Senators encourage multiple U.S. centers for production, research, development of semiconductors

As the Biden Administration begins work to implement the CHIPS and Science Act, several senators who voted in favor of the legislation are encouraging the Department of Commerce to establish crucial initiatives.

U.S. Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia, John Cornyn of Texas and Mark Kelly of Arizona lead eight senators in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo advocating for a decentralized “hub-and-spoke” model for the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) and the National Advanced Package Manufacturing Program (NAPMP), according to a press release. The model would establish centers of excellence around the U.S. instead of one centralized facility limited to the resources and strengths of that state or region.

“Allowing the NSTC and NAPMP to draw upon experts, institutions, entrepreneurs and private-sector partners spread across the country would best position these programs to fulfill their missions of driving semiconductor and advanced packaging research forward, coordinating and scaling up the ongoing workforce development efforts, promoting geographic diversity, and ensuring long-term U.S. competitiveness in this critical technology sector,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter.

The NSTC and NAPMP are designed to accelerate U.S. semiconductor production and advance research and development according to the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act. The letter was also signed by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine.

“Such a model would allow them to draw upon the strengths of experts, research facilities and private-sector partnerships and consortia from across the country. This model would consist of central research facilities with centers of excellence in various locations across the country where there is particular expertise in memory, logic, packaging, testing or other elements of the semiconductor ecosystem,” the letter states.

According to the letter from the senators, this approach was recommended the by President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in a report to President Biden.