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Industry Funded University Research: Direct-Funded Research, Industry Support of NSF Funding, and SRC-Funded ResearchAllen Bowling, Ph.D.

Texas Instruments (Retired)

TI Fellow

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Industry Direct-Funded Research• Most companies in the semiconductor industry do direct-funding of university

research – TI funded ~$10M in 2011 – Intel, IBM, Samsung and others do a lot of funding

• Inside TI, each business unit can fund research pertinent to their business. – Analog materials, processes, devices research (including sensors/MEMS) funded

by the Analog Technology Development group– CMOS materials, processes, devices research funded by the External

Development and Manufacturing CMOS group– Packaging materials, processes, structures research funded by the SC Packaging

group– Embedded Processing group funds wireless, signal processing, and test research– Analog groups fund analog circuits and systems design and CAD/test research– Systems & Applications R&D group funds signal processing research– DLP group funds research for MEMS/sensors and test

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Industry Direct-Funded Research• TI groups issue no calls for proposals for this direct funding.

– TI technologists identify researchers based on knowledge of their research, personal interactions, and research presentations/publications.

– TI technologists also learn about researchers through SRC interactions• SRC is a group of industry consortia that funds university research (more details later)

• Most other industrial companies also don’t post any calls for proposals

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Industry Direct-Funded Research• Since TI doesn’t issue calls for proposals, how does a professor get access to

the TI direct funding? – Ask other professors who are already working closely with TI people to introduce

you and your research. Do the same with other companies. – Ask TI people on the UTD School of Engineering advisory board to introduce you to

TI people– Using any new links with TI people, volunteer to give a technical seminar on your

research at TI. • Take your graduate students.• Take other professors if the TI group agrees; multiple professors do presentations.

– Using new links with TI people, invite TI people to visit your lab and meet your students.

– Ask TI people lots of questions about their key research challenges, and note the research topics where you think you could contribute.

• Volunteer to do some short-term research to show your capabilities – show interest and show willingness to engage

• Make your graduate students available for TI internships

– Apply for SRC funding to prove your research capabilities (more details later)• Exposes you to multiple companies• Allows the companies to share co-funding to see your capabilities.

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What Industry Looks for in a Proposal• You must give enough information on the first page to entice the reader to

read more details. If the summary on page 1 includes just general statements, with no details about what you will uniquely do, your proposal will likely not be considered further.

• Provide an Executive Summary:– Make the problem statement very brief, e.g. 1-2 sentences (you can expand on the

problem statement and give references in the full text). Reviewers will quickly recognize the reason for the research, and too many words on the problem statement will distract from your detailed plans.

– Tell specifically what you will do and how it is unique from prior research. This is the most important part of your summary. If you don’t state what is unique about your research, your proposal will not be considered further.

• Don’t talk about general things you plan to do – e.g. “We will explore the use of carbon nanotubes for semiconductor interconnects.” Tell what you will specifically do, “We will use a new CVD process developed in our lab to deposit carbon nanotube arrays of high density, > 1 million per sq. mm, and measure via resistance in a 100,000 via test chip. We will use a metric of < 1 mohm/square to determine success.”

• Summarize key information in one place: (in the Exec. Summary is possible)– Clearly state the names/affiliations of professors involved– Clearly state the number of graduate students that will be supported– Clearly state the funding requested – e.g. $52k/year for 3 years

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What Industry Looks for in a Proposal• What to put in the proposal main text?

– Include problem details and references that show that you clearly understand the key issues that you are trying to solve. Avoid overviews, and quickly get to the key issues details.

– Describe the details about the research that you will perform. Avoid making general statements about what could be done, and instead stick to a detailed description of what you will do:

• Specific materials, structures, devices you will build and test• Specific methods you will use to deposit films / build structures• Specific metrology methods and structures that you will use• Specific metrics that you will use to determine success

– Provide a set of milestones – specific goals that you plan to accomplish and the date that you hope to achieve.

– Describe what each person on the project will contribute, and how they spend their time on the projects.

• Industry people spend lots of time working on plans/schedules – in research, you can’t always predict an absolute schedule, but if you don’t have a schedule in mind, you can’t track progress.

– Mention how you will get industry inputs/guidance: e.g. will form an advisory committee; will have monthly webex/teleconf. meetings with industry mentors to review results;

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TI Support of UT Dallas• TI research funding to UT Dallas is often given as gifts. Allows the gifts to be

matched by the UT System and the TX TRIP fund.

