On 25 April, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a paper outlining a vision and strategy for establishment of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), authorized under the CHIPS and Science Act passed by Congress in 2022. The Center will support and extend U.S. leadership in semiconductor research, design, engineering, and advanced manufacturing and strengthen U.S. competitiveness.
According to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, “the NSTC will be an ambitious public-private consortium where government, industry, customers, suppliers, educational institutions, entrepreneurs, and investors will come together to innovate, connect, and solve problems.”
The strategy paper, “A Vision and Strategy for the National Semiconductor Technology Center,” lays out a proposed mission for the NSTC and describes its core programs and features. As outlined in the strategy paper, the NSTC has three high-level goals:
- Extend America’s leadership in semiconductor technology by helping design, prototype and pilot the latest semiconductor technology.
- Reduce the time and cost of moving from design to commercialization by leveraging shared facilities and expertise in designing, prototyping, manufacturing, packaging, and scaling of semiconductors and related products.
- Build and sustain a semiconductor workforce development ecosystem by serving as a coordinating body and center of excellence with workforce programs to expand recruiting, training, and retraining for the semiconductor ecosystem, including reaching groups that are traditionally under-represented in the industry.
In addition to creating and sponsoring research programs, the NSTC will work with academic and industry partners to create affiliated technical centers around the country, fostering a national network for research and innovation that engages fabless companies, research institutions, community colleges, state and local governments, national labs, foundries, integrated device manufacturers, equipment vendors, materials suppliers, labor unions, and investors. The centers will include a mix of new, advanced facilities, and improvements or expansions to existing facilities around the country.
The NSTC also aims to fulfill the unmet needs of the sector by providing access to emerging materials and process technologies, digital assets and design tools, a chiplet stockpile, incubation support for startups and other services. It also will support industry grand challenges, road mapping and standards activities, and workforce training and technical exchange programs.
Responsibility for the center will be shared between the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Defense, who anticipate the creation of a new, purpose-built, independent, nonprofit entity with the requisite neutrality, expertise, and capacity to operate the NSTC consortium. A call for nominations has been released for nominations to the committee that will select the NSTC Board of Trustees responsible for overseeing the formation of the non-profit NSTC management entity.
To read the NSTC vision and strategy, go to: https://www.nist.gov/document/vision-and-strategy-national-semiconductor-technology-center
For more information on the federal CHIPS Initiative and news of related activities, go to: https://www.nist.gov/chips
