It’s a Silicon Forest renaissance. Since the 80s — you know, last century — when we earned the moniker, Portland’s semiconductor prowess has been quietly churning along. The fabs out in Hillsboro. The decades of chip knowledge and talent. A quiet somewhat unglamorous engine humming underneath Oregon’s economy. But now, with compute and processors again taking center stage in our new AI enabled world, we’ve got an incredibly strong story with a fabled history to tell. And that has just landed the Silicon Forest a federal tailwind.
A team of nearly 100 Oregon partners — universities, companies, and community organizations spanning a dozen counties — just landed a National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine award. It goes by FAST (Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology). Oregon State University will serve as the administrative home. And it has the potential to receive up to $160 million over the next 10 years.
“We have an opportunity to develop new startups and help them scale over the course of the next 10 years,” said Skip Newberry of the Technology Association of Oregon. “One of our goals is a lot of net new company formation to also provide opportunities for some of the workforce and talent that’s going to be developed, in addition to what’s already in the region.”
FAST starts with $15 million for its first two years. It can unlock up to another $45 million in years three through five. And it has the potential to reach the full amount only by hitting milestones along the way.
But there’s some competition. Our efforts are among 12 Regional Innovation Engines the NSF announced today across 20 states. So this is a thing we need to keep chasing, not a lottery jackpot. Think of it less as a windfall and more as a runway.
Still, the consortium is optimistic. As well they should be.
“We believe what made our proposal stand out was the collaboration-oriented community we were able to demonstrate to NSF as a force multiplier and risk reducer,” said Shashi Jain, who has been a critical component of leading this effort. “The FAST community is well-balanced, and focused one-and-all on translating AI-supported technical innovations into successful products, delivering support for faster access to resources, stronger entrepreneurial training, and robust pathways to market.”
That’s just the Silicon Forest doing what the Silicon Forest does. Albeit with a much bigger group rowing in the same direction. And lest anyone forget what’s actually out here, there are, only few places in the world with this kind of semiconductor capability: Taiwan, Korea, and Oregon. (But admittedly, Arizona is nipping at our heels, so we better work fast with this — um — FAST.)
For more, read the announcement from Oregon State University, TAO’s reveal, Pete Danko’s coverage at the Portland Business Journal, and Mia Maldonado’s reporting for the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
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