The Biden-Harris administration recently announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) seeking proposals from applicants for activities to establish and operate a CHIPS Manufacturing USA institute focused on digital twins for the semiconductor industry. The institute will join an existing network of 17 institutes designed to increase U.S. manufacturing competitiveness and promote a robust U.S. R&D infrastructure.
The new CHIPS Manufacturing USA institute will have integrated physical assets and computational capabilities (digital assets), and will foster the development, validation, and use of digital twins for semiconductor manufacturing, advanced packaging, assembly, and test processes.
Applicants must submit concept papers to www.grants.gov by June 20, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Full applications will be accepted only from those applicants invited after concept paper evaluation, and are due on September 9, 2024. NIST anticipates awarding up to approximately $285 million in federal funding for a single Institute award, with a performance period of up to five years.
The CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law by President Biden in August 2022, appropriated $50 billion to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS for America program to strengthen semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. The grant supports R&D advances through four programs: the CHIPS National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), the CHIPS National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP), the CHIPS Metrology Program, and the CHIPS Manufacturing USA Program.
“Digital twin technology will help transform the semiconductor industry,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) director Laurie E. Locascio. “This historic investment in the CHIPS Manufacturing USA institute will help unite the semiconductor industry to unlock the enormous potential of digital twin technology for breakthrough discoveries. This is a prime example of how CHIPS for America is bringing research institutions and industry partners together in public-private partnership to enable rapid adoption of innovations that will enhance domestic competitiveness for decades to come.”
Access more information via the NOFO Notice.
Related News
