to reach $21 billion by 2020. The electrical systems are expected to grow at a CAGR of 16 percent and the electronics components market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13 percent.

Among the flagship products of Microsemi's new Aviation Centre of Excellence is the aviation power core module (PCM) with an integrated FPGA and hybrid power drive (HPD) stage. The PCM controls the electrical motors used in applications such as primary flight control actuation and landing gear systems. It interfaces seamlessly with aircraft power supplies and flight computers, providing vital sensor feedback for monitoring. Customization options are also available to ensure an optimized product offering for customers. The hybrid power drive (HPD) with integrated solenoid drive is also available as a stand-alone product. The manufacturing of these power systems leverages the company's existing operations infrastructure as well as the high quality and reliability processes in the current Ennis facility, which is a manufacturing center for Microsemi's high reliability discrete products. For more information, about the Aviation Centre of Excellence, visit http://www.microsemi.com/applications/commercial-aviation/aviation-center-of-excellence.

"This investment in aviation intelligent power solutions is a significant testament to our vision to be a full solutions provider, leveraging the extensive technologies and capabilities across the company to expand our footprint in focus applications," said Siobhan Dolan Clancy, vice president of business development, aerospace, at Microsemi. "By combining our team's industry-leading technology from around the globe with our aerospace power module capabilities, we look forward to announcing truly game-changing developments in this market."

Microsemi: Committed to Ireland
Microsemi established its presence in Ireland in 1992 through the acquisition of a facility in Ennis, Co. Clare and in 2012 the company named the Ennis facility as its European headquarters. Over the past several years, Microsemi has made a significant investment in its Ennis operations and now employs 270 people, making it one of the largest employers in the area. Microsemi's annual spend in Ireland is in excess of $20 million annually and it continues to recruit engineers and other technical professionals.

The Ennis facility's key competencies are the development, manufacturing and high reliability testing of semiconductors to meet stringent aerospace, satellite, medical and security standards and it is now one of the largest such facilities globally. Microsemi also has a design group in Dublin which is focused on advanced system-on-chip (SoC) software and solutions with an emphasis on ARM processor-centric designs, and a group in Cork who are specialized in the development of highly efficient and scalable embedded hardware and software for real-time Ethernet operations.

Microsemi Giving Wings to Innovation in Commercial Aviation Electronics
Microsemi offers an industry-leading range of high reliability products and solutions for flight critical avionics and power conversion applications addressing the evolving needs of the aviation industry. Microsemi provides best-in-class field programmable gate array (FPGA) and system-on-chip (SoC) technology for low power and SEU immunity, broadest range of transient voltage suppression (TVS) solutions for lightning protection, high performance power discrete technology such as silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs, diodes and their ruggedized power modules, a comprehensive analog and mixed-signal integrated circuit (IC) capability including high temperature SiC transistor drivers and sensor interface ICs, Ethernet and networking technologies, radio frequency (RF) diodes, power transistors, MMICs, modules and subsystems, high-density memory products, solid state storage (SSD) devices and advanced packaging services including high temperature (HT) Polymer packaging technology. Microsemi continues to expand its leadership through product innovation and is building a solution capability by leveraging its broad portfolio of products to develop a new portfolio of intelligent power solutions in its Aviation Centre of Excellence, which serves as a full technical provider from design to manufacturing. For more information on Microsemi's aviation products and technologies, visit http://www.microsemi.com/applications/commercial-aviation.

About Microsemi
Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq: MSCC) offers a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor and system solutions for communications, defense & security, aerospace and industrial markets. Products include high-performance and radiation-hardened analog mixed-signal integrated circuits, FPGAs, SoCs and ASICs; power management products; timing and synchronization devices and precise time solutions, setting the world's standard for time; voice processing devices; RF solutions; discrete components; enterprise storage and communication solutions, security technologies and scalable anti-tamper products; Ethernet solutions; Power-over-Ethernet ICs and midspans; as well as custom design capabilities and services. Microsemi is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, Calif., and has approximately 4,800 employees globally. Learn more at www.microsemi.com.

Microsemi and the Microsemi logo are registered trademarks or service marks of Microsemi Corporation and/or its affiliates. Third-party trademarks and service marks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Any statements set forth in this news release that are not entirely historical and factual in nature, including without limitation statements related to the opening of its Aviation Centre of Excellence in Ennis, Ireland, and its potential effects on future business, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, such factors as rapidly changing technology and product obsolescence, potential cost increases, variations in customer order preferences, weakness or competitive pricing environment of the marketplace, uncertain demand for and acceptance of the company's products, adverse circumstances in any of our end markets, results of in-process or planned development or marketing and promotional campaigns, difficulties foreseeing future demand, potential non-realization of expected orders or non-realization of backlog, product returns, product liability, and other potential unexpected business and economic conditions or adverse changes in current or expected industry conditions, difficulties and costs of protecting patents and other proprietary rights, inventory obsolescence and difficulties regarding customer qualification of products. In addition to these factors and any other factors mentioned elsewhere in this news release, the reader should refer as well to the factors, uncertainties or risks identified in the company's most recent Form 10-K and all subsequent Form 10-Q reports filed by Microsemi with the SEC. Additional risk factors may be identified from time to time in Microsemi's future filings. The forward-looking statements included in this release speak only as of the date hereof, and Microsemi does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160202/328547

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110909/MM66070LOGO

SOURCE Microsemi Corporation

Related Links

http://www.microsemi.com