RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. & HSINCHU, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 26, 2004--The Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) today announced that it is collaborating with UMC (NYSE:UMC - News; TSE:2303 - News), a world-leading semiconductor foundry, on its first International Fellowship Award outside the U.S. The SRC International Fellowship Program provides full tuition and fees to one international student a year and is renewable for up to five years with the total sum for each student reaching as much as $100,000. In addition, the department within which the student is studying receives a gift of $2,000 per year.

This year's recipient is Feng Yuan, a graduate student in Electrical Engineering at National Taiwan University. Yuan also received his Baccalaureate Degree from NTU in 1997 and has a number of technical publications to his credit. His doctoral research is being performed under a research task investigating Silicon Germanium (SiGe)-based high mobility heterostructures, funded by UMC through SRC's Research Customization Program. Yuan's research advisors are Professors Chee Wee Liu and Hung Hsiang Cheng. Dr. Cheng-tzung Tsai, manager of UMC's Central Research and Development Division has agreed to mentor the student. Yuan's specific research is in strained silicon devices, SiGe HBT, and their circuit applications. The Fellowship begins with the fall 2004 term and will extend for a one-year period.

"SRC has demonstrated an excellent scholarship program and is among the best we've seen in Taiwan," said Dr. Jyh Shyang Jenq, UMC technical manager and an industrial resident at SRC since October of 2000, "We are happy Yuan received this award as he has demonstrated excellent academic inclinations and is showing that he is on track to be a strong contributor to future semiconductor technology developments. Working with SRC on this scholarship program allows us to help further cultivate today's engineering talent, many of whom will eventually become tomorrow's IC industry professionals."

Larry Sumney, SRC president and CEO said, "The SRC values it association with UMC and with National Taiwan University. We are very pleased to place the first SRC Fellowship outside the U.S. at an institution with the academic reputation of National Taiwan University and with the cooperation of a company with the international standing of UMC."

About SRC

SRC, based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., with an office in San Jose, Calif., operates globally to provide competitive advantage to its member companies as the world's premier university research management consortium delivering relevantly educated technical talent and early research results. The Graduate Fellowship Program was created in 1986 to attract outstanding students to disciplines of interest to the semiconductor industry; 200 students have completed doctoral degrees under this program. Learn more about SRC at http://www.src.org/.

About UMC

UMC (NYSE:UMC - News; TSE:2303 - News) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that manufactures advanced process ICs for applications spanning every major sector of the semiconductor industry. UMC delivers cutting-edge foundry technologies that enable sophisticated system-on-chip (SOC) designs, including 90nm copper, 0.13um copper, and mixed signal/RFCMOS. UMC is also a leader in 300mm manufacturing; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based UMCi are both in volume production for a variety of customer products. UMC employs over 10,500 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com/.

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Contact:

     UMC
     Alex Hinnawi, 886-2-2700-6999 ext. 6958 (Taiwan)
     alex_hinnawi@umc.com
      or
     KJ Communications for UMC
     Eileen Elam, 650-917-1488
     eileen@kjcompr.com
      or
     Semiconductor Research Corporation
     Virginia C. Wiggins, 919-941-9453
     virginia.wiggins@src.org