Nearly $30M in DOD spending going to N.Y. microelectronic commons hub

About $27 million in Department of Defense funding will go to the New York-based consortium known as the Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTECH) to boost semiconductor research and development and workforce training at upstate universities and research institutions, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday.

The funding comes from the $2 billion CHIPS for America Defense Fund, part of the CHIPS and Science Act that passed Congress in 2022 and on which Schumer was a lead architect. It will go to upstate research labs focused on semiconductor chips, quantum computing and other critical technology part of the defense industry.

NORDTECH, one of the first major awards from the CHIPS & Science Act announced a year ago, aims to bring together academia, industry and government organizations to help New York’s chips industry with innovation, attract new companies, strengthen the workforce and bolster the industry. Its five founding members who comprise the leadership team include: NY CREATES;, the University at Albany College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering; Cornell University; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and IBM.

“This significant $27+ million puts Upstate NY in the driver’s seat for the discoveries that the chip and defense industry say will be pivotal to the future of this technology,” Schumer said in a statement.