Partnership to advance Indiana’s semiconductor industry

May 3, 2023

By Susan Orr, Indianapolis Business Journal
Purdue President Mung Chiang (podium), flanked by Imec CEO Luc Van den hove, Indiana Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers, U.S. Sen. Todd Young and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb. (Purdue University photo)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Indiana Economic Development Corp., Purdue University and Belgium-based research and innovation center Imec have entered into a memorandum of understanding to advance research and development in Indiana’s semiconductor industry, the parties announced Wednesday. The entities announced their new partnership during the SelectUSA Investment Summit, which is taking place this week in suburban Washington, D.C. The annual event, hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, connects U.S. economic development and government leaders with foreign investors for the purpose of spurring foreign direct investment into the United States. “Imec is a global leader for research and technological development, and we are proud to partner with them, alongside our top-ranked Purdue University, by formalizing the discussions and collaborations already taking place, facilitating the further exchange of ideas and providing the necessary support to power cutting-edge, next-generation microelectronic R&D in the U.S. with Indiana at the center,” Gov. Eric Holcomb said in a press release from the IEDC. Holcomb was also present at the Maryland announcement, along with Indiana Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers, Purdue President Mung Chiang, U.S. Sen. Todd Young of Indiana and representatives from Imec. The IEDC’s press release describes the MOU as outlining “financial support and a framework for revolutionary trans-Atlantic cooperation toward research and development in the semiconductor sector.” The release says that each of the three institutions will provide “significant investment per year over the course of the five-year agreement,” but it does not specify how much each party will invest. The IEDC and Purdue did not respond by deadline to an IBJ question about this detail. Founded in 1984 in Leuven, Belgium, Imec works with corporate, government and academic partners to advance innovation in nanotechnology and digital technology. (The company’s name is short for Inter-University Microelectronics Centre.) Imec has offices and research sites in the Netherlands, Asia and the U.S., including sites in Kissimmee, Florida; and Berkeley, San Francisco and San Jose in California. Wednesday’s announcement is the latest in a string of other announcements in recent months concerning semiconductor activity in Indiana. A few examples:
  • Purdue announced last month a new initiative, Purdue Computes, which includes a planned $100 million investment in semiconductor research and learning facilities.
  • The Semiconductors Workforce Development Project, whose partners are Purdue and Ivy Tech Community College, secured $5 million in funding in December to help build the state’s semiconductor workforce.
  • Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology announced in March that it will work with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Stanford University to create semiconductor manufacturing and microelectronics curricula.
  • State and local officials broke ground last fall on an $84 million microelectronics campus at WestGate@Crane Technology Park in Odon, about 90 miles southwest of Indianapolis.
  • Within the last year, Taiwan-based chip maker MediaTek and Minnesota-based SkyWater Technology have announced plans to open microchip facilities in Indiana.