UCLA Samueli launches $125 million semiconductor hub

Broadcom, Applied Materials, GlobalFoundries, Meta and Synopsys are partnering with the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering to establish a USD 125 million Semiconductor Hub aimed at accelerating research and workforce development in artificial intelligence-powered chip technologies.

“UCLA is uniquely positioned to bring together expertise across disciplines to push the frontiers of semiconductor innovation and translate that knowledge into scalable solutions,” said UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk. “The Semiconductor Hub at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering reflects our commitment to forging partnerships with industry in a field critical to economic vitality and national security.”

The initial five-year commitment, a combination of philanthropic gifts and in-kind support, will establish a long-term collaboration across the semiconductor ecosystem, spanning chip design, software, manufacturing, equipment and advanced materials, UCLA Samueli said.  

“The vision for the Semiconductor Hub took shape after a conversation with Henry Samueli, one of the most influential innovators of our time,” said Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park, the Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean of Engineering at UCLA Samueli. “Henry cofounded Broadcom while teaching at UCLA, underscoring the school’s strong position to help drive semiconductor innovation for a new era of AI.”  

“We’re proud to join our founding partners in launching the Semiconductor Hub at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering — a first-of-its-kind hub to advance US leadership in semiconductor technology by fostering a comprehensive ecosystem from foundries and silicon to packaging, equipment, electronic design automation tools and cloud infrastructure,” said Charlie Kawwas, president of Broadcom’s Semiconductor Solutions Group.  

The mission of the semiconductor hub is to foster sustained, mid- to long-term collaboration between leading faculty and industry partners to drive advances in connectivity, computing and intelligent systems.  

“At Meta, we’re investing in the foundational technologies that will power the next era of AI,” said Yee Jiun Song, vice president of engineering, Meta. “UCLA’s Semiconductor Hub is tackling some of the most important challenges in computing — from energy-efficient chip design to advanced packaging — and we’re excited to support research that can help scale innovation across the industry.”

“The technologies shaping the next decade — from AI in the data center to AI in the physical world — all depend on advanced semiconductors,” said Tim Breen, CEO of GlobalFoundries. “As a founding member of UCLA’s Semiconductor Hub, GF is proud to work alongside leading researchers and partners Broadcom, Applied Materials, Meta and Synopsys to tackle the industry’s toughest challenges and develop the talent that will sustain US innovation.”

The hub will also support emerging technological frontiers, including real-time artificial general intelligence inference at the edge, self-optimizing data centers and next-generation communication systems spanning radio frequency, terahertz and optical domains, UCLA Samueli said.

“Engineering technology’s future demands co-design of software and hardware, electronics and physics, from silicon to system,” said Sassine Ghazi, Synopsys president and CEO. “Synopsys is proud to provide our leading AI-driven engineering solutions to advance the discovery and development of compute-efficient intelligence that can scale.”

“Strengthening the ties between industry and academia is more important than ever as semiconductor complexity increases and the pace of AI development accelerates,” said Gary Dickerson, president and CEO of Applied Materials. “We look forward to working closely with the Semiconductor Hub partners to bring technology breakthroughs to market faster while inspiring the next generation of engineering talent in the US.”