CLAWS, an acronym for Commercial Leap Ahead for Wide Bandgap Semiconductors, is based at NC State and is comprised of NC State, North Carolina A&T State University and six private companies.
"(NC State has) for a long time been a particular leader in these specialty semiconductors that are so important in our military for radar and for power electronics," said Dr. Arati Prabhakar, President Joe Biden's Chief Advisor for Science and Technology.
Semiconductors are used in nearly all forms of modern technology, including in cell phones, refrigerators, data centers and military capabilities.
"If you look at emerging technologies like artificial intelligence that are going to require power, you need to be able to get that power there efficiently. If you look at technologies like quantum, you need to have new lasers, new photonic integrated circuits that will be able to make the next generation of quantum computers," said Dr. John Muth, Director of the CLAWS Hub.
Taiwan is responsible for the overwhelming majority of chip production globally, a point that has concerned US officials from a national security perspective.
"If you look at weapons systems or if you look at airplanes, they need to be able to fly faster. They need to be able to be lighter. They need to be able to have radars that can sense the enemy further away," said Muth.
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Increased funding has been a game-changer, Prabhakar said.
"At the time the CHIPS and Science Act passed, the United States had 0% of the global capacity to manufacture advanced logic. And a decade from then, in 2032, because of the CHIPS and Science Act and this huge private capital that it's bringing with it, we're going to go from 0% to 28%," said Prabhakar.
Muth said all four projects will take multiple years, with the total funding set to exceed the $19 million announced Thursday,
"I want to take my experience and academia and from the support that we're given and push it in the industry. And I hope it gives me a great leap forward," said Jacob Davis, an NC State Master's student.
Dan Rogers, an NC State PhD student, added, "I think it's a really great opportunity to kind of leverage for employers and for future employment opportunities to be able to say that you worked on some of these different innovations."