About

Established in 1983 as the Microelectronics Research Center, the MRCI is one of six original Centers of Excellence at the University of Idaho. The original mission of the MRCI was to expand the capabilities of electronic technology by specializing in the design of high performance computer chips. In 1988, the MRC was selected by NASA as the site for the NASA Space Engineering Research Center for VLSI Design. Subsequently, a Reed Solomon decoder chip developed at the MRC was used in the Hubble Space Telescope ground station.

In 1997, the Microelectronics Research Center became the Microelectronics Research and Communications Institute. We have continued our commitment to meet the growing needs of society by expanding our mission to include communication systems research as well as device modeling, avionics, simulation, multi-media, graphics technology, electromagnetics research, and intelligent control systems.

The MRCI currently has 20 networked Hewlett-Packard Model 9000 Series 700 workstations as well as 30 computers of other makes. Peripherals include over 200 GigaBytes of Disk Storage, seven HP LaserJet Printers, a HP DesignJet 650 Plotter, two HP ScanJets, and a Zydacron video conferencing system.

In addition, our analog development and test laboratories are equipped with a Sun based IMS Logic Master XL 60 IC Tester, PC based MacTester, Amray 1810 Scanning Electron Microscope, as well as a general assortment of Pattern Generators, Logic Analyzers, O'scopes, Power Supplies, and similar equipment.

The MRCI is a repository for current CAD software from both commercial and academic sectors, some of which include Mentor Graphic's Falcon Framework and Renoir, Exemplar's Leonardo and Galileo Extreme, Mathwork's Matlab and Simulink, Avant's StarSpice (HSpice), Microsim's PSpice, Xilinx's Alliance (M1), Altera's MaxPlus2, Silvaco's Virtual Wafer Fab, Alliance, Magic, PICA, Switcap, and much more.

The MRCI is housed in a modern 6400 square-foot facility on the third floor of the Buchanan Engineering Laboratory (at the University of Idaho) built specifically for the institute in 1988. The University of Idaho is located in Moscow, Idaho, an agricultural community of approximately 17,000.

The MRCI supports 20 graduate research assistants who are supported through one of the many research grants currently in effect. Fees are often paid by the grant for each assistant and out-of-state tuition is waived. In addition, each assistant receives a salary for working, on average, 20 hours per week assisting in research.

To request more information on what we do or if we can do something for you, use our Information Request Form.

About