USC’s Viterbi School School of Engineering received a $26.9 million prize from the Pentagon on Wednesday to be invested in research on microdevices. President Carol Folt called the development, “[of] vital importance to our region and the nation.”
The fund goes toward the school’s engineering Hub, the California Defense Ready Electronics and Microdevices Superhub (California DREAMS). Eight regional innovation centers were selected for the grant totaling $238 million.
This prize fund is the largest award to date under the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act of 2022 signed by President Joe Biden.
The act aims to strengthen American semiconductor research, development, and production to secure U.S. leadership in technology crucial for various sectors including automotive, household appliances and defense systems.
The recipients of the CHIPS and Science Act Award will join the Microelectronics Commons to bridge the gap between research and production in the microelectronics field, according to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks.
“These hubs will tackle many technical challenges relevant to DoD’s missions, to get the most cutting-edge microchips into systems our troops use every day,” said Hicks.
Photo credit: Gareth Halfacree / CC BY-SA 2.0