WSUV center to be the Silicon Forest’s anchor research university
If the proposed Washington Center for Semiconductor Research and Innovation at Washington State University comes along as planned, high-tech companies will have a world-class space to conduct experiments and develop new products.
An offshoot of the Washington Technology’s Center’s Seattle microfabrication laboratory, the 10,000-square-foot companion lab would be open for existing and start-up companies needing to fine-tune their products. In Seattle, the companies that use the lab and its equipment cover its operating costs.
The $54 million Center for Semiconductor Research and Innovation is the brain child of the Columbia River Economic Development Council, WSUV, the Clark County High-Tech Council, the Washington Technology Center and Clark College.
The idea for the public-private venture has been brewing for the last few years, spurred by the need and desire to develop an innovative research institution to support the semiconductor industry and educate much-needed engineers, said Lee Cheatham, executive director of the Washington Technology Center.
The so-called Silicon Forest is the only high-tech cluster in the nation that does not have a single world-class research university close by, said Scott Keeney, president and CEO of Vancouver-based nLight Photonics and chairman of the Clark County High-Tech Council.
"And I’m talking on both sides of the river," he said. "We have some good programs in the area, but we don’t just need more students graduating with engineering degrees. We want a truly world-class program."
Along with the building, WSUV would gain an electrical engineering program to add to its mechanical engineering and computer science degree programs.
"The conversation swirling around the need for electrical engineering here predates this proposal," said Bruce Romanish, vice chancellor of academic affairs at WSUV. "The growing need for those kinds of degree programs here has been recognized here for quite some time, and WSU Vancouver has sought to be responsive to those needs."
The Washington Technology Center operates a 15,000-square-foot microfabrication lab on the University of Washington campus – although it’s no longer affiliated with the university – that about 30 private high-tech companies use in testing new products and the fabrication and characterization of small devices like microoptics and microfluidics devices. The Vancouver lab would essentially be a WTC branch, with oversight and employees provided by the center, Cheatham said.
nLight took advantage of the WTC Seattle lab to develop parts of some products. At the time, the semiconductor diode laser manufacturer was unable to make the investment in the tools available at the lab.
The goal is for the private high-tech industry sector to put forth 15 percent of the cost of the $12.16 million lab, said Bart Phillips, president of the CREDC.
The university, supported by the group of public and private groups, is asking the state legislature for $39 million to cover the cost of designing and constructing the new WSUV applied technology building.
Further down the road, if all goes well with the project, the WTC may open a commercially focused project off-campus, Cheatham added, stressing that it is purely "blue-sky thinking."
The WTC’s role in the state is to try and promote education and job creation though new technologies, he said.
The CREDC expects successful operation of the center will result in advances in semiconductor materials and device technology, research support for regional high-tech businesses, the startup of new semiconductor- and tech-related businesses, productivity increases for those businesses and upgraded skills in the local workforce.
While the project timeline relies entirely on funding, projections have the degree program launching in 2009.
