Purdue, India ink agreement on semiconductor research, talent
Purdue University has signed what it calls a transformative agreement with the government of India as it continues to grow its footprint in the semiconductor industry.
The agreement with the India Semiconductor Mission will focus on skilled workforce development and joint research and innovation in the field of semiconductors and microelectronics.
Purdue President Mung Chiang and Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and IT, signed the agreement last Tuesday.
As part of the five-year deal, Purdue said it will focus on several areas, including creating online and hybrid academic programs for specialized training in chip design and fabrication, advanced packaging, semiconductor materials, and embedded system design. The programs will be available to Indian students both as non-credit offerings and through Indian educational institutions.
Purdue plans to explore the creation of dual-degree programs in semiconductors and microelectronics with Indian educational institutions, as well as joint R&D programs aimed at designing, manufacturing and commercializing semiconductor chips.
The partners will also work to obtain joint funding opportunities for semiconductor research and chip design, manufacturing and commercialization, the university said.
“Purdue is excited to form this pioneering partnership with the India Semiconductor Mission, the first of its kind under the framework of U.S.-India governmental partnership,” Chiang said in written remarks. “We share Minister Vaishnaw’s enthusiasm in generating talent and collaborating on innovation, and look forward to co-leading the national semiconductor roadmap of our two nations.”
The signing of the agreement came less than a week after Purdue and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding with Belgium-based research and innovation center Imec designed to advance R&D in Indiana’s semiconductor industry.
Over the last year, Purdue has made a major push to grow the semiconductor industry in Indiana with the launch of its Semiconductor Degrees Program.
Additionally, Minnesota-based SkyWater Technology in July announced its plan to build a $1.8 billion semiconductor R&D and production facility at the Discovery Park District and create 750 jobs over five years.
Last month at the CHIPS for America: Execute for Success Summit in Washington D.C., U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo praised Purdue’s efforts related to semiconductors, saying the university is doing exactly what needs to be done in order to build a pipeline of workers in the country’s growing semiconductor industry.
Pictured above, from left: T.V. Nagendra Prasad, Consul General of the Indian Consulate in San Francisco; Honorable Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and IT; Purdue President Mung Chiang; and Vijay Raghunathan, Purdue professor and Associate Head of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of Semiconductor Education for Purdue.