From Lab to Fab

UMass Amherst recently announced it is receiving more than $7 million from the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) Hub through U.S. CHIPS and Science Act funding under the Microelectronics Commons program, executed through the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division and the National Security Technology Accelerator.

This award funds the first year of the project, with future funding for the entire four-year project (with a budget of $23 million) contingent on the satisfactory delivery of the milestones and the availability of funds.

The award funds collaboration between UMass Amherst and TetraMem Inc., NY CREATES, GlobalFoundries, the University of Southern California, Raytheon, BAE Systems, and Berkshire Community College, in support of efforts to accelerate domestic prototyping and expand the nation’s global leadership in microelectronics. This is one of six projects awarded to the NEMC Hub, led by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech) under the Microelectronics Commons Program.

“We need close collaboration across academia, small business, major semiconductor companies, and defense contractors,” said Qiangfei Xia, principal investigator of this project and the Dev and Linda Gupta professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UMass Amherst. “This project is a good example of that, in the spirit of transferring technology from the research lab to industry fab.”

Xia added that “the project’s objective is to transfer the CMOS memristor technology to U.S. semiconductor manufacturers, so that we can make power-efficient AI hardware for edge intelligence, with both military and civilian applications.”

Qiangfei Xia

“We need close collaboration across academia, small business, major semiconductor companies, and defense contractors.”

Hardware created with memristors will be able to process data locally in a time-sensitive manner while also using very little energy, as has been demonstrated by over a decade’s research by Xia and collaborators, as well as development from industrial players such as TetraMem.

The project will also offer a microelectronic fabrication course to local community colleges, such as Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, to bridge the large supply-demand gap in the semiconductor industry. Xia, who has been teaching this course for over 10 years at UMass Amherst, says the hands-on experience of building and testing integrated circuits has prepared students well for securing competitive employment.

“We are proud to bring our revolutionary, low-power analog computing technology to this important collaboration, which will advance the U.S. semiconductor industry, educate its future workforce, and benefit the economy of the Commonwealth and the region,” said Sanjay Raman, dean of the UMass Amherst College of Engineering.

MassTech CEO Carolyn Kirk added that “this award highlights the ingenuity and expertise that exists across the Northeast when it comes to microelectronics and semiconductors. The technology development and transition partnerships being fostered by the NEMC Hub will have an enduring impact on our national and economic security.”

The NEMC Hub is a network of more than 200 organizations, including commercial and defense companies, leading academic institutions, federally funded research and development centers, and startups concentrated in eight Northeast states. Established in 2023, it is one of eight such regional hubs working to expand the nation’s global leadership in microelectronics and accelerate domestic semiconductor prototyping. It aims to foster a vibrant, connected microelectronics ecosystem to provide sustainable lab-to-fab enablement, boost education and workforce development, and spur new jobs.

“This award is a testament to the hard work, collaboration, and leadership the NEMC Hub and its members have demonstrated during the first year of the Microelectronics Commons,” NEMC Hub Director Mark Halfman said. “We have a tremendous opportunity to grow microelectronics lab-to-fab capabilities and spur the growth of game-changing technologies in this sector.”