The Department of Commerce has launched the National Semiconductor Technology Center’s Workforce Center of Excellence, or WCoE, and has allocated $250 million over 10 years for the WCoE mission to fill workforce gaps in the U.S. chip manufacturing industry through collaborative and innovative approaches.
WCoE will pursue its goal through joint efforts with stakeholders in the government, private industry, academia, non-profits and labor organizations, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.
As part of the WCoE launch, the nonprofit Natcast overseeing the NSTC consortium established by the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, announced over $11 million in expected funding awards to seven semiconductor workforce development projects.
The projects, funded through the NSTC’s Workforce Partner Alliance program, are geared toward career growth and experiential training under the WCoE’s amplifier program, one of the center’s inaugural focus areas. Over 12,000 individuals are expected to benefit from the projects that would prepare them for long-term careers in the semiconductor industry.
The first batch of funding awardees are the American Federation of Teachers Educational Foundation, Idaho Technology Council, Maricopa County Community College District, Rochester Institute of Technology, Texas A&M University, University of California–Los Angeles and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
