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Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology, known as FAST, an Oregon consortium that includes nearly 100 partners from across Oregon, will receive up to $160 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) during the next 10 years to grow the state’s semiconductor ecosystem. Oregon State University is the administrative home for FAST.

“This award serves as a prime example of a modern land-grant university in action. It catalyzes transformative economic development and applied discovery by bringing together higher education, industry, government, and trade and community organizations to advance innovation and prosperity,” said Jayathi Murthy, Oregon State president. “The results will be profound for Oregon, the region and beyond.”

This effort, known as the NSF FAST Engine in Oregon, is one of 12 NSF Regional Innovation Engines across 20 states announced today by the NSF. Awardees will build and scale new innovation clusters to accelerate the development of critical technologies, grow regional economies and secure America’s position at the forefront of science and technology.

“This announcement affirms what made the FAST proposal so compelling: investing in world-class talent, strengthening partnerships across higher education, and advancing industry research,” Governor Tina Kotek said. “It builds on years of intentional work by my administration and the Legislature to grow Oregon’s semiconductor industry and workforce. FAST will help accelerate Oregon’s globally competitive semiconductor ecosystem and reinforce our position as a national leader in innovation.”

The NSF Engines awards span critical technologies and applications including enhancing energy grid security, maximizing the yield of critical minerals mining extraction and advancing quantum computing. Each team will initially receive an award of $15 million over two years. Teams that demonstrate progress on well-defined milestones have the potential to each eventually receive up to $160 million.

“This award is NSF’s recognition of the value in our region’s unique ability to lead the world in design to fabrication of the world’s most advanced chips” said Rob Stone, interim CEO and principal investigator of FAST and an Oregon State engineering professor. “FAST will expand opportunities through workforce development and help startups and small businesses engage in research and development that maintains U.S. leadership in the sector.”

FAST brings together partners across higher education, government, the technology industry, nonprofits, and investors. It builds on Oregon’s foundational role in advancing the semiconductor industry, which has driven economic growth, exports and innovation for decades.

“Oregon’s position as a semiconductor leader was built through decades of sustained innovation and partnership,” said Pushkar Ranade, Intel CTO. “The next generation of breakthroughs will require continued investment across the full technology ecosystem—from research and workforce development to manufacturing. Oregon State University’s leadership in convening industry, academic, and government partners through FAST is helping strengthen that ecosystem and accelerate innovation at scale.”

FAST arrives at a pivotal moment. Global demand for semiconductors is rising rapidly for applications including artificial intelligence, electric technologies and national security, and as chips become common in people’s everyday lives. Recent reports estimate that about $1 trillion to be invested in the semiconductor industry by 2030.

“The NSF FAST Engine will strengthen U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing by leveraging AI to accelerate chip design, boost manufacturing performance, and shorten product development cycles in Oregon’s semiconductor innovation corridor,” said Brian Stone, performing the duties of the NSF director.

With the new funding, FAST will focus on three key priorities that advance economic development:

* Supporting a cycle for identifying innovations needed by the semiconductor industry and accelerating the translation of use-inspired research into practice.

* Re-aligning the ecosystem to de-risk and accelerate startups by building the pipeline to connect entrepreneurs, investors and semiconductor companies.

* Creating career pathways to grow and sustain talent for an expanding AI skills-dependent industry.

“The challenge of meeting the talent needs of the semiconductor industry is too great for any single sector to solve on their own,” said Kyle Ritchey-Noll, education and workforce policy director, Oregon Business Council and FAST co-director of workforce development. “Through FAST, we have been able to take a collaborative approach with cross-sector partners to develop new partnerships, innovative programs, and new models to create stronger pathways into semiconductor careers. FAST brings the shared commitment and collaboration to do that well.”

Oregon State launched FAST in 2022. A year later, the consortium received $1 million from the NSF Engines Program to build its foundation. In 2024, NSF advanced FAST to the full proposal stage, allowing the team to compete for the up to $160 million award.

Source: Oregon State University