UC San Diego’s work is part of the California DREAMS hub, a Southern California regional coalition of universities, contractors and workforce-development organizations led by the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and its Information Sciences Institute (ISI).

Over four decades, MOSIS delivered more than 60,000 integrated circuit designs and generated up to $10 million annually at its peak. Now, its successor, MOSIS 2.0, is advancing this legacy to address the next-generation of chip innovation.

For its second year of operation, hub partner Northrop Grumman leads two major projects: one aims to develop a next-generation semiconductor material known as gallium nitride (GaN), and the other aims to create advanced prototypes for faster, more reliable, next-generation wireless networks.

Last year IEEE collaborated with the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, and the California DREAMS on a microcredentialing program to give learners industry-relevant skills in semiconductor fabrication.

The Department of Defense has awarded an additional $27 million from the CHIPS & Science Act to CA DREAMS. This continued investment will further support CA DREAMS in advancing U.S. semiconductor capabilities by expanding its infrastructure, operations, and workforce development.

In an effort to create non-traditional pathways into the semiconductor and microelectronics workforce, the California Defense Ready Electronics and Microdevices Superhub (CA DREAMS) can now award microcredentials certified by IEEE to fellows and undergraduate students who complete its Cleanroom Gateway training program.

California DREAMS provided training and internships to two undergraduate cohorts this summer. The program exposes students to research faculty laboratories earlier in their academic studies; advises students on what companies to apply for after they have completed the program; and counsels students on what courses they should take to continue forward in the field.

Troubleshooting for secondary source materials can often be time and labor intensive, taking up to a year to solve. In a Pipe Cleaner project, Hub partners University of California, San Diego and Northrop Grumman worked together to find a substitute process material. The promising result took months off their normal timeline.

The Microelectronics Commons initiative has released a comprehensive list of the 33 semiconductor technology projects that have been chosen to receive the program’s first round of funding. Northrop Grumman leads both initiatives awarded project funds via the California Defense Ready Electronics and Microdevices Superhub (CA DREAMS).

An engineer from USC and an engineer from Northrop Grumman walk into an elevator. The two strike up a conversation, and in the short time it takes to arrive at their destination, a new collaborative Pipe Cleaner project is born. It may help accelerate breakthroughs and solutions through a lab-to-fab model.