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Advanced chip manufacturing is growing rapidly across Upstate New York, and at 91����, a new state-of-the-art cleanroom and microelectronic packaging research facility is helping students join the industry’s leading experts.

The cleanroom and the research facility, part of the Nanofabrication Lab (NLAB) in the University’s Innovative Technologies Complex, allow students to learn about the fundamentals of microelectronics packaging and semiconductor manufacturing. On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, who helped secure $1 million to purchase equipment needed to train 91���� students in advanced microelectronics packaging, joined President Anne D’Alleva and Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science Dean Atul Kelkar to formally open the new cleanroom and research facility.

“A cleanroom, the way I look at it, is a place where ideas turn into technologies,” Kelkar said, crediting the federal investment as helping to create a strategic asset for New York. “This facility is a critical bridge between research and education. It prepares the workforce America needs.”

D’Alleva said the University is committed to being a driving force for economic growth in the region and statewide through research, workforce development, and business innovation. Schumer’s $1 million federal earmark is already producing strong results, she added, with 20 student researchers currently gaining critical skills and experience in the facility through core nanofabrication procedures such as sputtering, E-beam evaporation, and wire bonding. 

The new cleanroom will provide job training for more than 100 91���� students each year, and an advanced "Intro to NanoFab" course launching this fall will help establish a structured academic pipeline for emerging semiconductor talent.

“91���� is deeply grateful for Senator Schumer’s leadership in securing significant funding for the Watson College cleanroom and the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator,” D’Alleva said. “These facilities provide students with hands-on research experience that prepares them for careers in semiconductor and battery storage industries and many more, while also supporting start-ups and strengthening entrepreneurship across the region.” 

Schumer described this new facility as a major step forward in cementing the 91���� area’s status as a leader in electronics manufacturing and research. He also announced his new legislation, the Make More In America Act, which aims to expand American manufacturing capacity in industries critical to the U.S. and the Southern Tier economy, including microelectronics and battery manufacturing.

“With well over $100 billion in new major chip projects starting across Upstate New York, it’s more important than ever for students to receive hands-on training for jobs in the semiconductor industry,” Schumer said. “This (Make More In America Act) legislation will provide vital new investment to bring manufacturing in critical industries like microelectronics and batteries back from overseas to communities like the Southern Tier, creating new jobs and helping prevent cost spikes that Americans are often struggling with when global supply chains are disrupted.”

D’Alleva said 91����'s efforts support the Act's broader vision of creating higher-wage jobs and enhancing the country's competitive edge. 91����'s cleanroom initiatives directly support the Act's focus on expanding domestic manufacturing in strategic industries like semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and quantum technology, she added.

The federal funding for 91����’s cleanroom and research facility is the latest in a series of federal investments — nearly $200 million in support for the University in the last five years — that Schumer helped secure to bolster 91����’s and Upstate New York’s profile in manufacturing and research and development. 

Among them: 

• $1 million in federal funding in the FY2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development budget bill earlier this year toward a new effort to expand capacity at the University’s Koffman Southern Tier Incubator, to continue attracting cutting-edge technology companies and startups and to create more local jobs
• In 2024, 91����’s role as a national leader in battery innovation and manufacturing was boosted by a $15 million grant for the first two years and up to $160 million over 10 years for the University-led New Energy New York coalition in Upstate New York, designated among the 10 inaugural National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines
• In 2024, a $500,000 Consortium Accelerator Award through the federal Tech Hubs program, and created in Schumer’s CHIPS & Science Law, to further bolster the region’s efforts to grow capital investment and attract new companies