Hittite Microwave Corporation Offers Cork Job Boost

Cork, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, TD, has announced that Hittite Microwave Corporation, a US semiconductor company, is to establish two operations in Cork.

A total of 19 new jobs will be created in Research and Development (R&D) activities while 11 people will be employed at the company’s new International Operations Centre. The investments are supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.

Hittite Microwave Corporation is a technology company which designs and manufactures high frequency, analog and mixed signal electronics components. The company maintains a high level of R&D investment to develop state of the art circuit design techniques. The R&D operation being established in Cork will expand Hittite Microwave’s global workforce. The products that will be designed at the Cork facility will be high performance components for use in telecommunications and sensor systems across a variety of applications.

Hittite will create 11 new jobs as part of the establishment of an International Operations Centre also in Cork. This international hub will manage non-US business in closer proximity to its customers to enhance local market presence. As part of the International Operations Centre a global supply chain and finance team will also be located in Cork.

Announcing the investments, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, TD said: "The announcement that Hittite Microwave is investing €4million in R&D activities here with the creation of 30 jobs is a great vote of confidence in Cork and in Ireland. This is an innovative US semiconductor company deciding that Cork is the place to carry out very significant research activities due to the presence of high-end research institutes and the availability of talent.

"I am determined, through continued implementation of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs, to ensure that we continue to develop our innovation infrastructure so as to support more investments by Irish and multinational companies and create the jobs we need."

Commenting on the announcement Jason Lynch, Managing Director of the new Cork operation,said: "These two investments are very exciting developments for Hittite Microwave. The choice of Cork as the location for R&D activities is due to a combination of the availability of world-class engineers to contribute to the execution of the company’s global R&D strategy and the proximity to the semiconductor and integrated circuit design capabilities in Tyndall Institute, University College Cork and Cork Institute of Technology.

"Meanwhile, the new international operations centre will bring us closer to our customers and will have responsibility for growing our international business. The operation will be the point of all sales to non-US customers of existing and future Hittite Microwave products. I wish to thank the Irish Government and IDA Ireland for their continued support and look forward to our further development in Ireland."

Welcoming the announcement, Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland said: "On behalf of IDA Ireland, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Hittite Microwave to Ireland. In keeping with IDA Ireland’s strategy to secure continued investment in R&D, Hittite Microwave will further add to Ireland’s reputation as an R&D hub. The company’s plans to collaborate closely with a number of academic institutes including the Tyndall Institute, University College Cork, the University of Limerick, NUI-Maynooth and Cork Institute of Technology displaying Ireland’s reputation for facilitating collaboration between industry and academia. I wish Hittite Microwave every success with both of these new activities and offer the continued support of IDA Ireland into the future."

(GK)