GE to establish SiC packaging centre in New York State
Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York State, has announced that GE Global Research will serve as the anchor tenant of the Computer Chip Commercialisation Center (QUAD C) on the campus of SUNY Polytechnic Institute's Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Utica. Together SUNY and GE will create the first US based Power Electronics Manufacturing Centre with GE's SiC technology.
Mark Little, senior vice president and CTO of GE, said: "Together with New York State and SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Albany, and now Utica, we are creating a SiC Corridor that will be the epicenter of the next revolution in power. In Utica, it will expand the focus from computer chip commercialization to creating the first US based Power Electronics Manufacturing Center with GE's SiC technology."
In addition, Cuomo revealed that analogue semiconductor and sensor company AMS AG, will invest over $2 billion to support a cutting edge, 360,000 square foot 200/300nm wafer fabrication facility for making analogue chips to be constructed at the Nano Utica site in Marcy.
These public-private partnerships represent the launch of the next phase of the Governor's $1.5 billion Nano Utica initiative that is designed to replicate the success of SUNY Poly's Nanotech Megaplex in Albany and revitalise the Mohawk Valley.
Advanced packaging technologies are vital in the development of faster and more powerful computer chips, as well as SiC chips for power electronics applications. The packaging facility is a critical component of the New York Power Electronics Manufacturing Consortium, the governor's $500 million public-private semiconductor research partnership that includes over 100 companies. Based at the SUNY Poly Megaplex in Albany with lead partners including GE and IBM, the Consortium is driving coordinated materials research and job creation across the Upstate corridor.
The expansion of QUAD C includes state-of-the-art cleanrooms, laboratories, hands-on education and workforce training facilities, and integrated offices encompassing 253,000 square feet. The cleanroom will be the first-of-its-kind in the nation: a 56,000 square-foot cleanroom stacked on two levels that is now five times larger than initial plans.
In accordance with the governor's innovation-driven economic development model, no public funds will be given to private companies. New York will invest $250 million at QUAD C and the Marcy Nanocenter to support critical equipment and infrastructure improvements at both locations. The state will own and manage these facilities through SUNY Poly and such state investment will catalye the Mohawk Valley's high-tech economic ecosystem, attracting additional nanotechnology jobs and supply chain companies to support and contribute to Nano Utica initiative.
