PHILIPS Semiconductors, which employs more than 500 people in Southampton, has donated equipment for use by engineering students at Southampton University.

The hardware development tools are being applied in project work at the School of Electronics and Computer Science.

Tim Forcer, who runs the school's electronics teaching labs, said: "This is a very generous donation to our students."

Simon Quin, a software systems specialist from Philips Semiconductors, said: "As an engineer I can tell you that there is no substitute for using the real tools."