By DAVID LAMMERS, Contributing Editor
During a time of increasing tensions between China and the West, and a perceived over-reliance on Asian manufacturing at a time of critical shortages of electronic components, Purdue University has established the Center for Technology Diplomacy, focused on the intersection of technology and national security. The Purdue-based center will train American diplomats and provide domain expertise in critical technologies to foreign policy makers.
Speaking at the Concordia Annual Summit, Mung Chiang, dean of engineering and executive vice president of Purdue, said the center is launching its first year-long study on the global roadmap for the 6G wireless standard, with participants from academia, government, and the private sector.
The Concordia event, held over three days with dozens of experts considering the world’s myriad challenges, included a roundtable event on the need for a stronger U.S. semiconductor manufacturing presence, with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger as a featured participant.
Gelsinger noted that both the United States and the European Union have announced plans to financially support a “trusted supply chain” which would result in a “globally resilient” semiconductor industry. The U.S. share of worldwide semiconductor manufacturing has plummeted to about 12 percent, and Europe to only about 9 percent, down sharply from 1990.
Gelsinger said in addition to Intel’s publicly announced investments in its “IDM 2.0” strategy — two hybrid foundry/IDM fabs in Arizona, and an expansion in New Mexico — he is readying an announcement of a “green field” site that eventually would have as many as eight Intel fabs, with each fab receiving about $10 billion in investment. Gelsinger hinted that the new U.S. site selection could be announced when the U.S. Congress passes the CHIPS for America Act, which includes $52 billion in support for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.
The Senate has passed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, (S.1260), which would combine the CHIPS legislation with another technology-related funding bill called the Endless Frontier Act, with an estimated $120 billion in funding for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, NASA, and other agencies.
Sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 is mirrored by identical legislation, the Endless Frontier Act, (H.R.2731), now being considered in committee in the House. The Semiconductor Industry Association recently reported that “the U.S. Senate on June 8, 2021, took a significant step toward this goal by passing the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), which includes $52 billion in federal investments for the domestic semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing provisions in the CHIPS for America Act. The House of Representatives should swiftly follow suit and send legislation to the President’s desk to be signed into law.”
Click here to reach the full article in the October issue of Semiconductor Digest.
