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Syracuse University plans to establish a new, $20 million Center for Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing within its existing Center for Science and Technology, it announced in a Thursday SU news release.

The new center will serve as both a research and teaching facility focused on manufacturing technologies, as well as emulate an “autonomous-advanced manufacturing floor,” the release states. The center is part of SU’s broader goal to invest further in its College of Engineering and Computer Science ahead of Micron Technology’s arrival in central New York.

“Not only will this center support economic and workforce development, it will also generate significant academic opportunities for both our students and our faculty from a teaching, learning, and research perspective,” Gretchen Ritter, SU’s Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer, said in the release.

SU partnered with Onondaga County to invest a combined $20 million toward the creation of the center. The facility is also part of an over $100 million expansion of the university’s STEM programs, namely ECS, over the next five years, the release states.

The university’s increased focus on STEM is one of the goals within its multi-year Academic Strategic Plan — a framework of goals SU plans to address through 2028.

The new center “is aligned” with the ASP’s goals and the university’s existing investments into “AI, manufacturing, quantum technologies and precision measurement,” the release states. The release also states that SU plans to hire over 10 new faculty with expertise in these areas and “other related fields” over the next five years.

Though the university began drafting the ASP before Micron announced its arrival, the upcoming plant has expedited many of these goals.

In October 2022, Micron announced it would construct a new semiconductor fabrication facility in Clay, investing $100 billion into central New York. The facility is expected to create around 50,000 jobs in the area. Since then, SU, other local universities and government bodies have invested into workforce development initiatives in anticipation of Micron’s arrival.

On April 25, President Joe Biden announced the federal government would invest an additional $6.1 billion to the Micron project under a CHIPS and Science Act grant.

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon was “central” to bringing Micron to central New York, according to the release. The facility will help drive economic development, attract federal research and funding and build the semiconductor supply chain in the city of Syracuse, McMahon said in the release.

“As Onondaga County prepares to become the hub for memory technology chip production, we know that we will need our partners in higher education to help develop the necessary workforce critical to ensuring our success,” McMahon said.

McMahon also said in the release that SU’s on-campus center will serve as a vital “workforce pipeline” as Micron proceeds with its development in central New York.

Thursday’s release did not provide a timeline for the completion of the project but stated the work to “transform” the space in which the new facility will be housed has already begun.

“There is huge demand for trained professionals in and across these fields and Syracuse University will be at the forefront of preparing the next generation of scientists, engineers and leaders in the advanced semiconductor manufacturing space,” Ritter said.

Published on May 17, 2024 at 11:24 am