[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 22 (Thursday, February 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6506-6508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02025]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


CHIPS Manufacturing USA Institute

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI).

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SUMMARY: The CHIPS Research and Development Office (CHIPS R&D) intends 
to announce an open competition for a new Manufacturing

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USA Institute. The expected competition will seek to establish one (1) 
Manufacturing USA Institute focused on the topic of digital twins for 
semiconductor manufacturing, packaging, and assembly and the validation 
of such digital twins in a physical prototyping facility. This NOI is 
provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop 
meaningful collaborations among industry, academic, Federal laboratory, 
and state/local government partners.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: All inquiries may be directed to 
Mahesh Mani (301-975-2000) via email to [email protected], with a 
subject line stating: `MFG USA CHIPS Institute Competition.' All 
answers, which will be provided at the sole discretion of CHIPS R&D, 
will be posted on the NIST competition website at https://www.nist.gov/chips/chips-RD-funding-opportunities.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Purpose. The CHIPS Research and Development Office (CHIPS R&D) 
intends to announce an open competition for a new Manufacturing USA 
Institute, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 4656(f). The expected competition will 
seek to establish one (1) Manufacturing USA Institute focused on the 
topic of digital twins for semiconductor manufacturing, packaging, and 
assembly and the validation of such digital twins in a physical 
prototyping facility. This CHIPS Manufacturing USA Institute will be 
established and operate in accordance with 15 U.S.C. 278s, as amended. 
For general planning purposes, the minimum expected NIST commitment 
will be approximately $200 million over a 5-year period. CHIPS R&D 
expects to leverage private sector and other non-Federal investments on 
a substantially greater than 1:1 basis.
    This NOI is provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time 
to develop meaningful collaborations among industry, academic, Federal 
laboratory, and state/local government partners. Details in this NOI 
should also inform discussions at a planned February 2024 CHIPS 
Manufacturing USA Institute Industry Day where the government will 
solicit feedback on the NIST plans and timelines for the Institute. 
CHIPS R&D expects to announce the competition via a Notice of Funding 
Opportunity (NOFO) on Grants.gov at https://www.grants.gov in the 
second quarter of calendar year 2024. CHIPS R&D reserves the right to 
refine program structure, cost, co-investment requirements, and other 
program details in the eventual NOFO. In the event of inconsistencies 
between the NOI and the NOFO, the NOFO shall take precedence.

Background

    Program Background: The CHIPS and Science Act appropriated 
approximately $50 billion to the Department of Commerce--$39 billion in 
incentives to onshore semiconductor manufacturing and $11 billion to 
advance U.S. leadership in semiconductor R&D. Congress authorized NIST 
to establish not more than three Manufacturing USA Institutes focused 
on semiconductor manufacturing. Manufacturing USA Institutes are 
public-private partnerships that bring together industry of all sizes, 
universities and community colleges, federal agencies, and state 
organizations to accelerate innovation by investing in industrially 
relevant technologies that advance specific technology sectors. 
Institutes may address the full spectrum of advanced manufacturing 
challenges, such as innovation for manufacturing processes, novel 
materials, cross cutting enabling technology, supply chain integration 
methodology and education and workforce development.
    After receiving extensive public input, CHIPS R&D determined that a 
single institute with both regionally-focused programs and meaningful 
cross-region participation will best meet the CHIPS R&D program goals 
of strengthening U.S. technology leadership, accelerating ideas to 
market, and realizing a robust semiconductor workforce. Despite 
substantial existing investment in proprietary digital twin technology, 
the United States lacks a comprehensive environment for collaborative 
development and validation of semiconductor industry digital twins. In 
establishing a single institute with national reach, CHIPS R&D seeks to 
enable the seamless integration of digital twin models into U.S. 
semiconductor manufacturing, advanced packaging, and assembly, enabling 
rapid adoption of innovations and enhancing domestic competitiveness 
for decades. The CHIPS Manufacturing USA Institute will foster a 
collaborative environment to significantly expand innovation, bring 
tangible benefits to manufacturers of all sizes, strengthen diverse 
research institutions, and ensure a national reach in workforce 
development.
    CHIPS Manufacturing USA Institute Objectives: CHIPS R&D expects 
that the NOFO soliciting proposals will seek to achieve the following 
objectives:
    1. Significantly reduce U.S. chip development and manufacturing 
costs, such as by improving capacity planning, optimizing production, 
and enabling real-time process adjustments.
    2. Improve development cycle time and accelerate adoption of 
innovative semiconductor manufacturing technologies, including 
breakthrough tools, manufacturing equipment, materials, and 
manufacturing processes validated at the shared facility.
    3. Advance digital twin-enabled curricula and best practices for 
training the semiconductor workforce nationwide.
    4. Create a digital twin marketplace for industry, including 
entrepreneurs, to access digital models and manufacturing process flows 
and to de-risk digital twin development and implementation.
    CHIPS R&D expects to solicit proposals demonstrating strong 
industry leadership capable of catalyzing collaboration in software 
development relevant to digital twins (including but not limited to 
electronic design automation tools), semiconductor manufacturing, 
advanced packaging, and assembly. Expected activities include 
establishing a shared physical facility where companies can experiment 
while protecting proprietary information; enabling industry-relevant 
research projects; leveraging a shared marketplace that enables data 
aggregation across companies, while protecting proprietary data, to 
make powerful digital twins available at low cost; and operating an 
education and workforce development program, which may include 
partnerships with educational institutions.
    Competition Information: Once the open competition has been 
announced, further information may be found at https://www.nist.gov/chips/chips-RD-funding-opportunities.
    System for Award Management: In anticipation of the NOFO, CHIPS R&D 
encourages potential applicants to complete the following steps, which 
are required to submit applications for Federal assistance:
     Register with the System for Award Management (SAM) at 
https://www.sam.gov. CHIPS R&D strongly encourages applicants to 
register for SAM.gov as early as possible. While this process 
ordinarily takes between three days and two weeks, in some 
circumstances it can take six or more months to complete due to 
information verification requirements. Recipients will be required to 
maintain an active registration in SAM and re-validate registration 
annually.
     Register for a Grants.gov (https://www.grants.gov/) 
account. It is advisable also to go to ``manage subscriptions'' on 
Grants.gov and sign

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up to receive automatic updates when amendments to a funding 
opportunity are posted.
    Disclaimer. This NOI does not constitute a solicitation. No 
applications may be submitted in response to this NOI. Any 
inconsistency between information within this NOI and the eventual NOFO 
announcing the CHIPS Manufacturing USA Institute award competition 
shall be resolved in favor of the NOFO.
    Authority: DOC CHIPS activities were authorized by Title XCIX--
Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America of 
the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2021 (Pub. L. 116-283, often referred to as the CHIPS Act).

Tamiko Ford,
NIST Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2024-02025 Filed 1-31-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P