Northeast Consortia for Advanced Integrated Silicon Technologies

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The expansion of data networks and centers, safer autonomous driving vehicles, and more efficient food production cannot be sustainably met by electronic microchip technology alone. However, combining electrical devices with integrated photonics provides a more energy efficient way to increase the speed and capacity of data networks, reduce costs and meet an increasingly diverse range of needs across various industries. This transition is critically reliant on the incorporation of silicon photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for ultra-fast, low-loss optical data transmission. Silicon (Si) PIC fabrication has moved quickly from the laboratory to high-volume manufacturing. However, the U.S. skilled technical workforce (STW) is not currently positioned to support this expansion and risks losing domestic manufacturing capability and U.S. global leadership in this key technology area. This project aims to respond to this need and will establish the Northeast Consortium for Advanced Integrated Silicon Technologies (NCAIST) with a mission of educating the STW for advanced silicon-manufacturing with an emphasis on Si-based PIC technologies and electronic-photonic integrated circuits (EPICs).Working closely with AIM Photonics, a U.S. Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII), NCAIST will coordinate and accelerate the transition of technician education content and teaching methodologies from key AIM-affiliated U.S. universities to community and technical colleges in the northeast U.S. This will include hands-on training of students and teachers from community and technical colleges in Si-PIC and EPIC fabrication, testing and packaging, incorporation of PIC/EPIC technician education content directly into existing for-credit courses and degree programs, and introduction of career pathways and PIC- education content to regional high school teachers. NCAIST is comprised of a network of 16 community colleges and technical colleges, and 4 universities across NY, MA, and PA with a common goal of rapidly developing and disseminating technician education content in PIC/EPIC technologies. In addition to working with AIM Photonics, NCAIST works with the NEATEC, NACK, LASER TEC and MNT-EC ATE centers to enable dissemination of content across the U.S. NCAIST will: (1) Develop and disseminate of Si PIC education kits incorporating custom-designed, packaged PIC/EPICs and full lab-ready packages for sustainable and economical incorporation in existing technician education courses and programs; (2) Co-develop with consortium community colleges PIC/EPIC learning modules; (3) Introduce virtual reality-based training modules for PIC testing and packaging equipment for online and in-lab education; and (4) Evaluate the efficacy of short-term training to prepare students for direct transition to PIC/EPIC manufacturers with immediate workforce needs, and the sustainability of industry mentorships/internships as a future pathway for students entering the workforce. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the Nation's economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.