Over 300 researchers, engineers and academics expected to attend International Conference on Microelectronics in December

KUCHING, Sept 1 2026:  Over 300 researchers, engineers, academics and industry professionals from home and abroad are expected to attend the 38th International Conference on Microelectronics (ICM 2026) in December.

Caption: Minister Roland Sagah Wee Inn says that the conference, which will be held at the Borneo Cultural Museum from December 7 to 10, also supports Sarawak’s priorities under the Post-COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030

Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Roland Sagah Wee Inn said that organising the prestigious conference opens up an opportunity for Sarawak to connect global expertise with local talent, research and industry, thus supporting economic development based on innovation and technology.

“ICM 2026 is an important step towards the Sarawak Government’s ambition to build a high-income economy driven by innovation and technology,” he told a press conference to organise ICM 2026 today.

He said the conference, which will be held at the Borneo Cultural Museum from December 7 to 10, also supports Sarawak’s priorities under the Post-COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030, particularly in the areas of innovation, digital transformation, human capital development and advanced manufacturing.

“For Sarawak to compete in the industry of the future, we need to create opportunities for our people to learn from the best, join global networks and convert knowledge into real opportunities,” he said.

ICM 2026 marks the return of the conference to Malaysia after more than 30 years and is expected to generate an economic impact of around RM2.5 million to Sarawak.

The conference will serve as a platform for knowledge exchange through paper presentations, special sessions including cross-association sessions, workshops, live demonstrations, tutorials and technical industry visits.

Organizing chairman and vice president of IEEE Circuits and Systems Society (IEEE CASS) Fakhrul Zaman Rokhani said the conference will focus on advances in microelectronics and hardware to support the development of artificial intelligence (AI).

“ICM 2026 will explore how we can make AI faster, more energy efficient and more sustainable through advances in microelectronics and hardware,” he said.

ICM 2026 is organised by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Circuits and Systems Society (IEEE CASS) with the support of Ministry of Education, Innovation and Talent Development Sarawak (MEITD), Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak), Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Sarawak Microelectronics Design (SMD) Semiconductor Sdn Bhd and Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak, while the Academy of Science Malaysia (ASM) acts as the Science and Technology Partner.

The conference also received IEEE Xplore publication approval, while selected papers will be invited to be developed for publication in relevant IEEE journals, subject to the journal’s review process.

Also present were the chief executive officer of Sarawak Centre of Excellence in Technology (CENTEXS) Syeed Mohd Hussien Wan Abdul Rahman, assistant secretary of MEITD management services division Rafidah Ahmad Shafiee, chief executive officer of BESarawak, Jason Tan Chin Foo and chairman of the IEEE CASS Malaysia Chapter, Professor Dr Haslina Jaafar.