Mānoa: $15.3M funding fuels microelectronics innovation

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is part of an innovation hub that will train the next generation of high tech workers in microelectronics, the design and creation of small electronic devices such as the microchips in computers and cell phones.

Selected as part of the California-Pacific-Northwest AI Hardware Microelectronics Commons Hub (Northwest AI Hub), UH Mānoa will have access to federal funding to research and develop microelectronics. The Northwest AI Hub will receive $15.3 million in funding, part of a total package of $238 million awarded to all eight innovation hubs located across the country.

The hub awards are among the largest to date under the CHIPS and Science Act, signed by President Joe Biden, which is investing in research and development into nanotechnology, clean energy, quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

According to UH, the US is a world leader in microelectronics design, but is responsible for only about 12% of microelectronics production globally, with most production now in Asia.

The institutions involved in the hub cover the entire value chain of semiconductors, from materials, devices, to exploratory data analysis and chip design, packaging, as well as system prototyping and testing. They are led by Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.

The UH Mānoa team, led by College of Engineering professors Jeffrey Weldon and Boris Murmann, will focus on training students and interns on microfabrication techniques as well as integrated circuit design and testing.

“The design component of our program will deliver hands-on, open-source course material for chip design that can be broadly shared with other universities,” Murmann said. “Students will learn how to design their own chips and our program provides funding for getting them fabricated through a commercial chip factory. Finally, the students will be able to test their microchips in the lab to complete this exciting end-to-end experience.”

Other partner institutions include Oregon State University; University of California, Davis; University of Washington; and Western Digital Corporation.