15 Proposals Submitted in All Six Critical Tech Areas
BOSTON – The Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) Hub has submitted 15 proposals to the federal government’s Microelectronics Commons Call for Projects launched in late calendar year 2023, pulling together collaborative projects that span the NEMC Hub’s 170 member organizations from across the Northeast. Highlighting the Hub’s strength in diverse sectors, its submissions covered all six of the critical technology execution areas identified by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) including 5G/6G technology, AI Hardware, Commercial Leap Ahead Technologies, Electromagnetic Warfare, Secure Edge/IoT computing, and Quantum Technologies.
A major goal of the Microelectronics Commons program is to enable demonstration of at-scale viability to bridge gaps with small organizations and startups that have not traditionally contracted with the DoD. All NEMC Hub projects include small non-traditional organizations or startups as technical leads or project team members.
The Hub’s members are primarily located in eight Northeast states, highlighted by the mix of partners on the 15 submitted projects, which include a broad cross section including 25 from Massachusetts, eight from New Hampshire, and six from New York. Proposal teams comprise a diverse mix of organizations, including commercial and defense companies, leading academic institutions, federally funded R&D centers (FFRDCs), and startups.
The Call for Projects is executed through Strategic and Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trusted System (S2MARTS), managed by the National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL), the consortium manager for the eight national Hubs, which includes the NEMC Hub. Funded through the CHIPS and Science Act, the DoD estimates about $280 million will be awarded in year one for projects, with $160 million anticipated for awards in years two through four.
“This is a strong response from across our Coalition, highlighting the collaboration happening between the Hub’s members, and the leadership shown by our NEMC Hub advisory group,” said Carolyn Kirk, CEO of the MassTech Collaborative, the parent organization of the NEMC Hub. "The regional distribution highlights the Northeast’s strength in microelectronics built around the top-tier companies, startups, universities, and research institutions that exist within the Hub’s membership. The proposals submitted represent our best proposals to support the important national mission of CHIPS.”
The submissions come on the heels of the January 2024 announcement of $9.2 million in grants by the Hub, including $7.7 million to establish new advanced nano-fabrication capabilities within the MIT.nano research facility and $1.5 million to boost four workforce development, education, and student engagement projects across the Northeast.
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