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SCHUMER ANNOUNCES NEARLY $30 MILLION FOR NY’S MICROELECTRONIC COMMONS HUB VIA DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO BOOST SEMICONDUCTOR R&D AND WORKFORCE TRAINING AT UPSTATE UNIVERSITIES FOR AMERICA’S NATIONAL SECURITY THANKS TO HIS CHIPS & SCIENCE LAW

Schumer Says Funding Will Support Four Projects In NY Led By NY CREATES, Cornell, RIT & Other Upstate Research Labs Focused On Chips, Quantum Computing & Critical Tech To Maintain America’s Competitive Edge In The Defense Industry– Building On Earlier $40M Award For NORDTECH Which Connects NY Universities’ And DoD’s Top Tech Research Projects

Schumer Created DoD’s Microelectronic Commons Program & Now NY-Led NORDTECH Consortium Among First Project Awardees With Upstate Research Institutions Leading The Charge For Next Gen Tech For Our National Security  

Schumer: Thanks To My CHIPS & Science Law, Upstate NY Is Leading Development Of Semiconductor & Quantum Computing For America’s National Security

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced $29+ million in Department of Defense funding for the New York-based Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTECH) to boost semiconductor and other cutting-edge tech research & development and workforce training at Upstate NY universities and research institutions. This funding comes from the $2 billion CHIPS for America Defense Fund which Schumer helped establish in his CHIPS & Science Law, and helped secure Upstate NY’s spot in competing for as one of the first Microelectronic Commons Hubs last year, and will put Upstate NY at the forefront of cutting-edge tech R&D for the defense industry leading the future of this technology for America’s national security.

“Upstate NY is leading the future of innovation for America’s national security in the chip industry. Upstate NY’s top research institutions from Cornell and RIT to NY CREATES and more are now partnering with the Department of Defense to make the technology that will drive this industry for the next century. This significant $29+ million puts Upstate NY in the driver’s seat for the discoveries that the chip and defense industry say will be pivotal to the future of this technology,” said Senator Schumer. “I crafted my CHIPS & Science Law with Upstate NY as my north star, because I knew that with targeted federal investments communities across New York could bring this industry back from overseas to America. Now from the Capital Region to Central NY to Western NY that is happening and this major award from the Department of Defense will help us seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to drive new innovation and to train our workers to make sure major breakthroughs for the future of this technology are discovered and made here in the Empire State.”

The U.S. Department of Defense selected four of NORDTECH’s projects based in NY focused on quantum research and development to receive significant federal funding:

  • $8,906,000 for the Superconducting Quantum Error Correction Qubit project
    • Lead Research Institution: NY CREATES
    • Partner Research Institutions: Cornell University, Princeton, Syracuse University, New York University, QCI, Seeqc, Cadence, and the Air Force Research Lab
    • Description: NY CREATES and partners in academia, industry, and government will co-develop technologies necessary to demonstrate scalable quantum error correction, using new materials, innovative quantum circuits and qubit control schemes. Innovative processes that expand the limits of qubit performance will be explored at the academic labs, with a view to hasten the lab-to-fab transition. The Cornell Nanofabrication Facility will offer vetted processes on dedicated 100mm tools that can be utilized by researchers. The team will deliver a superconducting process design kit (PDK), leveraging the tightly controlled fabrication processes at the 300mm wafer scale. This project will democratize access to scalable, high performance qubit fabrication, enabling faster innovation by the broader community.
  • $8,564,000 for the Quantum Ultra-broadband Photonic Integrated Circuits and Systems (QUPICS) project
    • Lead Research Institution: AIM Photonics and Cornell University
    • Partner Research Institutions: Cornell, RIT, Columbia, Yale, AFRL, NIST, Quantinuum, Xanadu, and Toptica USA
    • Description: The QUPICS team, led by the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics) and Cornell University, will develop the first 300mm foundry fabrication platform for quantum technologies which will span from the ultraviolet to the infrared. QUPICS will specially address the foundry gap for trapped atom/ion and neutral ion quantum technologies incorporating electrical, broadband photonic and electro-optic devices into a single broadly available technology offering. QUPICS will develop and incorporate passive photonics, active components, and laser sources from the ultraviolet to the infrared geared to the use of quantum technologies. Integrated systems spanning this broad wavelength range are critical for a variety of photonics-heavy quantum systems for commercial and DoD priority applications in quantum sensing, networking, computation and position navigation and timing (PNT). In later years QUPICS will open to multi project wafer (MPW) runs and will be actively searching for partners from government laboratories, academia, and businesses.
  • $8,454,000 for the Nitride RF Next-Generation Technology (NITRIDER) project
    • Lead Research Institution: Cornell University
    • Partner Research Institutions: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, U.S. Naval Research, Laboratory, Northrup Grumman, Soctera, Inc., Teledyne Scientific & Imaging LLC, Crystal IS Inc., and Qorvo Texas, LLC
    • Description: High-speed gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) have revolutionized defense radar and communication systems, despite delivering only 1/10th of the radio frequency (RF) output power for which this semiconductor family is capable. In this project Cornell University and its team will unleash the dormant 90% output power using novel and patented nitride HEMTs and aluminum nitride (AlN) substrates. While taking these two next-generation nitride RF transistor technologies from lab-to-fab, the NITRIDER program will employ specially constructed workforce development modules to develop large signal models, new processes, and research design kits (RDKs) for E-Band and C- Band (radio frequencies from 60GHz-90GHz and 2.4GHz-5GHz, respectively) MMICs, or monolithic microwave integrated circuits which perform functions such as power amplification, to improve radar and communication systems.
  • $3,970,000 for the Heterogeneous Quantum Networking project
    • Lead Research Institution: Rochester Institute of Technology
    • Partner Research Institutions: Air Force Research Lab – Information Directorate, Yale University, Duke University, AIM Photonics, and NY CREATES
    • Description: The Rochester Institute of Technology and partners plan to realize a heterogeneous quantum network (HQN) that connects ion-based qubits with superconducting and photonic-based qubits. Qubits are quantum bits which relay more information than the binary 1s and 0s of today’s computer chips. Enabling the networking of non-identical qubit types expands the usefulness of remote quantum entanglement, which is currently based on homogeneous qubit types. With a heterogeneous network, different qubit types can be used for different applications (storage, sensing, and/or processing) while still being interconnected. Such a network would advance the warfighter’s access to position, navigation, timing, communications, and computational information.

