U.S.-Japan University Partnership for Workforce Advancement and Research & Development in Semiconductors (UPWARDS) for the Future

2022年8月9日签署成为法律的芯片和科学法案设想了在加快关键技术领域的进展、建设未来的STEM劳动力以及与私营部门建立伙伴关系以实现这一进展方面的新机遇。它提供了一个独特和历史性的机会来扩大美国的半导体生产能力，并为美国劳动力在先进制造和工程领域的工作做好准备。认识到熟练和多样化的工人管道对于建立可持续的半导体行业至关重要，需要政府、学术界和半导体行业之间的合作，以确保教育和研究培训计划与行业需求保持一致，并确保学生为填补关键的需求角色做好充分准备。美日大学劳动力进步和研究伙伴关系未来半导体发展(以上)是六所美国大学和五所日本大学之间的合作，与行业合作伙伴合作，为学生、教师和专业人员提供高级培训和研究机会，努力满足对训练有素的微电子和半导体劳动力的需求，从而建立全球和国内半导体领域的能力。实现这些目标的活动包括有针对性的学生交换计划、专业认证机会、课程开发、访问教师/研究人员计划，以及利用每个合作伙伴的资源和专业知识的重点研究项目。通过对培训和研究的共同承诺，合作伙伴将补充和扩大目前扩大和支持半导体劳动力管道的努力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law on August 9, 2022, envisions new opportunities in accelerating progress in key technology areas, building the STEM workforce of tomorrow, and fostering partnerships with the private sector to enable this progress. It offers a unique and historic opportunity to expand the nation’s capacity for semiconductor production as well as to prepare the U.S. workforce for jobs in advanced manufacturing and engineering. Recognizing that a skilled and diverse pipeline of workers is vital to building a sustainable semiconductor industry, collaboration between government, academia, and the semiconductor industry is needed to ensure that education and research training programs are aligned with industry needs and that students are well-prepared to fill critical, in-demand roles.The U.S.-Japan University Partnership for Workforce Advancement and Research & Development in Semiconductors (UPWARDS) for the Future represents a collaboration between six U.S. universities and five Japanese universities, working with industry partners, to provide advanced training and research opportunities to students, faculty, and professionals in an effort to address the demand for a highly trained microelectronics and semiconductor workforce and, as a result, build global and domestic capacity in the semiconductor field. Activities to achieve such goals include targeted student exchange programs, professional certification opportunities, curriculum development, visiting faculty/researcher programs, and focused research projects leveraging the resources and expertise from each partner. Through a shared commitment to training and research, partners will complement and scale current efforts to broaden and support the semiconductor workforce pipeline.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.