The U.S. CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 provides funding to stimulate the resurgence of microelectronics R&D and manufacturing in the United States. A portion of that funding has been appropriated to the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) for education and workforce development to address the expected shortage of skilled workers needed by the microelectronics industry. Accordingly, NSF, in partnership with DOC, intend to fund the establishment of a National Network Coordination Hub (the Hub) for the National Network for Microelectronics Education (NNME). This effort will be in alignment with and complementary to the National Semiconductor Technology Center’s (NSTC) Workforce Center of Excellence (WF CoE). The WF CoE is funded by DOC and operated by Natcast, a new purpose-built non-profit entity created to operate the NSTC.

With this publication, NSF and DOC are seeking input from interested parties across the nation on a range of issues related to establishing the Hub and the NNME to inform a future funding opportunity. NSF and DOC have broadly defined the composition, capabilities, and goals of the NNME program to provide responders with the flexibility to describe their own views on the program to ensure its success. Indeed, this market intelligence effort is an opportunity for NSF and DOC to hear from prospective proposers as well as the broader community about:

1. PROSPECTIVE VISION AND CAPABILITIES: Please provide your own vision, in up to two pages, for developing a robust, nimble, and ambitious NNME. Include what specific capabilities, resources, experience, networks and activities you would bring to bear in developing the National Network Coordination Hub and the National Network; how you would manage and coordinate education and workforce activities across the nation and in coordination with the NSTC WF CoE; how you will develop regional partnerships among higher education (IHEs), community colleges, trade schools, preK-12 schools, Federal, state and local workforce development organizations and economic development agencies, industry, labor organizations, and industry to create a diverse national microelectronics workforce and ensure education and training are meeting the need of industry; how you would develop and grow local workforce pipelines that include people from underserved communities and align with investments made by industry and the Federal government, including trade and high school training programs, community colleges degrees and certificates, veteran post service opportunities, and mentoring; how you would facilitate partnerships with industry that offer apprenticeships, internships, or applied learning experiences in microelectronics; how you would leverage existing and other new shared infrastructure being established by other Government investments as part of the CHIPS Act to enable applied learning experiences in microelectronics; how you would create and disseminate information to increase awareness of microelectronics education and careers; how you would collaborate with the NSTC WF CoE to coordinate industry and existing public and private organizations including microelectronics education and workforce development activities; and what you think would be the best performance metrics. NSF and DOC also want ideas on how the National Network can be made sustainable after CHIPS and Science Act appropriations are fully invested. Responses are optional, but will help NSF and DOC gain a better understanding of the universe of organizations capable of and interested in developing a NNME that will effectively and efficiently advance the specific programmatic objectives of the National Network to ensure its success.
2. FEEDBACK: If you have feedback, questions, areas of concern, or suggestions on NNME priority areas as outlined in the draft Statement of Objectives (SOO), this is an opportunity to provide that feedback. You do not need to have plans to submit a future proposal to provide feedback. Please provide feedback on the draft SOO using the Microsoft Excel Template entitled “NSF and DOC RFI Questions Spreadsheet.”

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