Dresden

Dresden (German pronunciation: [ˈdʁeːsdn̩]) is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border.

Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendour. The city was known as the Jewel Box, because of its baroque and rococo city centre. The controversial British and American bombing of Dresden in World War II towards the end of the war killed approximately 25,000, many of whom were civilians, and destroyed the entire city centre. The bombing gutted the city, as it did for other major German cities. After the war restoration work has helped to reconstruct parts of the historic inner city, including the Katholische Hofkirche, the Semper Oper and the Dresdner Frauenkirche as well as the suburbs.

Before and since German reunification in 1990, Dresden was and is a cultural, educational, political and economic center of Germany and Europe. The Dresden University of Technology is one of the 10 largest universities in Germany and part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative.

Technology

Technology ("science of craft", from Greek τέχνη, techne, "art, skill, cunning of hand"; and -λογία, -logia) is the collection of techniques, skills, methods and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific investigation. Technology can be the knowledge of techniques, processes, etc. or it can be embedded in machines, computers, devices and factories, which can be operated by individuals without detailed knowledge of the workings of such things.

The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The prehistoric discovery of how to control fire and the later Neolithic Revolution increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel helped humans to travel in and control their environment. Developments in historic times, including the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. The steady progress of military technology has brought weapons of ever-increasing destructive power, from clubs to nuclear weapons.

Dresden University of Technology

The Technische Universität Dresden (usually translated from German as Dresden University of Technology and abbreviated TU Dresden or TUD) is a German elite university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, the largest university in Saxony and one of the 10 largest universities in Germany with 37,134 students as of 2013. The name Technische Universität Dresden has only been used since 1961; the history of the university, however, goes back nearly 200 years to 1828. This makes it one of the oldest colleges of technology in Germany, and one of the country’s oldest universities, which in German today refers to institutes of higher education which cover the entire curriculum. The university is member of TU9, a consortium of the nine leading German Institutes of Technology. The university is one of the eleven German universities which succeeded in the Excellence Initiative in 2012, thus getting the title of a "University of Excellence". The TU Dresden succeeded in all three rounds of the German Universities Excellence Initiative (Future Concept, Graduate Schools, Clusters of Excellence).

Technische Hochschule

Technische Hochschule (known by its initials TH) is what an Institute of Technology (that is, a university focusing on engineering sciences) used to be called in German-speaking countries, as well as in the Netherlands, before most of them changed their name to Technische Universität (German) or Technische Universiteit (Dutch) (known by its initials TU) in the 1970s (in Germany) and in the 1980s (in the Netherlands).

History

In the Middle Ages, an educational institution was called a university only if a certain classical canon of subjects was taught (including philosophy, medicine, law and theology). Though in modern times other subjects including engineering sciences became more important, institutions of tertiary education devoted to these were denied the prestigious denomination "university", and had to use the general word Hochschule (higher school, that is, school for tertiary education) instead.

It was a major breakthrough, then, when in the first half of the 20th century, some Technische Hochschulen in Germany and Technische Hoghescholen (THs) in the Netherlands were given the right to award the doctoral degrees, and again later when they were allowed to call themselves universities in accordance with the usual distinction that defines a university as an institution of tertiary education that can grant doctorates.

Infineon Technologies

Infineon Technologies AG is a German semiconductor manufacturer founded on 1 April 1999, when the semiconductor operations of the parent company Siemens AG were spun off to form a separate legal entity. As of 30 September 2013, Infineon has 26,725 employees worldwide. In fiscal year 2013, the company achieved sales of €3.843 billion.

On 1 May 2006, Infineon's Memory Products division was carved out as a distinct company called Qimonda AG, which at its height employed about 13,500 people worldwide. Qimonda was listed on the New York Stock Exchange until 2009.

Markets

Infineon Technologies AG, in Neubiberg near Munich, offers semiconductors and systems for automotive, industrial, and multimarket sectors, as well as chipcard and security products. With a global presence, Infineon operates through its subsidiaries in the USA, from Milpitas, California, and in the Asia-Pacific region, from Singapore and from Tokyo, Japan.

Infineon has a number of facilities in Europe, one in Dresden, Germany, Europe's microelectronic, and emerging technologies center. Infineon's high power segment is in Warstein, Germany; Villach and Graz in Austria; Cegléd in Hungary; and Italy. It also runs R&D centers in France, Singapore, Romania, Taiwan, UK and India, as well as fabrication units in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. There's also a Shared Service Center in Maia, Portugal.