Intel is starting a memory research project with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan to address the performance gap and to reduce the power consumption of memory.

The first project under the collaboration is focused on the future of memory technologies used in computing devices such as Ultrabooks, laptops, tablets, and handhelds. The aim is to create memories with much greater energy efficiency.

Given that focus, Intel's newly designated Taiwan Scientist in Residence, Dr. Wen-Hann Wang, suggested ITRI as a potential partner with close ties to industry and a proven record of making an impact with their research. For example, they helped to establish the semiconductor foundry industry with spin-outs such as TSMC.

This collaboration will allow key researchers to develop further innovations in interconnect and memory architecture with a particular focus on mobile computing devices.