CIVS Participates in Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins (SMART) USA Institute

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS for America program has awarded $285 million to Semiconductor Research Corp. to establish the Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins (SMART) USA Institute. CIVS, with proven record in developing and implementing digital twins for manufacturing, was invited to participate during the proposal stage for a national competition for the Institute. CIVS has been active in various activities as part of the team at Purdue University, which is a lead academic member of the institute.

On June 26-27, CIVS Director Chenn Zhou and CIVS Sr. Research Engineer Kyle Toth attended the Inaugural SMART USA Summit in Washington, DC. The event was held to discuss the future of American semiconductor manufacturing excellence through digital twin research. This was a fantastic opportunity for networking, learning, and collaboration within the SMART USA community.

On July 8, CIVS welcomed Dr. Ganesh Subbarayan from Purdue’s West Lafayette campus, on of key leaders for SMART USA. Dr. Subbarayan is a James G. Dwyer Professor of Mechanical Engineering and served as the founding executive committee member of the SMART USA. The visit included viewing CIVS projects related to digital twins and discussions on potential collaboration projects in SMART USA.

On July 17, Dr. Zhou was invited to visit Samsung to discuss potential collaborations.

SMART USA is a consortium spanning more than 30 states and comprising in excess of 150 expected partners in industry, academia, national labs, and the full spectrum of supply chain design and manufacturing. Purdue university serves as the lead academic SMART USA Institute focused on “digital twins,” a form of technology that creates a virtual replica of a physical object to assist in optimization.