About

A national platform for deep-tech in Bangladesh

We combine industry demand, university research, and government support into a single operating platform for semiconductors, AI, robotics, and advanced software.

The Daffodil Semiconductor & Advanced Technology Initiative was chartered to build sovereign deep-tech capability inside Bangladesh — and to project it outward. Our mission is to align the country's best engineers, researchers and industrial partners around a single working platform: silicon, systems, AI, and robotics under one roof.

We operate as an integrated Industry × Academia × Government platform, running shared labs, joint-appointment programs, and long-horizon research funded by anchor demand from partner OEMs and public procurement.

The Industry × Academia × Government model

Three actors, one operating rhythm. Each pillar unlocks capability the others cannot deliver alone.

Industry

Anchors demand, sets product-market fit, and provides commercial channels for output. Includes Daffodil-owned operating companies and external OEM partners.

Academia

Provides talent pipeline, exploratory research, and long-horizon publishing. Daffodil International University and partner labs contribute faculty and students.

Government

Provides mandate, land, procurement, and export-orientation policy. Enables the initiative to operate at national scale.

Leadership & core team

Dr. Sabbir Rahman

Executive Director

Physicist. Formerly at IMEC. Founding director of Daffodil DeepTech.

Dr. Nusrat Islam

Head, Semiconductor Programs

Chip designer with two decades in DFT/verification at Intel and Nvidia.

Iftekhar Chowdhury

Head, AI & ML Lab

Systems ML researcher. Ex-DeepMind, ex-Microsoft Research.

Dr. Farah Ahmed

Head, Robotics

Roboticist and mechanical engineer. Ex-Kuka R&D lead.

Chowdhury Karim

Chief Silicon Officer

Silicon veteran. Led two ASIC tape-outs at TSMC 28nm.

Priyanka Das

Head, Photonics

Silicon-photonics designer. PhD MIT.

Rezaul Karim

Head, Chip Design

RISC-V microarchitect. Contributor to open-source silicon.

Nadia Rahman

Head, Advanced Materials

Materials engineer specialising in GaN and 2D-materials.

Salman Rahman

Director, Ecosystem

Runs partnerships and government relations.

Timeline of milestones

2021

Initiative chartered

The Semiconductor & Advanced Technology Initiative formally established under the Daffodil group.
2022

First shared cleanroom

Cleanroom-class-1000 characterisation and packaging lab opened at Daffodil Smart City.
2023

AI/ML platform launched

A GPU-backed foundation-model training and inference platform brought online for internal and academic use.
2024

First silicon tape-outs

The Chip Design & Verification group taped out its first two ASICs with international foundry partners.
2025

Robotics deployments

Robotic cell deployments began in partner factories across Bangladesh and the region.