More than $270
million in corporate and state investment will help
advance Arizona's
semiconductor industry
TEMPE,
Ariz. and SANTA CLARA,
Calif., July 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Arizona State University (ASU) and Applied
Materials, Inc. today announced an alliance, aided by the Arizona
Commerce Authority, that brings more than $270 million to create a world-class shared
research, development and prototyping facility, the
Materials-to-Fab (MTF) Center, in the university's MacroTechnology
Works building at ASU Research Park.
The MTF Center will be designed to accelerate the transfer of
innovations from ideation to fab prototype by bringing
state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing equipment into a
collaborative ASU and Applied Materials environment to work with
industry partners, startups, government entities and academic
institutions. The MTF Center will provide students and faculty with
opportunities for hands-on learning and research on the same 300mm
equipment used in leading-edge production fabs.
Applied Materials is the world's largest provider of
semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The company in May announced
plans to build the Equipment and Process Innovation and
Commercialization (EPIC) Center in California's Silicon Valley. The EPIC Center
is planned as the heart of a high-velocity innovation platform that
includes a network of hubs at leading universities, each focused on
materials and process innovation. The new MTF Center will be home
to Applied's Center of Excellence in materials deposition
technology.
"Applied Materials and ASU already enjoy a close partnership,
and this new alliance around the Materials-to-Fab Center will take
things to a new level," said ASU President Michael Crow. "But what is more important than
the partnership is what it will do for the industry and the
country. This is the beginning of a reconfiguration of discovery
and translational research outcomes in response to real-world
challenges and the development of next-generational processes,
materials, equipment and workforce."
"Applied Materials is excited to build upon our successful track
record of collaboration with ASU by adding the Materials-to-Fab
Center to our university innovation network," said Applied
Materials President and CEO Gary
Dickerson. "Applied Materials envisions the MTF Center
playing a key role in accelerating materials engineering
innovations, commercializing academic research and strengthening
the pipeline of future semiconductor industry talent."
Design of the MTF Center has already begun and is expected to be
operational within two years. The MTF Center is supported by
investments of $30 million from the
Arizona Commerce Authority, $17
million from ASU and $25
million in Arizona New Economy Initiative funding and bonds.
Applied Materials' contributions are anticipated to exceed
$200 million including capital
investments, equipment operation and maintenance, and research and
scholarship funding.
To build an inclusive talent pipeline, Applied Materials also
intends to launch an endowment fund that will provide scholarships
to first-generation and/or underrepresented minority students in
the ASU Ira A. Fulton Schools of
Engineering. In addition, the Applied Materials Momentum Fund will
be available to students at ASU, and provide grants to women
pursuing undergraduate degrees in engineering, helping to overcome
potential financial barriers and accelerating access to careers in
the semiconductor industry.
"High-quality universities are one of America's greatest
advantages in the global competition for semiconductor
manufacturing, research and development," said Arizona Governor Katie
Hobbs. "What Applied Materials and ASU are doing is smart,
and the successful implementation of the Materials-to-Fab Center
will establish an innovation and job creation engine for the
semiconductor ecosystem in Arizona."
Arizona is one of the nation's
key centers of microelectronics activity – home to some of the
nation's leading semiconductor producers and suppliers, major
defense contractors, world-class universities, research institutes
and a vibrant start-up community. The MTF Center will be an asset
to small and large companies across the state and the Southwest
region and a key capability for connecting ongoing investments in
research and manufacturing. It will provide a nexus for
academic-industry collaboration in support of the objectives of the
federal CHIPS and Science Act.
"The MTF Center will accelerate the development,
commercialization, and manufacturing of next-generation U.S.
semiconductor-based technologies while bolstering the state's
infrastructure, workforce, and research capabilities," said
Sandra Watson, President and CEO of
the Arizona Commerce Authority. "We're proud to play a leading role
supporting this first-of-its-kind alliance between one of the
world's leading semiconductor technology companies and America's
most innovative university."
"ASU and Applied Materials have created a foundation of
collaboration and we have already seen its value," said Crow. "What
this alliance will do is expand impact, deliver the mechanisms for
finding new ways of doing things and, if we are successful, yield
results that we can use to innovate again. This is work that is
never finished, so as exciting as it is to be where we are today,
you can expect to hear more from us on this front in the future,
and we encourage others to take this model and replicate it."
About Arizona State
University
Arizona State
University has developed a new model for the American
Research University, creating an institution that is committed to
access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it
includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New
American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to
the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the
economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that
surround it. Learn more about ASU here.
About the Arizona Commerce Authority
The Arizona
Commerce Authority (ACA) is the state's leading economic
development organization with a streamlined mission to grow and
strengthen Arizona's economy. The
ACA uses a three-pronged approach to advance the overall economy:
attract, expand, create - attract out-of-state companies to
establish operations in Arizona;
work with existing companies to expand their business in
Arizona and beyond; and help
entrepreneurs create new Arizona
businesses in targeted industries. For more information, please
visit azcommerce.com and follow the ACA on Twitter @azcommerce.
About Applied Materials
Applied Materials, Inc.
(Nasdaq: AMAT) is the leader in materials engineering solutions
used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in
the world. Our expertise in modifying materials at atomic levels
and on an industrial scale enables customers to transform
possibilities into reality. At Applied Materials, our innovations
make possible a better future. Learn more at
www.appliedmaterials.com.
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SOURCE Arizona State University