Dr. Cliff Hou Wiki

Dr. Cliff Hou (侯永清)

Title:

Senior Vice President of Technology Development, TSMC
Key architect of the TSMC Open Innovation Platform (OIP)

Dr. Cliff Hou is Senior Vice President, Deputy Co-COO and Chief Information Security Officer at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC). He is also deputy of Mr. Y.P. Chyn. Prior to this post, Dr. Hou was TSMC’s Vice President of Design and Technology Platform from August 2011 to July 2018 and later he served as Vice President of Technology Development in August 2018. He began his career at TSMC in 1997 and has since played a key role in the Company’s design technology and ecosystem development.

From 1997 to 2007, Dr. Hou established the company’s technology design kit and reference flow development organizations. Over the last decade, Dr. Hou led the development of TSMC’s Open Innovation Platform® (OIP), which is now the most comprehensive design ecosystem in the global semiconductor industry.

Dr. Hou received the National Manager Excellence Award in 2010 as a pioneer in reference flows and design for manufacturing (DFM) that significantly lowers IC design barriers. He led the Company’s OIP project team to win the first National Industry Innovation Award in 2011, presented by the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Prior to joining TSMC, Dr. Hou was a section manager specializing in design environment at the Computer & Communications Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI/CCL) in Taiwan. He also served as an Associate Professor at Kaohsiung Polytechnic Institute (now known as I-Shou University) in Taiwan.

Dr. Hou holds 44 U.S. Patents and serves as a member of Board of Directors in Global Unichip Corp. He received B.S. degree in Control Engineering from Taiwan’s National Chiao-Tung University, and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Syracuse University.

Summary

Dr. Cliff Hou is one of the most respected leaders in the global semiconductor ecosystem. At TSMC, he has played a pivotal role in aligning EDA tools, IP design, and technology platforms to support customer success across each advanced node. As the founder and driving force behind the Open Innovation Platform (OIP), he has championed a collaborative model between foundry, EDA, and IP partners that has become an industry standard.

Known for his strategic clarity, engineering depth, and customer empathy, Dr. Hou is often described as TSMC’s “customer whisperer”—ensuring that TSMC’s process technologies are not only advanced but usable at scale by the design community.

Education

B.S. – National Taiwan University (Electrical Engineering)
Ph.D. – University of California, Berkeley (Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences)

Career at TSMC

Year	Role	Contributions
1997	Joined TSMC	Focus on design enablement and EDA alignment
2008	VP of Design & Technology Platform	Founded the Open Innovation Platform (OIP)
2016	SVP of Technology Development	Driving PDK, IP, and DFM across all major nodes
2020–2025	Key leader in 3DFabric, chiplet design support, and UCIe ecosystem development

Technical & Strategic Contributions

TSMC Open Innovation Platform (OIP): Created a unified platform that integrates TSMC’s technology, EDA tools, IPs, and design services.
PDK (Process Design Kit) Leadership: Pioneered silicon-accurate PDKs and early design infrastructure support for every TSMC node (from 65nm to N2 and A16).
EDA Collaboration: Deep partnerships with Synopsys, Cadence, Ansys, Siemens, and others.
3D IC Enablement: Leading TSMC’s design ecosystem preparation for CoWoS, SoIC, and chiplet-based systems.
IP Ecosystem Growth: Enabled growth of ARM, Imagination, Rambus, and startup IP on TSMC platforms.

Notable Quotes

“Silicon alone is not enough. It must be design-ready, verified, and optimized.”

“Our mission is to ensure first-time silicon success for every customer, every node.”

“Innovation is not just about transistors — it’s about enabling systems and ecosystems.”

“OIP is not a business model. It is a commitment to collaboration.”

“At TSMC, we design technology with our customers — not for them.”

“With every new node, complexity grows. Our job is to abstract it, not amplify it.”

“A successful foundry must scale not only wafers, but trust.”

Leadership Style

Trait	Description
Customer-First	Known for spending time with design teams across the globe
Ecosystem-Driven	Works closely with EDA/IP vendors to ensure aligned roadmaps
Strategic Thinker	Combines deep technical knowledge with clear market perspective
Soft-Spoken but Decisive	Respected for clarity and precision in technical decisions

Recognition and Industry Impact

Considered one of the most influential figures in fabless-foundry collaboration.
Frequently speaks at TSMC OIP Forums, DAC, and Semicon events.
Played a central role in UCIe design enablement, chiplet methodologies, and advanced DFT/DFM flows.
Described by partners as “TSMC’s secret weapon for customer success.”

Legacy

Dr. Cliff Hou’s legacy lies in making TSMC designable. Without his leadership, many fabless customers — from Apple to hundreds of startups — would have struggled to tape out complex SoCs on TSMC’s bleeding-edge processes. His influence will continue to shape the way semiconductors are co-developed across the ecosystem in the 3DIC and chiplet era.