The announcement included hundreds of millions of dollars of expected investment in the semiconductor workforce; along with specific funding announcements in packaging, metrology, and a CHIPS Manufacturing USA Institute.
The NSTC is the centerpiece of CHIPS for America’s $11 billion research and development (R&D) program. A once in-a-generation opportunity, the NSTC will bring together government, industry, labor, customers, suppliers, educational institutions, entrepreneurs, and investors to accelerate the pace of new innovations from idea to marketplace.
As a public-private consortium, the NSTC will lower the barriers to participation in semiconductor R&D to create a more vibrant national ecosystem and to directly address fundamental needs for a skilled, diverse semiconductor workforce.
Following the announcements and consortium agreement signing, leaders from across the semiconductor community participated in roundtables led by White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Arati Prabhakar, National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, and Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Director Laurie E. Locascio, along with senior government leaders from the White House; Departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Labor, Education; and the National Science Foundation.
The roundtables centered on the R&D opportunities and need for industry participation, along with how CHIPS for America will help increase access to talent for employers and access to opportunity for Americans who want to work in the semiconductor industry.
With the official launch of the NSTC consortium, there are opportunities to express interest in joining the NSTC.
The NSTC is one of four CHIPS for America research and development programs. Together, these programs are establishing the innovation ecosystem needed to ensure that American semiconductor fabrication facilities, including those funded by the CHIPS for America Act, produce the world’s most sophisticated and advanced technologies.
CHIPS for America’s Jay Lewis, NSTC Program Director, and Deirdre Hanford, CEO of Natcast, will provide an update on early NSTC activities in March 2024. Sign up for the CHIPS newsletter for updates.