TriQuint Semiconductor Inc., a supplier of wireless handset RF front-end modules and network base station components, announced the intent to open a new design and support center in High Point, North Carolina. The facility will be known as the North Carolina Design Center (NCDC), and is part of TriQuint’s ongoing program to work more closely with strategic partners and customers in the development of next-generation wireless modules and components.


The new design center location provides easy airport access and is near universities with ‘feeder’ engineering programs. The design center, in light of strong customer activity, will further expand the company’s product development activities. Recently, TriQuint opened a new 25-person design center in Chelmsford, MA that consolidated two offices in New England. Locating the new center in North Carolina was supported in part by a grant from the City of High Point, NC and its economic development council. TriQuint representatives said the High Point community’s desire to attract high-tech business interests played a part in the company’s decision to locate a design center there.

“This new facility – our second to open in less than a year and our sixth product development location overall – will bolster design activity and supplement existing resources,” said Brian Balut, TriQuint vice president. TriQuint’s growth in this area is fuelled by worldwide demand for highly integrated modules that reduce power consumption while cutting overall bill of material (BOM) costs to manufacturers.

“The new center will further enhance TriQuint’s creative resources and foster collaboration among engineers and scientific experts from both within the company and our customers throughout the Eastern Seaboard and our European staff. The center’s development focus is to leverage TriQuint’s wireless expertise, translating that into new solutions for our customers,” he added.

Work at the North Carolina center will touch upon a wide array of gallium arsenide (GaAs) and surface acoustic wave (SAW) technologies. The company expects to move into its new suite, located at 4050 Piedmont Parkway, by August 1, 2006.