The Department of Commerce and Natcast, the operator of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), announced Sunnyvale, California as the expected location for the CHIPS for America Design and Collaboration Facility (DCF), an NSTC Facility. The DCF will play an important role in advancing semiconductor design research, workforce development, investment and collaboration across the entire semiconductor value chain.
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As a key part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, CHIPS for America is driven by the growing need to bolster the U.S. semiconductor supply chain, accelerate U.S. leading-edge R&D and create good quality jobs around the country. The expected facility will bring together NSTC members from across the ecosystem to address some of the most demanding challenges facing the microelectronics industry and the world today, including the need for a skilled workforce and access to secure, cloud-based services for NSTC members.
Set within the vibrant and diverse semiconductor design ecosystem of Silicon Valley, the Sunnyvale, California based DCF is expected to be a multi-functional facility, serving as a critical location for the operations of Natcast and the NSTC, including:
- Conducting advanced semiconductor research in chip design, electronic design automation (EDA), chip and system architecture and hardware security
- Hosting programmatic activities, including the NSTC Workforce Center of Excellence, Design Enablement Gateway and a future Investment Fund
- Convening NSTC members and stakeholders from across the semiconductor ecosystem
- Housing various administration functions
The expected facility will enable collaboration among industry leaders, academia, investors and government partners and build on the local and national ecosystem by providing convening space, workforce best practices and initiatives developed through the NSTC Workforce Center of Excellence. It will also provide NSTC members access to valuable physical and digital assets to develop next-generation semiconductor technologies for increasingly demanding end uses, such as AI and 5G.
Along with the CHIPS for America EUV Accelerator and the forthcoming CHIPS for America NSTC Prototyping and National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP) Advanced Packaging Piloting Facility, the proposed DCF will be one of the flagship R&D facilities for CHIPS for America, which are designed to benefit the NSTC community and provide critical technologies for researchers nationwide.
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