| Velvet_Highground |
Sep 16, 2023 11:36 AM |
Michigan is making good moves to leverage its established high tech ecosystem to cement its place as a national and global leader. This article is a few months old but it’s an important one as the race for domestic production ramps up a shortage of skilled laborers has been felt acutely at mega projects nationally.
State of Michigan Signs MOU to Establish Global Semiconductor Center of Excellence in Michigan
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Decision to establish The Semiconductor Talent and Automotive Research (STAR) initiative in Michigan underscores strength of state’s semiconductor ecosystem, leadership in tech innovation
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KLA facility in Ann Arbor
LANSING, Mich. – Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced a new public-private partnership with semiconductor company KLA, Belgium-based technology innovation hub imec, the University of Michigan, Washtenaw Community College and General Motors that will establish a global semiconductor center of excellence in Michigan. The partnership was announced by KLA CEO Rick Wallace during his keynote at imec’s ITF World event focused on semiconductor advances and tech solutions, taking place this week in Antwerp, Belgium.
“KLA and imec’s decision to establish a new STAR center of excellence in Michigan demonstrates our global leadership as a hub for advanced manufacturing and innovation, especially in the semiconductor industry,” said Governor Whitmer. “I am proud that Michigan was chosen as the location for the STAR research center over several other sites, proving that we have the skilled workforce, growing economy, and strong, business-friendly environment to win projects from one of the world’s most innovative companies. Let’s keep working together to bring advanced manufacturing and critical supply chains home as we create economic opportunity in every region and build a brighter future for Michigan.”
The Semiconductor Talent and Automotive Research (STAR) initiative will focus on developing the talent base and infrastructure necessary to accelerate advanced semiconductor applications for electrification and autonomous mobility and move the automotive industry forward. The plan establishes a center of excellence in Michigan to formalize support for the development of the semiconductor industry workforce as well as the advancement of autonomous automotive solutions and electric vehicle research.
Specifically, the Michigan STAR center intends to focus on:
-Accelerating fundamental and advanced research for vehicle electrification and autonomous automotive solutions;
-Developing and translating of innovations in vehicle electrification and autonomous automotive technologies;
-Collaborating with learning institutions, including K-12 and vocational schools, community colleges, four-year colleges and research universities, to enable a Midwest-based skilled talent pipeline;
-Training and re-training programs to prepare the current workforce for modern chip manufacturing and assembly roles; and
Creating a physical collaboration space, laboratory and training spaces, and incubator funding for related startups.
“KLA is focused on investment in research and development to help address key challenges for automotive semiconductors,” said Rick Wallace, President & CEO of KLA. “In 2019, KLA opened a second headquarters in Ann Arbor, putting us closer to automotive customers and the larger Michigan technology ecosystem. The STAR Michigan initiative accelerates our support for talent development, collaboration, and innovation in the region.”
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Lurie Nanofabrication Facility
U-M is also home to the world-class Lurie Nanofabrication Facility, which supports advanced semiconductor research, education, and regional economic development. Over the past five years, 95 companies and 150 U-M faculty members have utilized it, as well as researchers from 40 other US universities. MAVERIC, the Michigan Advanced Vision for Education and Research in ICs, is a semiconductor collaborative that is pulling together efforts from across the university to support a secure, resilient and innovative domestic semiconductor sector. And the University of Michigan Electric Vehicle Center, a $130 million state-funded effort, is working to accelerate collaborative EV R&D, develop a highly skilled workforce, and establish advanced campus infrastructure and facilities to support both research and education.
As part of the collaboration, Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor will launch a short-term program over the next year to train semiconductor technicians.
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This was already posted on the West Michigan page and isn’t a sure thing but the announcement has a good feel to it as it seems LG has a positive opinion of the area after making a major investment in Holland. If this goes forward it certainly be a major coup for the state and Grand Rapids area.
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LG Energy Solution ‘seriously considering’ Holland for North American HQ
HOLLAND — LG Energy Solution is positioning its growing operation in Holland to become the company’s North American headquarters as it scales up battery manufacturing across the country.
The designation could bring an influx of white-collar and senior-level positions, building on the hundreds of advanced manufacturing jobs LG Energy Solution Michigan is creating on the lakeshore with its $1.7 billion lithium ion battery expansion in Holland. LG Energy Solution Michigan is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seoul, South Korea-based LG Energy Solution.
“We are seriously considering making this site the headquarters for North America,” Roger Traboulay, project manager at LG Energy Solution Michigan, said during a presentation to local developers on Thursday at the expansion site in Holland. “If that happens, it would bring in a whole band of directors and senior persons with (a need for) executive-level housing.”
Holland is among the eight plants across the U.S. and Canada that LG is aggressively investing in to build capacity and supply chains for automakers that are launching electric vehicle lines, Automotive News reported this week. Once up and running, which is expected by mid-decade, the eight plants would have a combined 300 gigawatt-hours of electric vehicle battery production capacity.
Of those eight sites, Holland and an Arizona facility are the only two solely owned by the company, while the rest are joint ventures with major automakers. The projects represent nearly $27 billion in combined investment between LG Energy Solution and its automaker partners, which includes General Motors, Stellantis, Honda and Hyundai.
“As LG Energy Solution continues to expand in North America, the Holland facility is on track to fulfill the role of a control center (i.e. a ‘Mother Factory’), providing operational support and employee education/training to other facilities in the region,” LG Energy Solution Communications Manager Val Gent told Crain’s Grand Rapids via email.
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