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SCALE

The United States of America and Purdue University have entered into a Prototype Project Agreement under the “Cornerstone” Other Transaction Authority (OTA) as of December 20, 2019. Under this agreement, Purdue University and its university partners, Vanderbilt University, Air Force Institute of Technology, Arizona State University, Brigham Young University, Georgia Institute of Technology, St. Louis University, and SUNY-Binghamton, to stand up and execute a sustainable Microelectronics Workforce Public-Private-Academic Partnership (PPAP) prototype model. Here, a single prototype process will be developed that applies across multiple microelectronic technology focus areas and multiple universities for scalability and replicability. Other key components will include a suite of efforts to attract students to DOD-relevant focus areas in microelectronics; nationwide curricular standards aligned with priorities driven by the Government Oversight Committee; and collaborative research to advance knowledge share. This project will allow us to develop, obtain, and maintain a knowledgeable microelectronics workforce for the defense microelectronics eco-system by introducing and implementing an innovative design-based engineering education methodology for metric-driven validation. The resulting program is expected to result in a specific yet adaptive ecosystem that will help increase the number of technically excellent, mission-driven students joining the defense microelectronics workforce. The prototype model will be initially developed to address two microelectronics focus areas: radiation hardened technology and heterogeneous integration/advanced packaging.

Through this multi-year effort GT-PRC will be partnering with Purdue, SUNY Binghamton and Arizona State University to develop a packaging curriculum, involvement of undergraduate students in research, placement of students for internships in govt. labs and overall workforce development for the Department of Defense.

To learn more, visit SCALE‘s website.