By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-586998.mp3
Albany, NY – Governor Eliot Spitzer, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno have announced that International SEMATECH, the global consortium of leading nanoelectronics manufacturers, has agreed to a major expansion of its existing research and development program at the Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology at the University at Albany. The expansion, the largest in the history of the consortium, will more firmly establish New York as a global leader in research and development of the next generation of computer chips.
To facilitate this expansion, legislative leaders agreed to introduce and pass shortly a bill providing $300 million in funding which will be made available over five years to help SEMATECH purchase advanced semiconductor process equipment. SEMATECH has made a financial commitment of $300 million in cash and in-kind contributions. The project will support new research at the Nanotech Center in Albany as well as serve as an additional resource supporting existing operations of SEMATECH members in the Hudson Valley and the Capital Region.
The State funding introduced by the Legislature will be used to both build state-of-the-art infrastructure and acquire advanced semiconductor tooling.
In addition, $25 million of the funds will be devoted to research at colleges and universities at five centers around the state, including the Nanoscale Metrology and Imaging Center in Albany.
Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.