Department of Commerce and National Science Foundation partner to advance semiconductor workforce development

The U.S. National Science Foundation and the CHIPS for America Research and Development Office (CRDO) within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly invest in a new initiative to train the future semiconductor workforce at all levels for myriad job types across industry and the nation. As a first step, NSF and DOC are jointly issuing a public Request for Information (RFI), seeking input from the community to inform the new initiative.

Today's memorandum of understanding paves the way for the creation of a National Network for Microelectronics Education – led by a Network Coordination Hub that will oversee a suite of regional consortia and other efforts that offer consistent, rigorous, engaging curricula, instructional materials, experiential opportunities, and more to talent throughout the United States.

The Network Coordination Hub will be responsible for coordinating efforts to provide education and training in support of the semiconductor industry across the nation. Through this non-binding memorandum of understanding, NSF and DOC intend to jointly provide up to $30 million over the next five years to fund the Network Coordination Hub to work with institutions of higher education, as well as workforce and labor organizations, to adopt curricula and best practices that are effective and can be scaled; establish a public-facing digital portal to share educational digital resources for learners and educators; execute a communications campaign to raise awareness of careers in the semiconductor industry; and provide technical assistance to educators and trainers in the semiconductor industry.

Read the full press release here.

NIST