Multi-organization, $4.6 million NSF provide to fund nanotechnology education

image: Penn State is one of the recipients of a 4-year, $4.6 million, multi-organization provide from the National Science Foundation to offer microelectronics and nanomanufacturing education to army carrier contributors and veterans. view more

Credit: CNEU

The Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization (CNEU) withinside the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State changed into named as one of the recipients of a 4-year, $4.6 million, multi-organization provide from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to offer microelectronics and nanomanufacturing education to army carrier contributors and veterans. The Penn State proportion of the provide is near to $2 million to attention on the ongoing improvement of guides and curriculum applications for the education.

The international nanomanufacturing-primarily based totally marketplace and exertions wishes are expected to double each 3 years, in line with a file through Eightfold AI. To meet the global call for for important semiconductor packages alone, the U.S. wishes to feature approximately 5.5% of the worldwide production. This quantities to about 20 fabrication flora and 70,000-90,000 general fabrication jobs.

“To meet this opportunity, the U.S. wishes to boom its modern-day professional group of workers through 50%, however only a few completely geared up education applications exist today,” stated Osama Awadelkarim, UNESCO Chair, professor of engineering technological know-how and mechanics and CNEU director at Penn State. “This provide will aid a consortium of 9 educational establishments and 8 industries to offer lecture room research and hands-on education that meet the specific wishes of army carrier contributors and veteran college students, whether or not they may be trying to boost withinside the militia or transition into the civilian sector.”

The NSF provide changed into presented much less than weeks earlier than President Joe Biden signed the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act to aid home semiconductor production skills and boom studies improvement withinside the sector. An incorporated circuit, every so often referred to as a “chip,” is an meeting of billions of tiny digital gadgets fabricated and interconnected on a small semiconductor cloth surface.

The army gives a huge pool of applicants for this education. According to Awadelkarim, many have already got revel in withinside the superior generation enterprise, and others own in-call for management traits that lead them to superb applicants for technical positions withinside the civilian group of workers.

The CNEU will lead the consortium with a center of 4 network faculties which might be placed close to army bases, such as Tidewater Community College (TCC) in Norfolk, Virginia, Southwestern College in San Diego, Rio Salado College in Tempe, Arizona, and Georgia Piedmont Technical College in Atlanta.

The network faculties will recruit college students for every 12-week course, which incorporates far off training withinside the mornings and capabilities education withinside the afternoons. Upon a success completion, college students can take a seat down for ASTM International (previously referred to as American Society for Testing and Materials) certification. The course, with the intention to be provided every fall and spring semester thru 2026, is predicted to supply approximately three hundred graduates.

The NSF funded the pilot Nanomanufacturing Certificate Program in spring and fall 2021. CNEU, TCC and Norfolk Southern University (NSU) brought this system to 9 Navy veterans. Six of the graduates received ASTM International certificates, 4 of whom are presently running for nanomanufacturing agencies and of whom at the moment are pursuing bachelor’s ranges in engineering.

University companions becoming a member of Penn State and NSU withinside the national rollout are University of California San Diego, Georgia Institute of Technology and Arizona State University. The universities will proportion sources, centers and digital instrumentation with their close by network faculties.

Awadelkarim anticipates energetic engagement and aid from the consortium’s enterprise companions — SEMI North America, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Global Foundries, MICRON Technology, Tokyo Electron, Qorvo, Wolfspeed and Universal Display Corporation — thru hands-on education, webinars and human sources mentoring.

“Low cognizance of nanomanufacturing and microelectronics processing careers has hindered enrollment throughout education applications in any respect levels, particularly on the partner diploma level,” Awadelkarim stated. “The partnerships many of the industries, network faculties and universities — which encompass curricula and best-practices sharing, coordination amongst applications and new processes to growing group of workers education — will start to deal with those issues.”

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