IMMS INSTITUT FUER MIKROELEKTRONIK- UND MECHATRONIK-SYSTEME GMBH

Their core work

IMMS is a German applied research institute based in Ilmenau, Thuringia, specializing in the design and development of microelectronic and mechatronic systems. Their core work spans custom integrated circuit design, embedded systems engineering, and low-power semiconductor architectures — the kind of highly specialized R&D that sits between academic research and commercial chip development. In H2020, they contributed to two significant ECSEL and Innovation Action projects focused first on advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes and more recently on AI-capable microcontroller platforms for edge deployment. They are not a chip foundry — they are a design and research partner for organizations that need deep expertise in building smart, power-efficient, and secure embedded systems.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

IMMS entered H2020 through ADMONT (2015–2019), a large ECSEL initiative focused on manufacturing infrastructure for advanced semiconductor processes — their role was likely in process-aware design or test contributions to a distributed pilot line. The shift to StorAIge (2021–2024) marks a clear pivot toward end-application silicon: the keywords move from process technology toward product-level concerns — power efficiency, security, microcontroller architecture, and AI readiness. The direction is from fab-facing to application-facing: from "how do we build chips" toward "how do we make chips that run AI safely and cheaply at the edge."

IMMS is moving toward AI-at-the-edge silicon design, making them a relevant partner for any consortium working on embedded intelligence, IoT microcontrollers, or low-power secure hardware for industrial or consumer edge devices.

How they like to work

IMMS has participated in both projects as a consortium member, never as coordinator — consistent with a specialist institute that contributes defined technical work packages rather than managing project governance. Both projects were large ECSEL-style consortia, which explains the high partner count (53 unique partners) despite only two projects. This suggests IMMS is comfortable operating inside complex, multi-partner industrial-academic consortia and has established working relationships across the European microelectronics ecosystem.

Despite just two projects, IMMS has accumulated 53 unique consortium partners across 11 countries — a broad footprint explained by the large, pan-European nature of ECSEL joint undertakings. Their network spans the core European semiconductor and embedded systems cluster, likely including German Fraunhofer institutes, Austrian and Dutch chip design houses, and major semiconductor firms that participate in ECSEL.

What sets them apart

IMMS occupies a specific niche in the German microelectronics landscape: an independent GmbH research institute with deep design expertise, not attached to a university and not a commercial product company. This gives them flexibility as a project partner — they can engage at the research level without the overhead of a large Fraunhofer institute or the commercial constraints of an industrial partner. For consortia targeting ECSEL/KDT Joint Undertaking calls, IMMS brings German REC status, genuine embedded system design capability, and a proven track record in both manufacturing-side and application-side semiconductor projects.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ADMONT
  The largest of their two projects (EUR 620,382 EC funding) and an ECSEL Joint Undertaking initiative, giving IMMS exposure to Europe's most significant semiconductor manufacturing collaboration network.
• StorAIge
  Directly targets AI on the edge via next-generation MCU platforms — a strategically important area as industry demand for embedded AI inference grows rapidly in IoT, automotive, and industrial applications.