Massachusetts Submits Proposal to Create Northeast Microelectronics Hub

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Massachusetts Submits Proposal to Create Northeast Microelectronics Hub

Coalition of 85 organizations across seven states submits request for investment from fed-eral CHIPS and Science Act.

The Center for Advanced Manufacturing at MassTech Collaborative (CAM) and more than 85 organizations from across the Northeast have submitted a proposal to the federal government to create the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition, a regional hub that will advance the microelectronics needs of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) while spurring new jobs, workforce training opportunities, and investment in the region’s advanced manufacturing and technology sectors.

The Coalition submitted the proposal to the DoD’s Microelectronics Commons program, which is funded by the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act that aims to onshore the manufacturing of microelectronics and semiconductor technologies and support workforce training for these industries. 

“Massachusetts is a leader on innovation, technology, and advanced manufacturing, and we’re proud to continue that legacy by submitting this proposal,” said Gov. Maura Healey. “This is a once in a generation opportunity to invest in cutting-edge sectors that will be key to our country’s national security and ensure Massachusetts companies have the re-sources and workforce they need to succeed.” 

“Massachusetts has amazing potential when we leverage our research institutions, univer-sities, innovative companies, and unmatched talent,” said Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll. “This pro-posal invests in programs to train highly skilled workers and connect them to rewarding careers in the industries of tomorrow. We are excited about this chance to expand economic opportunity for underserved communities by boosting workforce development programs and forging new pathways to good-paying jobs.”

The proposed $40 million in matching funds from the Commonwealth are included in the Immediate Needs Bond Bill filed by the Healey-Driscoll Administration in mid-January, which seeks $987 million in bond authorization to support core state capital programs supporting housing and economic development across the Commonwealth.

Microelectronics Commons will disperse roughly $1.6 billion over the next five years to boost nine regional hubs across the country. Each hub will be aligned on one or more technology focus areas: Quantum, 5G/6G, Secure Edge, AI Hardware, Electronic Warfare, and Commercial Leap Ahead. The Northeast Coalition’s submission includes six distinct proposals for each focus area highlighting the strong technology, manufacturing, and de-fense ecosystem in Massachusetts and across the Northeast.

The proposal envisions a streamlined process for the collaborators— which include repre-sentatives from private industry, nonprofit organizations, and research and academic in-stitutions working in microelectronics – to access joint R&D and manufacturing resources that will allow technologies to quickly move from the drawing board to design, fabrication, and packaging phases into testing.

This focus on ‘lab to fab’ infrastructure will be bolstered by staff experts who can provide support at each stage. The proposal also includes a coordinated education and workforce development plan, as well as programs to support early and mid-stage startups.
 
The Center for Advanced Manufacturing at MassTech started planning for the passage of the federal CHIPS Act and related funding opportunities like Microelectronics Commons in May 2021, well before the law’s eventual passage in August 2022.

The 85 organizations, which come from the six New England states, New York, and New Jersey, demonstrate the unique mix of defense-oriented microelectronics experts and the wide range of technical and program management expertise in the region. Collaborators include large commercial and defense corporations, federally funded R&D Centers, small and medium enterprises, startups, academic institutions, and nonprofits, all overseen by an advisory group.

“Our Center for Advanced Manufacturing has brought together as competitive a group of experts as you will find anywhere in the country, the outcome of nearly two years of di-rect planning, engagement, and outreach,” said Carolyn Kirk, executive director of the MassTech Collaborative, an economic development agency for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. investments that should increase the proposals’ competitiveness in this process.”

“Through CHIPS, the U.S. is taking a whole-of-nation approach to reestablishing a robust domestic lab-to-fab lifecycle for microelectronics,” said Benjamin Linville-Engler, chief in-vestment strategist and program executive at the MassTech Collaborative. “The DoD is an early adopter of many of the next generation technologies that are a focus of ME Commons, but they cannot do this without a strong industrial base here in the U.S. that produces them. So this proposal is an opportunity to establish pathways for these technologies beyond research and catalyze economic growth in Massachusetts and across the Northeast Region.”
   
“The advanced technology needs of our aerospace and defense customers extend beyond standard commercial microelectronics,” said Raytheon Technologies CTO Mark Russell. “As such, Raytheon Technologies supports this effort to accelerate improvements in microelec-tronics technologies and workforce development, which promise to strengthen our ability to continue advancing aviation, building smarter defense systems and creating innovations to take us deeper into space.”