NORDTECH’s five founding members, who comprise the hub’s leadership team and governance committee, include the New York Center for Research, Economic Advancement, Technology, Engineering, and Science (NY CREATES), the University at Albany College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering (CNSE), Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and IBM. The NORDTECH Hub enables its member participants to pursue further funding – like the funding announced today – through DoD funding opportunities for multi-million-dollar investment in microelectronics prototyping projects and workforce development activities.

Last year, Schumer helped NORDTECH secure a $40 million award from the Department of Defense’s Microelectronic Commons Program, one of the first major CHIPS awards from Schumer’s CHIPS & Science Act, to establish the consortium. The grant allows partners to bolster R&D and workforce training programs for the semiconductor industry and add new state-of-the-art microelectronics equipment. That funding came from the $2 billion CHIPS for America Defense Fund which Schumer helped establish in his CHIPS & Science Act. Schumer first successfully authorized the creation of the DoD Microelectronics Commons program as part of the authorization of the first-ever federal chips incentives and R&D programs in the NDAA for FY2021.

“This significant investment for NORDTECH will provide a major boost to our economy and further establish New York as a global leader in defense technology,” Governor Hochul said. “I want to thank the Biden-Harris administration, Majority Leader Schumer, and all of our federal partners who passed the CHIPS and Science Act, which has helped build the next generation of semiconductor and microelectronic research, manufacturing, and job training right here in New York.”

NORDTECH was one of eight hubs composing the U.S. Microelectronics Commons program. The DoD’s Microelectronic Commons, funded by Schumer’s CHIPS and Science Act, is a network of microelectronics R&D infrastructure investments, including facilities, support for an ecosystem of companies of all sizes, and workforce development designed to empower industry and researchers in working with the DoD's efforts in microelectronics development. With the creation of regional ecosystems funded by the DoD program, each focusing on key technology areas, the Microelectronics Commons will close the gap between research ideas and realization of those ideas, translating more research into new technology, new companies, and expansion of existing companies. The Commons is designed to enable sustained partnerships between emerging technology sources, manufacturing facilities, and interagency partners. It also works to develop a pipeline of talent to bolster regional efforts to build up the semiconductor industry and contribute more broadly to the growth of a domestic semiconductor workforce.

Schumer has fought tirelessly to uplift Upstate New York as a major hub to lead the nation in semiconductor manufacturing and research. Schumer secured the federal Tech Hub designation for the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region late last year and then delivered a $40 million award from his CHIPS & Science Law as one of the first Tech Hub implementation grants. Thanks to Schumer’s CHIPS & Science Law, Upstate New York has seen a major revival in tech manufacturing. Micron has announced plans for a historic $100+ billion investment to build a cutting-edge memory fab in Central New York with support of an over $6 billion preliminary CHIPS agreement. GlobalFoundries plans to invest over $12 billion to expand and construct a second, new state-of-the-art computer chip factory in the Capital Region, with support of $1.5 billion preliminary CHIPS agreement. Wolfspeed has opened the first, largest, and only 200mm silicon carbide fabrication facility in the world in the Mohawk Valley, with plans to further expand their operations. TTM Technologies, a printed circuit board manufacturer, plans to invest up to $130 million to expand their facilities in Onondaga County, creating up to 400 good-paying jobs. Menlo Micro will invest over $50 million to build their microchip switch manufacturing facility in Tompkins County, creating over 100 new good-paying jobs. In addition, Upstate New York is home to semiconductor supply chain companies like Corning Incorporated, which manufactures glass critical to the microchip industry at its Canton and Fairport, NY plants, and following Schumer’s advocacy, Edwards Vacuum has announced a $300+ million investment to build a dry pump manufacturing facility, creating 600 good-paying jobs to support the growing chip industry in Western New York.

Schumer said this funding will also help lay the groundwork to ensure ongoing semiconductor projects are a success and to land additional federal funding for opportunities like becoming a major hub of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) in the Capital Region at NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex. Schumer has long said that the Albany NanoTech Complex is the most “shovel-ready” R&D facility in the country and ready to quickly stand up the NSTC. The multibillion-dollar Albany NanoTech Complex is the most advanced, publicly-owned, 300-millimeter semiconductor R&D facility in North America, will soon be one of two public institutions in the world that is home to a new High NA EUV tool that is essential for advanced semiconductor R&D, has well-established partnerships with industry leaders, workforce training providers, and top academic research institutions across the country, including in critical logic and packaging capabilities, and is set up to immediately begin supporting the needs of the broader semiconductor ecosystem, including startups, small businesses, and the workforce. The site and its partners have a long record of accomplishment of groundbreaking research that has led to successful technology transfer, translating research into manufacturing.

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