Commerce Eyes $285M ‘Digital Twins’ Chips Center

The U.S. Commerce Department announced that it has entered into negotiations to provide the Semiconductor Research Corporation Manufacturing Consortium Corporation (SRC) with $285 million to establish and operate a Manufacturing USA institute headquartered in Durham, N.C.

With combined funding totaling $1 billion, Commerce said this investment will support the launch of the first-of-its-kind CHIPS Manufacturing USA Institute. The new institute will be called SMART USA (Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins USA), and it will use digital twins approaches to improve semiconductor manufacturing, advanced packaging, assembly, and test processes.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology – which sits within the Commerce Department – first announced its plans for the CHIPS Manufacturing USA institute in May through a notice of funding opportunity.

“Thanks to the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, we’re opening new avenues to better safeguard U.S. national security and further technological innovation with the establishment of the SMART USA Institute,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.

“With new Digital Twin capabilities, America is fostering unparalleled opportunities to collaborate with experts and researchers anywhere in the world to develop the next frontier of technological advancements in the semiconductor industry,” Raimondo said.

Digital twins are virtual models that mimic their physical counterparts, both in appearance and substance. Unlike physical research models, digital twins can exist in the cloud, enabling collaborative design and development by engineers and researchers.

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Arati Prabhakar told reporters that the creation of a U.S.-based digital twins manufacturing institute has the potential to greatly reduce the typically long lead times for designing semiconductors.

Prabhakar said that by using digital twins approaches, some aspects of the chip design process “can shrink from months to days.”

“[This] announcement is another step forward under President Biden’s leadership to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States – and invest in the research and development needed to win the future,” Prabhakar said in a statement. “With the CHIPS and Science Act, we’re catalyzing private sector investments that are advancing a supply chain that feeds so many other industries. And we’re creating good-paying jobs that support families and change people’s lives.”

Currently, the Manufacturing USA network has 17 institutes across the nation, each with a specific technology focus. All of the institutes work toward a common goal to secure the future of U.S. manufacturing through innovation, education, and collaboration.