congatec AG, a leading technology company for embedded computer modules, single board computers (SBCs) and embedded design and manufacturing (EDM) services, continues its global investment in R&D with the opening of a new design center in Taipei, Taiwan, to support its customer base in Asia and help drive growth in the region. The new design center is congatec’s first to be located in Asia and its fifth worldwide. The company also operates a design center within its global headquarters in Germany, two design centers in the Czech Republic and one in the United States.
The new design center is responsible for supporting congatec’s key customers. As part of the global engineering group, the Taipei team will jointly design core products that will be sold around the world.
The design team consists of experienced hardware and software engineers led by a team leader with 10 years of industrial experience in hardware platforms. He is an expert at networking server design utilizing COM modules, as well as system integration. The additional hardware engineers have COM Express, ETX, and carrier board design expertise. The software engineering team has vast experience in BIOS software development and maintenance, including issue tracking and debugging of systems. In addition, the team members are proficient in UEFI BIOS and advanced customized BIOS features.
"Our new design center will support our current customers as well as continue to grow congatec’s tier-one account base. We are very fortunate to have such a top-notch team leading our design efforts in Taiwan. All of them have experience in the embedded computing space, including a number of vertical markets such as industrial automation, medical technology, and entertainment," stated Mike Chao, General Manager congatec Asia.
How Computer-on-Modules (COMs) help enable electronic design success
Embedded COMs enable developers and OEMs to efficiently design new features into their devices and applications by integrating the core computing functions of a system on to a swappable module. This allows for a longer product life cycle because the systems can be upgraded later on by simply swapping the existing COM module for a COM with more current features, without the need to redesign the entire system. In recent years, COMs have become more popular in small to large sized embedded projects because developers are free to concentrate on their core competencies enabling them to get their products to market faster. COMs are one of the fastest growing product segments in embedded computing and offer the most flexibility for the designer when it comes to off-the-shelf solutions.
congatec’s new EDMS (Embedded Design & Manufacturing Service) support in Asia starts at the design phase and includes project management, the development of specific hardware and software, production control, system integration and global logistics, as well as first class technical support. "We are convinced that our new services for Asia will add even greater flexibility to the development of embedded solutions. We will make the implementation of customer applications easier and more cost effective," says congatec CEO Gerhard Edi.