News: Microelectronics
20 August 2024
Penn State granted $600,000 to help fund Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) — an economic development partnership agency of the federal government and 13 state governments including Pennsylvania — has awarded $600,000 to Penn State University’s Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance (SCIA, launched in early April) to develop a series of educational courses, workshops and paid academic and industrial internships focused on workforce development in Pennsylvania for the growing semiconductor industry.
The SCIA is a coalition of industry leaders, academic institutions and government support led by Joshua Robinson, professor of materials science & engineering, of physics, of chemistry and of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State. The initiative aims to catalyze R&D of semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC).
However, the USA is currently not producing enough silicon carbide to meet demand, which is expected to be two to three times higher by 2030. Part of the solution is developing an American workforce in SiC research and production, which the ARC grant is designed to address by helping to build this workforce in Pennsylvania.
“The proposed project represents progress toward addressing a regional and national educational need for next-generation workers in the semiconductor industry,” Robinson says. “Penn State aims to broaden impact by developing hands-on training in semiconductor characterization that can be developed into online workforce development content accessible to the entire commonwealth of Pennsylvania across all levels of education.”
The SCIA partnered in applying for the grant with SEDA-Council of Governments, a community and economic development agency in Lewisburg, and one of seven Local Development Districts developed in collaboration between local governments, the state of Pennsylvania, federal agencies and ARC. The aim is to enhance the quality of life and economic advantage for residents and businesses in the 11 central Pennsylvania counties through its partnerships and initiatives. In addition, Robinson notes that SCIA worked with a variety of semiconductor industry partners.
The SCIA’s industry partners include HORIBA, onsemi, Morgan Advanced Materials, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Coherent and Malvern Panalytical. “Each partner will provide guidance and leadership in creating these workforce development assets and have committed cash and other resources to ensure the workshops and courses align with our state-of-the-art educational abilities and facilities,” says Robinson.
One such facility at Penn State is the Materials Characterization Laboratory (MCL), which maintains a broad range of analytical instruments for characterizing the structure, chemistry and composition of materials from the macro to nanoscale. The MCL also conducts educational activities that fit into the goals of the grant.
“Each year the MCL supports researchers from more than 45 different academic departments at Penn State,” notes Josh Stapleton, MCL director and associate research professor. “Most often we support these researchers by training them to become independent operators of these instruments so that they can advance their research. The MCL specializes in providing training focused on the practical and hands-on skills our students need.”
The MCL also facilitates collaborations with industry, featuring an extensive list of enterprise partners including those in the semiconductor industry.
“Additionally, we already work with more than 85 different companies each year,” Stapleton says. “The combination of knowledge of what industry needs and our decades of experience providing practical characterization training has us well positioned to support the training of Pennsylvania’s new semiconductor workforce,” he reckons.
The grant funds were matched with nearly $600,000 in industry cash, as well as a University cash match and in-kind equipment, for a total of more than $1.4m over three years. Robinson envisions that this money will enable the SCIA to become a hub for economic development and research innovation in the Appalachian region, primarily by establishing a workforce platform that will attract companies from around the USA and talented corporate and academic researchers and students. Specifically, grant money will be used to develop a series of educational courses, workshops and paid internships geared towards students and existing workers.
Along with Robinson, co-principal investigators on the project include Suzanne Mohney, professor of materials science & engineering and of electrical engineering, and Max Wetherington, assistant research professor of molecular spectroscopy.
Penn State and Morgan Advanced Materials partner on silicon carbide R&D
Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance launched by Penn State University
Penn State and onsemi sign MOU for $8m collaboration on silicon carbide growth
