DANBURY, Conn., May 9, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ATMI, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATMI), a global technology company and supplier of advanced materials solutions to the microelectronics industry, awarded a gift today to the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) in the amount of $2 million. In a public event on the UC Berkeley campus, ATMI's Chief Executive Officer, Doug Neugold, presented the gift to S. Shankar Sastry, Dean of the College of Engineering, and transistor technology pioneer Professor Chenming Hu of the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences. The gift to the college will support on-going work by Professor Hu and his colleagues in the effort to develop ultra-low power consuming microelectronic device architecture and design that would enable greater ubiquity of mobile devices.

"UC Berkeley has a proven record of innovative semiconductor device research that has pushed the boundaries of performance and power efficiency of transistors," noted Dean Sastry. "The ATMI gift will aid research toward accomplishing new advances, especially in reducing the energy footprint in microelectronics."

Energy efficiency is the next major barrier to new applications and markets for semiconductor circuits. Professor Hu and his colleagues will conduct leading-edge design and research in an effort to reach new milestones for sustainable solutions in power storage, consumption and overall efficiency.

"It is our privilege to enable future-focused, microelectronics solution development through such an accomplished team and college at this prestigious university," commented Neugold during the campus presentation today. "As a global technology leader in microelectronics, we are inspired by all efforts that deliver more efficient and sustainable solutions to our industry. It is my hope that the work from this endeavor, led by Professor Hu, might someday deliver just that."

Professor Hu is widely known in the semiconductor industry for his innovative work and impactful career. He is regarded as the "Father of the 3-D transistor" for initiating the development of FinFET, a leading computer chip design now commonly used by major semiconductor companies and hailed as the most radical shift in semiconductor technology in the last 50 years. The FinFET approach to transistor design uses a stacked, multiple-gate configuration that increases the surface area for electrons and has helped enable the extension of semiconductor nodes to 10nm and beyond. In addition, Professor Hu has won numerous awards for his pioneering contributions and for achievements critical to attaining smaller, more reliable and higher-performing integrated circuits. A professor at UC Berkeley since 1976, Professor Hu has also performed a host of other high-profile duties, including Chief Technology Officer for TSMC, the world's largest dedicated integrated circuits manufacturing company.

"My research has benefited from the generosity of many industry sponsors and I am proud to have ATMI as the first process materials company to support our continued quest for innovation," said Professor Hu, professor emeritus of electrical engineering & computer sciences and distinguished professor in the Graduate School at UC Berkeley. "We appreciate ATMI's leadership and support and share its vision that future advances in electronic devices will be increasingly linked with new materials."

ATMI's financial gift will support the research of energy-efficient semiconductor devices conducted by Professor Hu, Professor Ali Javey and Professor Sayeef Salahuddin. The professors will investigate new structures, materials and operational principles of transistors that may enable future low-power integrated circuits and electronics. Companies like ATMI may then be able to scale-up these new materials for delivery into the circuit manufacturing process. The gift will also enable UC Berkeley researchers to collaborate with the prestigious National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, which has a very strong materials research program.

About ATMI

ATMI, Inc. provides specialty semiconductor materials, and safe, high-purity materials handling and delivery solutions designed to increase process efficiencies for the worldwide semiconductor, flat panel, and life sciences industries. For more information, please visit atmi.com.

About UC Berkeley

With its proximity to Silicon Valley and a global reputation for academic excellence, the University of California, Berkeley has long been a key driver of technological innovation. More than 4,800 students study engineering at Berkeley, taught by more than 200 full-time faculty. The mixed-signal MOS integrated circuit was pioneered by electrical engineering researchers at Berkeley, as was computer-aided design for integrated circuits and three-dimensional transistor technology. More than 40 affiliated engineering research centers, in areas from wireless communications to sustainable design, foster student instruction and industry collaboration. Learn more at coe.berkeley.edu.

ATMI and the ATMI logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Technology Materials, Inc., in the United States, other countries or both.