To support U.S. semiconductor development, the Scalable Asymmetric Lifecycle Engagement (SCALE) microelectronics workforce development program, managed by Purdue University, will receive more than $19 million in funding from the Department of Defense to support key research and new academic partners. Purdue will receive $3.8 million, Indiana University will receive $5 million and Vanderbilt University will receive $1.6 million.
The SCALE program is a workforce development effort, funded by the DoD’s Trusted and Assured Microelectronics program and managed by Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division. Purdue leads the public-private-academic partnership of 19 universities and 48 partners within the defense industry and government.
SCALE has a mission to bolster next-generation workforce development to bring the United States back to prominence in global microelectronics research and manufacturing. According to Purdue, the demand for microelectronics increased 26% in 2021. While the United States consumes about half of the chips produced worldwide, only about 12% are manufactured here. That is down from 37% roughly 30 years before.
The second installment of the DoD’s funding enhances efforts in areas including radiation-hardened microelectronics and trusted artificial intelligence and expands student training, continuing education and dissemination.
“Now, more students interested in these technical areas have more opportunities to get involved and develop in-demand skills and experiences,” Peter Bermel, SCALE director and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue, said. “And we add these new partner universities while broadening the participation of current partner universities in SCALE.”
Several universities focusing on these subjects have been added as SCALE partners: Morgan State University in Baltimore; the University of Tulsa; and the Microelectronics Security Training Center, headquartered at the University of Florida.
The SCALE partners regularly meet to update a prioritized list of knowledge, skills and abilities that are most needed for new entrants to the microelectronics and trusted artificial intelligence workforce.
“Understanding the most current technical and professional workforce skills in microelectronics is imperative for SCALE universities to fully develop students to meet those specialized workforce needs,” said Jennifer Linvill, SCALE director of workforce needs and assistant professor of technology leadership and innovation at Purdue.
As a result, SCALE universities will need to upgrade their classes, projects and research to ensure that students can meet the rapidly advancing needs of the field.
Workforce development needs this kind of funding, Bermel said, especially to amplify the number of U.S. citizens who can work on these technologies.
“The expectation from multiple credible studies is there will be major shortages in the microelectronics workforce on a national scale if we do nothing. Part of the reason is that fewer U.S. students are going into undergraduate and graduate studies in high-tech areas,” he said, like electrical engineering.
At the same time, there is more money going into the actual technologies, Bermel said. “To achieve the goals of the CHIPS and Science Act, we need a deep pool of talented and motivated people who can do the work at the highest standards,” he said.
That talent pool must include both technical expertise and as much diversity as possible “to draw skilled and capable individuals from all parts of the country to meet the need and to benefit communities throughout the United States,” he said.
“In that sense, Morgan State joining SCALE with expertise in system-on-chip technology is a very important part of the story,” Bermel said, encouraging engineering students at historically Black colleges and universities and underrepresented minorities at all institutions to strongly consider careers in semiconductors and microelectronics.
The funding announcement is the latest piece of Purdue’s continually expanding research and development in microelectronics and semiconductors. Purdue already has established key research in areas considered critical to national security, including microelectronics. Strategic initiatives such as the first comprehensive Semiconductor Degrees Program are intended to prepare a next-generation workforce for industry. A separate partnership with SkyWater Technology, known as the READI Semiconductors Workforce Development initiative in Greater Lafayette, will support SkyWater’s planned $1.8 billion future state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing facility.
