CHIPS funding: Albany NanoTech Center a hub for semiconductor research

The Albany NanoTech Center has been chosen one of three national hubs for state-of-the-art semiconductor research, a unique public-private partnership backed with a promise of at least $825 million in federal funding.

The center’s designation as a National Semiconductor Training Center comes 10 months after the Hochul administration announced a $1 billion investment in a Dutch-made ultraviolet lithography tool that creates smaller, high-powered chips essential to smartphones, laptops and computer servers. The device will be housed in a 50,000-square foot space at the NanoTech center where it will be used to train workers to compete in an industry long dominated by the Chinese.

“This is an amazing day for upstate New York,” U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said. “It will be looked back on in history as one of the days that turned things around.”

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Schumer and Hochul are hoping the twin investments will create a pipeline of workers ready to work at tech giants like Micron and IBM while making the nation less reliant on Chinese-made semiconductors, a shortcoming underscored by supply chain shortages during the pandemic.

Hochul said the investments would “fuel America's advanced manufacturing renaissance” while supporting at least 700 jobs.

“From day one of my administration, I pledged that New York state would lead the charge to bring back advanced manufacturing and R&D to the U.S., creating good jobs and opportunity in the process,” Hochul said.

The funding comes from the CHIPS and Science Law signed by President Biden in 2022 and builds on hundreds of millions of dollars in tech funding promised to the upstate region over the next decade with a goal of creating a quarter of all microchips made in the U.S.

In July, upstate New York’s three biggest cities – Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse – were together designated one of the nation’s dozen Tech Hubs. They will support tech giant Micron’s $100 billion investment in a chip manufacturing plant in the Syracuse suburb of Clay.

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The research center at Albany NanoTech is scheduled to open next year. It will bring together researchers from the state’s universities to collaborate with private industry. The goal is to discover technological breakthroughs while creating a pipeline of workers with skillsets that prepare them for work in the semiconductor industry.

Schumer dismissed concerns that the center’s future could be jeopardized by a change in parties in the White House after Election Day.

“There’s a contract that’s locked in,” Schumer said. “But let’s not forget when I did the CHIPS and Science bill it was bipartisan. This has the support of Democrats and Republicans.”

In recent years, Schumer, the Senate's Majority Leader, traveled to Europe and Asia to generate support for the idea among U.S. allies and industry leaders.

“I don’t do much traveling but for this I did travel, and I talked to the Korean prime minister, Japanese leaders,” Schumer said. “Having them come here means they’re not going to compete against us, but they’re going to work with us. And that’s a good thing for upstate New York.”

The only other such private-public partnership of its kind is in Belgium, federal officials say. It's been likened to Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, which receives funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to find solutions to the nation’s energy, environmental and nuclear challenges.

The center's official titled is The CHIPS for America National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Accelerator. Funding comes from the Commerce Department and Natcast, which operates the National Semiconductor Technology Center.

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The other two research centers have not been announced.

Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA Today Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at [email protected].