Virginia Tech joins Northeast University Semiconductor Network formed by Micron Technology Inc.

12 Apr 2023

Photo shows a student examining a piece of equipment — A student in Assistant Professor Yuhao Zhang's program in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering measures semiconductor devices that were fabricated in Zhang's clean room. Photo courtesy of Uncork-it!

Micron Technology Inc. announced this week the formation of the Northeast University Semiconductor Network, a partnership focused on collectively developing the next generation of the U.S. semiconductor industry’s workforce. The network will drive foundational and emerging research to increase students’ opportunities for experiential learning across the semiconductor ecosystem.

At an April 10 press conference in Syracuse, New York, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, and Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Sethuraman Panchanathan joined Micron executives as they revealed the new network, which features 21 founding member institutions and includes Virginia Tech.

“Alongside government partners, Micron is taking bold action to cultivate and support collaboration between institutions of higher education to develop a diverse and robust STEM talent pipeline — a model that we look forward to advancing in other regions,” said Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra. “By uniting institutions across the Northeast, we can further develop the talent needed to produce leading-edge memory at Micron’s massive scale here in New York. U.S. technology leadership and the future of the American semiconductor industry depend on the development of a diverse, highly skilled workforce that is fully prepared to excel in tomorrow’s STEM careers.”

“Innovative partnerships among institutions of higher education and industry will be essential to meeting the needs of the national semiconductor industry and memory manufacturing,” said Virginia Tech President Tim Sands. “We look forward to working with Micron and others in the development of leading-edge technologies, content, and teaching modules for our unique Chips-Scale Integration major at Virginia Tech.”

Combining the reach of traditional and nontraditional pathways into the semiconductor industry, the Northeast University Semiconductor Network will expand and prepare the next generation of talent through a framework centered on collaboration, innovation, and problem solving. Micron, in partnership with the network institutions, will champion efforts to modernize and enhance curriculum by sharing industry-backed technical content, expanding experiential learning programs for greater access to clean rooms and teaching labs, and bolstering research opportunities for students. In all these efforts, the Northeast University Semiconductor Network will work to reach more underrepresented students.

The NSF solicitation announced Monday is the next step in the partnership between the Micron Foundation and NSF to jointly invest $10 million to fund and develop semiconductor curricula in colleges and universities across the country.

The founding partners of the Northeast University Semiconductor Network were identified based on their strong collective undergraduate and graduate programs in engineering and other STEM degrees. Spanning seven states, they bring together thousands of undergraduate and graduate STEM students, access to teaching labs and clean rooms, and a strong foundation of collaboration across institutions. The Northeast University Semiconductor Network will bolster programs that connect universities to community colleges and non-traditional pathways with strong diversity programs to increase equitable access to STEM education.

A full list of founding partners of the Northeast University Semiconductor Network follows.