History

In 1982 the Flemish Government set up a program in the field of microelectronics with the goal to strengthen the microelectronics industry in Flanders. The decision was inspired by the strategic importance of microelectronics for the industry, and by the major investments required to keep up with developments in this field.
This program included setting up a laboratory for advanced research in microelectronics (imec), a semiconductor foundry (former Alcatel Microelectronics, now STMicroelectronics and AMI Semiconductor), and a training program for VLSI design engineers. The latter is now fully integrated in the imec activities .

Imec was founded in 1984 as a non-profit organization led by Prof. R. Van Overstraeten. It is supervised by a Board of Directors, which includes delegates from industry, Flemish universities and the Flemish Government.

Since 1984, imec has been led by Roger Van Overstraeten, Gilbert Declerck (June 1999), and Luc Van den Hove (July 2009).