OSU-led efforts for Northwest semiconductor, mass timber industries each receive $500,000 from White House

CORVALLIS, Ore. (KTVZ) – Oregon State University-led efforts focused on microfluidic technology for semiconductors and mass timber design and manufacturing each have received $500,000 awards from the White House.

In Oct. 2023, the White House, through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, announced the designation of 31 Tech Hubs, including the two led by Oregon State.

The $500,000 Consortium Accelerator Awards from the Economic Development Administration will allow the two Oregon State-led efforts to continue implementing Tech Hub strategies focused on establishing the Pacific Northwest as a national leader in these areas within ten years.

Led by Oregon State University, the Corvallis Microfluidics Tech Hub, or CorMic, is a partnership of over 60 organizations to develop, scale, and manufacture microfluidics technologies. Microfluidics refers to precisely controlling small volumes of liquid used in semiconductor thermal management, biotechnology, and advanced materials and manufacturing.

Through collaborations between universities, tech companies, and community groups, CorMic is driving the commercialization of microfluidics-connected technologies and educating a microfluidics workforce to support it.

“The Accelerator Award from the EDA is an important boost for CorMic,” said Tom Weller leader of the Tech Hub and the Michael and Judith Gaulke Chair in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “It allows us to continue moving forward with our plan to expand the global leadership of the Willamette Valley in microfluidics, creating new companies and job opportunities in the region.”

The Pacific Northwest Mass Timber Tech Hub aims to be a global leader in mass timber design and manufacturing to lower the construction industry’s carbon footprint and increase housing affordability.

Building off the region’s wood products research and development expertise and its abundance of experienced architectural, engineering and construction firms, this Tech Hub will invest in advanced materials science to mainstream mass timber as a viable and sustainable construction alternative.

“This award will enable us to continue convening our industry across Washington and Oregon and make progress on addressing workforce needs, fiber supply, modular systems development, capital access and innovation support,” said Iain Macdonald, leader of the Tech Hub and director of the TallWood Design Institute, a research collaboration between Oregon State’s College of Forestry and College of Engineering and the University of Oregon School of Architecture & Environment in the College of Design. “Our region is a national leader in the fast-growing field of low-carbon mass timber construction and our goal is to be a globally competitive region within 10 years.”

The Tech Hub program is a flagship initiative of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, supporting regional efforts to scale up the production of critical technologies, such as semiconductors, quantum computing, autonomous systems, biotechnology, clean energy, critical minerals, innovative materials and advanced manufacturing.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is working to build world-class ecosystems across the nation that will advance America’s global leadership in technologies of the future, catalyze the creation of good jobs, and strengthen U.S. national and economic security,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Y. Castillo. “These Consortium Accelerator Awards demonstrate the level of excellence every designee embodies and will enable Tech Hubs to not only keep up their momentum, but also leverage their coveted designation to attract additional collaboration and capital.”

About the OSU College of Forestry: For a century, the College of Forestry has been a world class center of teaching, learning and research. It offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs in sustaining ecosystems, managing forests and manufacturing wood products; conducts basic and applied research on the nature and use of forests; and operates more than 15,000 acres of college forests.

About the OSU College of Engineering: The college is a global leader in artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced manufacturing, clean water and energy, materials science, computing, resilient infrastructure and health-related engineering. Among the nation’s largest and most productive engineering programs, the college awards more bachelor’s degrees in computer science than any other institution in the United States. The college ranks second nationally among land grant universities, and fifth among the nation’s 94 public R1 universities, for percentage of tenured or tenure-track engineering faculty who are women.