SRC is a leading body for semiconductors globally and has been spreading awareness about the topic. Here we dive inside semiconductor research corporation.
What is SRC?
Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), commonly known as SRC, is a high-technology research consortium active in the semiconductor industry. It is a leading semiconductor research consortium. Todd Younkin is the incumbent president and chief executive officer of the company. The consortium comprises more than twenty-five companies and government agencies with more than a hundred universities under contract performing research.
Origin
SRC was founded in 1982 by Semiconductor Industry Association as a consortium to fund research and development by semiconductor companies. In the past, it has funded university research projects in hardware and software co-design, new architectures, circuit design, transistors, memories, interconnects, and materials and has sponsored over 15,000 Bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D. students. SRC has funded research in areas such as automotive, advanced memory technologies, logic and processing, advanced packaging, edge intelligence, and communications.
Awards
In 2005, SRC received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation awarded by the president of the United States for their collaborative high-tech university research and for creating the concept and methodology, named the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. In 2015, SRC was inducted into Georgia Tech’s Hill Society for sponsoring $103 million in research grants, contracts, and fellowships since 1983.
JUMP 2.0
The JUMP 2.0 program is a research initiative that aims to further the development of information and communications technologies (ICT) in the United States. The program is structured into seven thematic centers, each focusing on high-risk, high-reward research projects. The primary areas of interest for JUMP 2.0 include the development of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems and architectures, the improvement of communication technologies for ICT systems, and the enhancement of sensing capabilities with embedded intelligence for rapid action generation. Additionally, the program investigates distributed computing systems and architectures within an energy-efficient compute and accelerator fabric, as well as innovations in memory devices and storage arrays for intelligent memory systems. JUMP 2.0 also explores advancements in electric and photonic interconnect fabrics, advanced packaging, and novel materials and devices for digital and analog applications.
Collaborations
SRC today really consists of four entities. There is GRC or the Global Research Collaboration. There is STARnet and Nanoelectronics Research Initiative or NRI. And then, there is the Education Alliance or EA. STARnet is a full partnership with the government. In that case, the agency is DARPA. With NRI, it’s a full partnership with primarily NIST and a little bit with NSF. All of those agencies are restricted to research being done basically in the United States. There may be a rare exception. Meanwhile, the Global Research Collaboration piece is an entity that allows for research to be done around the globe. All of our companies are global. The GRC projects are individually chosen through a formal solicitation process. In the case of STARnet and NRI, both are run by center directors that are selected from universities.
The government, in a way, views the industry as being very mature and thinks the industry should support itself. But after being inside semiconductor research corporation, we get that push from both private and public sectors is needed.
