HSINCHU, Taiwan, November 9, 1999 - UMC Group announced today its admission to the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) as the organization's first overseas member. The SRC was established as a research management consortium by the Semiconductor Industry Association focusing on long-term, cooperative research in IC technology at U.S. universities. Until now, membership had been limited to North American semiconductor industry leaders such as Intel, Motorola, AMD, Texas Instruments, and IBM. The SRC's decision to include UMC Group in its membership confirms the status of the Taiwan-based foundry as a leader in global IC technology.

Larry Sumney, CEO of the Semiconductor Research Corporation, commented, "We welcome UMC Group as our first international member. We have been working closely with UMC Group to promote the adoption of copper interconnect technology through the SRC sponsored Cu Design Challenge. UMC Group's position as a global leader in advanced process technology makes them the logical choice for our first overseas member company."

Fu-Tai Liou, senior vice president of UMC Group, said, "We are very honored to be the first international member of the SRC. Our alliance with SRC offers U.S. engineering students the opportunity to come in contact with some of the industry's most advanced technology, including UMC Group's 0.18 micron copper process. This is a win-win situation for the SRC and UMC Group. Many of these students will go on to join the thriving IC design community currently working with first-tier foundries like UMC Group to drive innovation in the semiconductor industry."

Peter Chang, CEO of Foundry Operations at UMC Group, offered these comments, "Our admission as the first overseas member of SRC clearly shows that today's technology world recognizes no international barriers. The majority of our partners are US-based design houses, so we feel it is appropriate that UMC Group use its affiliation with the SRC to support the fundamental research required for the continued development of the IC industry."

SRC, based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., with an office in San Jose, is the largest continuous industry-driven university research program in the United States. The SRC plans and manages a $35 million program of basic and applied research carried out principally at North American universities on behalf of participating North American companies. SRC can be found on the web at www.src.org.