UMass Amherst Secures $7.9 Million Grant to Develop Advanced AI Hardware
University of Massachusetts Amherst announced receiving more than $7 million from the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) Hub through U.S. CHIPS and Science Act funding under the Microelectronics Commons program, executed through the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division and the National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL). This award funds the first year of the project, with future funding for the entire four-year project ($23 million budget) contingent on the satisfactory delivery of the milestones and the availability of funds.
The award funds collaboration between UMass Amherst and TetraMem Inc., NY CREATES, GlobalFoundries, University of Southern California, Raytheon, BAE Systems, and Berkshire Community College, in support of efforts to accelerate domestic prototyping and expand the nation’s global leadership in microelectronics. This is one of six projects awarded to the NEMC Hub, led by Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech), under the Microelectronics Commons Program.
“We need close collaboration across academia, small business, major semiconductor companies, and defense contractors,” says Qiangfei Xia, principal investigator of this project and the Dev and Linda Gupta Professor of electrical and computer engineering at UMass Amherst. “This project is a good example of that, in the spirit of transferring technology from the research lab to industry fab.”
Qiangfei Xia, Dev and Linda Gupta Professor of electrical and computer engineering at UMass Amherst and principal investigator of the microelectronics project
“The project’s objective is to transfer the CMOS+memristor technology to U.S. semiconductor manufacturers, so that we can make power-efficient AI hardware for edge intelligence, with both military and civilian applications,” Xia says. Hardware created with memristors will be able to process data locally in a time-sensitive manner while also using very little energy, as has been demonstrated by over a decade’s research by Xia and collaborators, as well as development from industrial players such as TetraMem.
The project will also offer a microelectronic fabrication course to local community colleges such as Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to bridge the large supply-demand gap in the semiconductor industry. Xia, who has been teaching this course for over 10 years at UMass Amherst, says it is the hands-on experience of building and testing integrated circuits that has prepared students well for securing competitive employment.
“We are proud to bring our revolutionary low-power analog computing technology to this important collaboration, which will advance the U.S. semiconductor industry, educate its future workforce, and benefit the economy of the Commonwealth and the region,” remarks Sanjay Raman, dean of the UMass Amherst College of Engineering.
“This award highlights the ingenuity and expertise that exists across the Northeast when it comes to microelectronics and semiconductors,” said Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech) CEO Carolyn Kirk. “The technology development and transition partnerships being fostered by the NEMC Hub will have an enduring impact on our national and economic security.”
“This award is a testament to the hard work, collaboration and leadership the NEMC Hub and its members have demonstrated during the first year of the Microelectronics Commons,” said NEMC Hub Director Mark Halfman. “We have a tremendous opportunity to grow microelectronics lab-to-fab capabilities and spur the growth of game-changing technologies in this sector.”
The Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) Hub is a network of 200+ organizations including commercial and defense companies, leading academic institutions, federally funded R&D centers (FFRDCs), and startups concentrated in eight Northeast states. Established in 2023, the Hub is one of eight regional Microelectronics Commons Hubs working to expand the nation’s global leadership in microelectronics and accelerate domestic semiconductor prototyping. The NEMC Hub is a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and was established with federal CHIPS and Science Act funding under the Microelectronics Commons program and executed through the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Division and the National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL). The Hub fosters a vibrant, connected microelectronics ecosystem to provide sustainable lab-to-fab enablement, boost education and workforce development, and spur new jobs.