Microelectronics

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Semiconductor Research Corporation Manufacturing Consortium Corporation (SRC) are entering negotiations for the Department to provide SRC $285 million to establish and operate a Manufacturing USA institute headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. The new institute, known as SMART USA (Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins USA) will focus on efforts to develop, validate, and use digital twins.

Intel Corporation has been awarded up to $3 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act for a capability known as the “Secure Enclave.” The funding will support the manufacturing of microelectronics and ensure access to a domestic supply chain of advanced semiconductors for national security. The award will be executed by the Department of Defense (DoD) per an agreement between the Department of Commerce and the DoD.

The U.S. National Science Foundation, in partnership with Ericsson, Intel Corporation, Micron Technology and Samsung, announced $42.4 million in grants for its Future of Semiconductors competition. The investment will fuel research and education across various semiconductor technologies, advancing U.S. leadership in semiconductor research and innovation and addressing challenges, including emerging computing tasks and applications, energy efficiency, performance, manufacturing and supply chains.

The Department of Defense announced a three-year, $9.5 million award to create and improve microelectronics-focused education training centers in Indiana with non-profit Regional Opportunity Initiatives, Inc. This award was made by the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program through the Cornerstone Other Transaction Agreement, which are overseen by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience’s Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Program.

The Department of Defense announced a $25.8 million award to Honeywell in Plymouth, Minnesota to produce or acquire trusted strategic radiation-hardened microelectronics. The funds will be used for strategic radiation-hardened microelectronics fabrication via a Defense Microelectronics Activity-accredited manufacturing process and support 90nm technology development in Honeywell's Minnesota microelectronics foundry.

The U.S. National Science Foundation and the CHIPS for America Research and Development Office within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly invest in a new initiative to train the future semiconductor workforce at all levels for myriad job types across industry and the nation.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) launched an updated Semiconductor Alert Mechanism administered by the International Trade Administration. The Semiconductor Alert Mechanism aims to help industry experts at Commerce detect and assess bottlenecks in our semiconductor supply chains and better mobilize and coordinate U.S. government resources to reduce chokepoint risks.

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced the first Experiential Learning for Emerging and Novel Technologies (ExLENT) investment of $18.8 million to 27 teams at U.S. institutions of higher education. The ExLENT program aims to expand practical learning opportunities for individuals interested in entering or gaining more experience in key technologies, such as advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum information science and semiconductors and microelectronics.