• TI frequently bundles gifts to UT Dallas so that a higher percentage matching funds are available from the UT System and TX TRIP. – So, if a TI person plans a gift to support your research, mention this to Michael

DeFrank and/or Bruce Gnade so it can be bundled with other TI gifts to get more matching funds.

– In 2012, TI bundled gifts totaling >$1M• This produced a UT System match of 20%• This will hopefully produce a TRIP match of 75% (if the TX legislature allocates

new TRIP funds in the 2013 legislative session).

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Federal Funding Opportunities with Industry Support

• NSF GOALI program - Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry – http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12513/nsf12513.htm– NSF accepts proposals anytime during the year– The solicitation targets high-risk/high-gain research with a focus on fundamental research,

new approaches to solving generic problems, development of innovative collaborative industry-university educational programs, and direct transfer of new knowledge between academe and industry. GOALI seeks to fund transformative research that lies beyond that which industry would normally fund.

• Special interest is focused on affording the opportunity for:– Faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students to conduct research and gain experience in an

industrial setting;– Industrial scientists and engineers to bring industry's perspective and integrative skills to

academe; – Interdisciplinary university-industry teams to conduct research projects.

• Industry must commit a person’s time to collaborate for the 3-year term:– A letter of commitment signed by a TI vice president is required– The TI NSF administrator (Rick Wise) must add the TI person as an NSF PI– If funded by NSF, the University and industry must sign an IP agreement

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Federal Funding Opportunities with Industry Support

• NSF I/UCRC Program - Industry & University Cooperative Research Program– http://www.nsf.gov/eng/iip/iucrc/

– Each center is established to conduct research that is of interest to both the industry and the university with which it is involved, with the provision that the industry must provide major support to the center at all times. The centers rely primarily on the involvement of graduate students in their research projects, thus developing students who are knowledgeable in industrially relevant research.

– Industry (can be multiple companies) must commit to funding support (at least as much as the NSF request) for the 3-year term – a TI vice president must sign such a letter of commitment. If funded by NSF, industrial companies must sign a membership agreement that specifies IP rights.

– Letter of Intent Due Dates (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):• January 02, 2012; First Monday in January, Annually Thereafter• June 29, 2012; Last Friday in June, Annually Thereafter

– Planning Grant and Full Center Proposal Deadlines (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):

• March 06, 2012; First Tuesday in March, Annually Thereafter• September 28, 2012; Last Friday in September, Annually Thereafter

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Federal Funding Opportunities with Industry Support

• NSF ERCs – Engineering Research Centers– Partnerships in Transformational Research, Education and Technology

– http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5502&org=EEC

– NSF periodically does calls for proposals for ERCs • The last call was April 8, 2011 - $3.250M/year for 10 years x 3 centers

– Letter of Intent Due Date July 15, 2011– Full Proposal Deadline Sept. 16, 2011– Awards made in Sept. 2012

• Normally, there is at least an annual call for proposals – none in 2012• Proposals must have industrial support – TI will provide letters of support for TI research

interest areas; TI generally tries to limit support to 1 proposal per solicitation.– Industrial memberships at $30k to $50k per year– Industrial members must sign a membership agreement that specifies IP terms– TI: Rick Wise and Bob Doering approve and provide TI support letters

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Industry Funding to Universities thru SRC• Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) university research organization

– Multiple research consortia (GRC, FCRP, NRI, ERI, EA) – I’ll talk about each

– Industrial companies join each of the consortia individually

– Members include TI, Intel, IBM, GF, Freescale, Micron, AMAT, Lam/Novellus, TEL, Mentor Graphics, Raytheon, United Technologies

– Government (DARPA, NSF, NIST, states) co-funding of some programs

– Total of >$100M/year university funding

– www.src.org : Current calls for proposals listed on the website

• SRC provides funding of graduate student research, with university overhead– SRC signs a research funding contract with the university – 3 year funding

– The SRC contract requires university to give royalty-free, non-exclusive license to SRC and its member companies; university can license to others for fees.

