AMD opens Illinois Fusion Centre of Innovation

Chip manufacturer, AMD has opened an AMD Fusion Centre of Innovation at the University of Illinois, at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, designed to focus on the developer environment and software performance advancements enabled by heterogeneous computing, Telecom Paper reports.

The centre will fund, mentor and promote commercial enterprises emerging from intellectual property and research expertise in the University of Illinois community.

The Inquirer says the University of Illinois has a course entitled: "Engineering Entrepreneurship AMD section" that will instruct students to develop projects that will be evaluated for funding through AMD's Fusion Fund and Illinois Ventures.

AMD is hoping its course will get students thinking up ways to use its Fusion processors in applications that will appeal to consumers.

Computer science and engineering students are encouraged to share their best ideas for new software or Web-based start-up companies, Market Watch notes.

"Through their involvement with the Technology Entrepreneur Centre, companies like AMD are helping to further develop the Illinois entrepreneurship ecosystem here in the Midwest," said Andrew Singer, professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and director, Technology Entrepreneur Centre, at the University of Illinois.