NSF Engines Officials Visit Institute for Simulation and Training

By Shane Klestinski

 

The Institute for Simulation and Training (IST) hosted a delegation representing the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Engines program at the University of Central Florida (UCF), Sept. 25.

 

The delegation’s goal for the visit was to gain deeper insight into the Central Florida Semiconductor Innovation Engine’s unique role in NeoCity’s efforts and what it enables for its specific innovation ecosystem.

 

After the Great Recession, Osceola County leaders and regional partners began making more than $273 million in key, strategic investments to diversify its economy. One of the results of those investments was NeoCity, a 500-acre technology district dedicated to semiconductor advanced packaging in Osceola County.

 

Last January, the NSF announced Central Florida’s selection as one of 10 inaugural NSF regional innovation engines throughout the country, as part of a program authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. Central Florida’s engine would be the only one to specialize in semiconductor innovation, and it would receive up to $15 million over the next two years.

 

Since the announcement, the Central Florida Semiconductor Innovation Engine (the Engine) has gone about creating a next-generation, semiconductor-focused innovation ecosystem as part of a national effort to reshore semiconductor advanced packaging. This development has significant national security implications. The majority of semiconductor manufacture currently takes place in facilities in Asia, with less than 3% occurring within the continental U.S.

 

Led by BRIDG, the Engine harnesses the talents and capabilities of local government, nonprofit organizations, economic and workforce development partners, and research institutions throughout Central Florida.

 

Local business and tech leaders expect the establishment of the Engine to provide a long-term boost to the region’s economic development. Advanced semiconductor packaging has become increasingly more important in recent years in meeting the necessary requirements of several emerging applications that represent the forefront of tech innovation, such as virtual/augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and autonomous vehicles, among others.

 

The NSF delegation’s visit to IST completed a two-day trip filled with presentations, roundtable discussions, and tours that included the NeoCity facility on the previous day.

 

“The site visit provided the opportunity to assess the current landscape of activities and identify areas to strengthen continued collaboration among partners,” said Gloria LeQuang, vice president of marketing and communications for BRIDG.

 

The NSF representatives’ day at IST began with a series of deep-dive, roundtable discussions focused on the status of the semiconductor industry and the impact the Engine will have on the Central Florida region and the nation.

 

After lunch, Grace Bochenek, Ph.D., IST director, welcomed the delegation at the Knights Digital Twin Collaboration Area in Research Park. Sean Mondesire, Ph.D., UCF assistant professor, and Carolina Cruz-Neira, Ph.D., Agere chair professor at UCF’s Department of Computer Science, described university’s role in the Engine. Mondesire has a background in predictive analytics and has applied artificial intelligence toward solving the Engine’s challenges. Cruz-Neira will receive induction into the National Center for Simulation’s Hall of Fame, Oct. 23.

 

“From the Build Back Better grant, we have the opportunity to create a foundation for creating digital twins for next-generation simulations for this industry,” Mondesire said. “We’re going to take real-time data that’s coming from a fab, do some analytics by running it through simulations or AI to give insights to people on the floor [to make] decisions that could affect yield, money and productivity… we’re taking real-time data and creating a foundation in order to scale. The NSH engine is allowing us to go beyond just one process flow or one facility – now we can go to the region, and that goes for other processes, plants and products.

 

The delegation went on to attend a series of presentations led by Mondesire and Cruz-Neira that showcased various modeling and simulation technologies relevant to semiconductor manufacture that the university is developing. Those technologies will help further establish Central Florida as a primary hub in that industry going forward.

 

More specifically, the presentations demonstrated modeling and simulation technologies useful in wafer fabrication, capacity planning/capacity optimization, and augmented reality equipment repair trainers, among other significant aspects of semiconductor advanced packaging. Additionally, they emphasized the continued need for educational support of the ecosystem, and the importance of establishing a training pipeline to sustain workforce development.

 

For example, “Microchip Mayhem,” is a video game designed to give children an elementary-level understanding of capacity planning in semiconductor production in a factory setting. By controlling robots that collect, transport and deposit wafers on a factory floor – which represent different parts of other robots they are assembling – kids learn basic logistics and teamwork in conjunction with deadlines as they relate to semiconductor packaging.