Semiconductors & technology
Chip maker NXP employs 4,500 workers, making it the largest industrial company in the Nijmegen region. NXP was the founder of the ambitious 52 Degrees project, an important centre for innovation and technology for the Arnhem Nijmegen Cool Region.
Business Cluster Semiconductors
The Arnhem Nijmegen region has many semiconductor companies. These companies are clustered in a network called Business Cluster Semiconductors (BCS), which covers the whole of Eastern Netherlands.
Business Cluster Semiconductors Eastern Netherlands is a regional network of innovative companies active in the whole value chain of development, production and application of Advanced ICs, MEMS, Sensors and Wireless Systems.
Visit www.bcsemi.nl for more information about BCSEMI, its members and its network.
52 Degrees
At the initiative of former Philips multinational NXP, an international research and development centre was set up in Nijmegen, which houses in a striking eighteen-storeyed building on the edge of Novio-techcampus industrial estate (formerly known as Winkelsteeg). It goes by the name of 52 Degrees.
The tower has a lot of office space and research rooms. There is a
spacious car park below the building. In the next couple of years, 52 Degrees
will be expanded with more knowledge-intensive activities. Leisure time
facilities for local residents, housing schemes and a train station are part of
this huge project. 52 Degrees was designed by the well-known Dutch architect
Francine Houben of Mecanoo Architects.
The arrival of 52 Degrees is a wonderful chance for upgrading and
modernising the Winkelsteeg industrial estate, an estate that employs the
largest number of workers in the province of Gelderland. Its name was changed to reflect the region’s
ambition of turning this estate into a hive of technological activity:
Novio-techcampus.
Science meets business
The Mercator Technology & Science Park
in Nijmegen is a meeting
place for scientists and businesses. The direct link with the Radboud
University ensures close interaction between the world of science and the
corporate world. The nature of the activity is very much in line with the
University’s key research fields: cognitive sciences (and overlaps with
information and communication technology), bio-computer technology, biomedical
research, molecular life sciences and materials research. Areas in which
Nijmegen is a global player.
Over the years, more than three hundred spin off companies set up shop
near the Mercator Technology & Science Park. These knowledge-intensive
businesses brought new products and services on the market and bridge the gap
between innovative companies, universities and other knowledge institutions.
Expectations for the coming years are particularly high in respect of Life
Sciences and the medical sector.
Mercator Incubator Nijmegen was
set up to operate as an information and help desk for this particular kind of
start-up businesses.
Technology in Arnhem
Knowledge-intensive businesses in Arnhem
can mainly be found on Arnhem Buiten,
located at the west side of the city. This industrial estate’s location was
once owned by former multinational research institute Kema. It is partly
situated in the municipality of Renkum.
Until recently, Arnhem Buiten was called Business Park Arnhem.
The name of Kema a commercial enterprise for consultancy, research, inspection and innovation
in the fields of materials, accidents, loss or damage, energy applications and
recycling – is very much part of Arnhem’s history. As are the chemical companies
BasF and Akzo Nobel.
Knowledge-intensive companies love to set up their businesses near the
train station of Arnhem Centraal
as well as at the industrial estates of IJsseloord 2, Koningspleij Noord and Kleefse
Waard.
