The University of Texas at Dallas will receive $700,000 from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund to build out a training cleanroom project on its Dallas campus as part of the state’s broader push to expand semiconductor workforce training.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s office said the grant will support a small-scale training cleanroom in the university’s Research and Operations Center West building, which is home to the Center for Harsh Environment Semiconductors and Systems. The project is intended to give participants hands-on training in cleanroom operations, safety and semiconductor processing.
“This facility will provide essential training in cleanroom operations, safety protocols and semiconductor processing to students at various educational levels — high school, community college, undergraduate and graduate — as well as newly recruited employees in semiconductor manufacturing firms,” said UT Dallas Vice President for Research and Innovation Joseph Pancrazio in the statement.
The award is the latest allocation through the fund created under the Texas CHIPS Act, which Abbott signed in 2023. The state has framed the program as a way to strengthen semiconductor research, design, manufacturing and workforce development through investments in higher education and related partnerships.
The UT Dallas announcement follows other recent grants to Texas institutions. In January, Texas State Technical College was awarded $3.5 million for its Accelerated Semiconductor Technician Training Program in Hutto, where it plans to transform existing instructional and lab space into a semiconductor and electromechanical workforce training facility with a mock cleanroom and wafer processing learning environment.
Other awards have gone to Prairie View A&M University, which received $1.98 million for a workforce training program in advanced microelectronics, and Texas Tech University, which was awarded $12 million to establish a nanotechnology laboratory cleanroom in Lubbock.
UT Dallas Lands $700,000 Texas Semiconductor Grant
What to Know:
- UT Dallas received a $700,000 Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund grant for a training cleanroom project on its Dallas campus.
- The cleanroom will support hands-on instruction in cleanroom operations, safety and semiconductor processing for students and new hires.
- The award adds UT Dallas to a growing list of Texas institutions receiving semiconductor funding for workforce training and research infrastructure.
