ON SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY

Their core work

ON Semiconductor Technology is the Belgian R&D and application engineering arm of a major global semiconductor manufacturer, contributing industrial-scale expertise to EU research consortia. Their H2020 work spans two distinct but connected tracks: high-performance wide bandgap (SiC/GaN) power electronics for electric vehicle drivetrains and charging systems, and AI/ML-driven reliability engineering for semiconductor components. In practice, they bring real automotive and industrial customer requirements into research projects, translating academic findings into manufacturable, qualification-ready semiconductor solutions. Their expertise sits at the boundary between device physics, system integration (chip-package-board), and predictive quality assurance — a combination that is rare in public research consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their earliest H2020 engagement (HiPERFORM, 2018), the focus was squarely on wide bandgap semiconductor devices and their application in EV powertrains — a hardware and application-level perspective. By 2020, with iRel40, the emphasis shifted decisively toward reliability methodology: physics of failure, design for reliability, robustness validation, and the application of AI and ML to predict component behaviour. This is a meaningful pivot from "building better power devices" toward "building smarter ways to ensure those devices never fail in the field" — a higher-value, more software-adjacent capability.

ON Semiconductor Technology is moving up the value chain — from component-level power electronics toward intelligent, data-driven reliability frameworks, suggesting future collaborations will likely centre on predictive quality, functional safety, and AI-assisted qualification for automotive and industrial semiconductors.

How they like to work

ON Semiconductor Technology has participated exclusively as a consortium partner across both H2020 projects, never as coordinator — consistent with the role of a large industrial company providing application expertise and validation context rather than driving research agendas. Despite only two projects, they have accumulated 107 unique consortium partners, which is only possible by joining very large, industry-led initiatives like iRel40 (a well-known 100+ partner ECSEL project). This signals they are experienced at operating in complex multi-stakeholder consortia and are likely valued as an industrial end-user or validation partner rather than a research lead.

With 107 unique consortium partners across 13 countries from just 2 projects, ON Semiconductor Technology sits inside some of Europe's largest semiconductor and automotive electronics research networks. Their reach spans the core EU electronics manufacturing belt — likely Germany, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, and southern European automotive hubs.

What sets them apart

As an industrial subsidiary of a global semiconductor manufacturer, ON Semiconductor Technology brings something that universities and research institutes cannot: direct access to production-grade semiconductor manufacturing knowledge and real automotive qualification requirements. Where most consortium partners contribute scientific outputs, they contribute the industrial validation pipeline — what it actually takes to move a research result into a qualified, automotive-grade product. Their emerging AI/ML reliability capability, combined with deep power electronics hardware knowledge, makes them a rare bridge between advanced manufacturing and data-driven quality intelligence.

Highlights from their portfolio

• iRel40
  A flagship ECSEL Joint Undertaking initiative on Intelligent Reliability 4.0, notable for its scale (100+ partners), its fusion of AI/ML with semiconductor reliability engineering, and its direct industry applicability to automotive and industrial electronics.
• HiPERFORM
  Targeted the performance and reliability of wide bandgap power electronics for EV drivetrains — a strategically important topic for the European automotive transition to electrification.