TEMPE, AZ — The semiconductor industry is booming in Arizona and there is a big need for more people with expertise.
Arizona State University is one of several schools and programs helping prepare people for careers in the growing semiconductor industry.
The university’s Southwest Advanced Prototyping Hub (or SWAP Hub) is a partnership among more than 130 industry, government, and education groups, including Intel, Northrop Grumman, and more.
“We are bridging the gap at ASU between research and entrepreneurship by advancing the local semiconductor industry and further enhancing economic competitiveness and national defense,” Sally Morton, executive vice president of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise and a professor of statistics, said in a media release. “A shining example is the Southwest Advanced Prototyping Hub, which leverages the collective expertise of our dedicated faculty and students at the Fulton Schools to ensure a vital, sustainable and prosperous future for the area, as Arizona is poised to become the heart of semiconductor research, development and workforce education in the United States.”
“The SWAP Hub places Arizona on the map where exciting things happen, and these exciting development projects benefit our nation’s interests,” Seth Ariel Tongay, a Fulton Schools professor of materials science and engineering, said, according to ASU. “It will bring a highly skilled workforce to increase Arizona’s manufacturing and electronics ecosystem.”
ABC15 previously talked with Chandler-Gilbert Community College, which is also working to prepare those hoping to work in the semiconductor industry.
The University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University have also announced research projects and academic partnerships related to semiconductor manufacturing.
The Biden administration recently reached an agreement to provide Intel with up to $8.5 billion in direct funding and $11 billion in loans for computer chip plants in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the deal reached through her department would put the United States in a position to produce 20% of the world's most advanced chips by 2030, up from the current level of zero. The United States designs advanced chips, but its inability to make them domestically has emerged as a national security and economic risk.
