UMass Amherst nets .9M to build cutting-edge AI hardware

UMass Amherst nets $7.9M to build cutting-edge AI hardware

The University of Massachusetts Amherst announced that it will receive more than $7 million from the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) Hub through U.S. CHIPS and Science Act funding under the Microelectronics Commons program, executed through the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division and the National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL). This award funds the first year of the project, with future funding for the entire 4-year project ($23 million budget) contingent on the satisfactory delivery of the milestones and the availability of funds.

The award funds collaboration between UMass Amherst and TetraMem Inc., NY CREATES, GlobalFoundries, University of Southern California, Raytheon, BAE Systems, and Berkshire Community College, in support of efforts to accelerate domestic prototyping and expand the nation’s global leadership in microelectronics. This is one of six projects awarded to the NEMC Hub, led by Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech), under the Microelectronics Commons Program.

“We need close collaboration across academia, small business, major semiconductor companies and defense contractors,” says Qiangfei Xia, principal investigator of this project and the Dev and Linda Gupta Professor of electrical and computer engineering at UMass Amherst. “This project is a good example of that, in the spirit of transferring technology from the research lab to industry fab.”

“The project’s objective is to transfer the CMOS+memristor technology to U.S. semiconductor manufacturers, so that we can make power-efficient AI hardware for edge intelligence, with both military and civilian applications,” he says. Hardware created with memristors will be able to process data locally in a time-sensitive manner while also using very little energy, as has been demonstrated by over a decade’s research by Xia and collaborators, as well as development from industrial players such as TetraMem.

Hands-on experience of building, testing integrated circuits

The project will also offer a microelectronic fabrication course to local community colleges such as Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to bridge the large supply-demand gap in the semiconductor industry. Xia, who has been teaching this course for over 10 years at UMass Amherst, says it is the hands-on experience of building and testing integrated circuits that has prepared students well for securing competitive employment.

“We are proud to bring our revolutionary low-power analog computing technology to this important collaboration, which will advance the U.S. semiconductor industry, educate its future workforce, and benefit the economy of the commonwealth and the region,” remarks Sanjay Raman, dean of the UMass Amherst College of Engineering.

 


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