The Institute for System Level Integration (ISLI) ceased commercial operations on 31 March 2012.
Formed in 1998, ISLI was a joint venture between the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde, and Scottish Enterprise, its founding mission was to carry out research, industrial training and education in system level integration and system-on-chip technology.
Over the years the Institute built a reputation for producing talented graduates who performed well in the commercial workspace. The MSc in System Level Integration, delivered between 1998 and 2009 on behalf of the four partner universities, produced almost 300 graduates, while over 700 participated in ISLI’s professional development programme, offering short courses and distance learning opportunities to working engineers.
ISLI’s flagship programme was the Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in System Level Integration, a four-year research degree, academically equivalent to a PhD but placing emphasis on research within an industrial context. Designed to appeal to ambitious and able graduates who aspired to managerial positions in industry, Research Engineers (REs), as EngD students were known, combined a research project based with an industry sponsor, with accredited technical and business training.
EngD quickly established itself as the principal mechanism for supporting industrially-relevant systems research within ISLI, with 76 research students placed with 41 UK companies – from start-ups to multinationals – across the UK, engaged in projects across a number of fronts in microelectronics and other related technologies including opto-electronics, microelectromechanical systems and sensors.
Through EngD, ISLI established links with large organisations such as Toshiba Medical, ARM, Wolfson Microelectronics, Motorola, SELEX Galileo, Broadcom, Xilinx, Thales and Epson, along with innovative SMEs including Nallatech and Linn. Read the case studies for more information on EngD research projects.
The MSc and EngD programmes will continue to their scheduled conclusions, with students assessed and assisted by their administering institutions. All future graduates will continue to be awarded a joint degree from the four partner universities.
New applications for the MSc and EngD, and for continuing professional development training, are no longer invited. Prospective students interested in taught postgraduate study or postgraduate research programmes may find further information at:
- University of Edinburgh
- University of Glasgow
- Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh
- University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Prospective delegates interested in Professor Phillip Allen’s online training course in CMOS/BiCMOS Analog IC Design are invited to contact the new provider, Imperial College, London (please contact Betty Yue, Head of Continuing Professional Development Unit, Tel: 020 7594 6880, email b.yue@imperial.ac.uk)
Enquiries about ISLI’s current educational activities should be directed to info@isli.ac.uk.