– The SRC contract also requires no background, blocking IP

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Global Research

CollaborationEnsuring vitality

of current industry

Global Research

CollaborationEnsuring vitality

of current industry

Focus Center Research Program

Breaking down barriers to extend

CMOS to its limits

Focus Center Research Program

Breaking down barriers to extend

CMOS to its limits

Semiconductor Research Corporation:

A Family of Distinct, Related Program Entities

AMDAMATATICFreescaleGLOBAL- FOUNDRIESIBMIntelLam ResearchMentor GraphicsResearch Triangle InstituteTELTI

Gov’t ParticipantsState of ArizonaState of TexasState of NYNISTNSF

Other ParticipantsSEMATECHUK Eng & Phy SciSEMISIA

AMATGLOBALFOUNDRIESIBMIntelLam ResearchMICRONRaytheonTIUnited Technologies

Government ParticipantDARPA

GLOBAL- FOUNDRIESIBMIntelMICRONTI

Gov’t ParticipantsNISTNSFState of CAState of IndianaState of NYState of TexasState of VirginiaSouth Bend, Indiana

ABBAMATBoschFirst SolarHydro One Networks, Inc,.IBMNECNexansON SemiconductorTEL

Energy Research Initiative

Emphasis on efficient/clean

energy generation, storage and distribution

Energy Research Initiative

Emphasis on efficient/clean

energy generation, storage and distribution

Education Alliance

Attracting and educating the

next generation of innovators

and technology leaders

Education Alliance

Attracting and educating the

next generation of innovators

and technology leaders

Nanoelectronics Research Initiative

Beyond CMOS –identifying next

information element

Nanoelectronics Research Initiative

Beyond CMOS –identifying next

information element

Emerging Topics

Undergraduate Research Org.- Intel, GF

www.src.org

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Industry Funding to Universities thru SRC• SRC GRC (Global Research Collaboration)

– Funds individual research projects to professors on short-to-mid-term semiconductor research

– GRC uses an NSF-like proposals process: Calls for white papers; White paper selection for full proposals; Full proposals selection for 3-year funding.

• Member companies vote for the full proposals with their membership dues, so it is key to get member company support.

– GRC also does a yearly “seed research” grant proposals solicitation – 1 year $40k

– Some projects get clustered into research centers, e.g. TxACE analog design research center (Prof. Ken O, director)

– Some NSF co-funding of specific programs; NIST is also a funding member

– UT Dallas professors with SRC GRC experience: Bob Wallace, Chris Hinkle, Ken O, Hoi Lee, Carl Sechen, others

• GRC also has a yearly opportunity for special Ph.D. Fellowship and M.S. Scholar applications – must be U.S. citizen or permanent resident– Member companies choose to support students through their graduation

– TI currently supporting 2 UTD SRC Fellowships (Kris Flores and Joey Sankman)

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SRC GRC Fellowships

• TI supports 3 GRC Fellowships (Ph.D. graduate students) - designate 2 of these to analog design; 3rd to analog technology: 1. Joey Sankman, UT Dallas, analog design (new for Fall 2011) – PWR, Brian

Lum-Shu-Chen – TI SRC-Student internship in 2012 (Chris Link/Chris Maxwell);Joey won a best-paper award at TECHCON 2012

2. Kris Flores, UT Dallas, analog design (new for Fall 2012) – Baher Haroun, Dave Freeman

3. Patrick Lomenzo – Univ. Florida (new for Spring 2013) – materials and device technology - ATD, John Rodriguez

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SRC GRC Areas – MPD ~ 48% of funds• Device Sciences

– CMOS Technology (materials, processes, devices)

– Memory Technology (materials, processes, devices)

– Analog Technology (materials, processes, devices)

– TCAD modeling (CMOS, Memory, Analog)

– Compact modeling (CMOS, Memory, Analog)

• Interconnect and Packaging Sciences– Back-End Processing (BEP) Technology (materials, processes, structures)

– Packaging Technology

• Nano-manufacturing Sciences– Patterning and Metrology Technology

– Nanoengineered Materials Technology

– Environmental, Safety, and Health (ESH)

TI Interest Areas

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SRC GRC Areas – Design ~52% of funds• Integrated Circuits and Systems Sciences

– Circuit Design

– Systems Design

• CAD and Test Sciences– CAD

– Test

– Verification

TI Interest Areas

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Industry Funding to Universities thru SRC• SRC FCRP (Focus Center Research Program) – Long-range semiconductor

research– TI and other members agreed to new 5-year FCRP centers (2013-2017)– Industry 60% funding / DARPA 40% funding of the program– Six new research centers just chosen for the next 5 years – they begin in

early 2013• 3 in longer-range system-level design• 3 in longer-range devices/materials technology

– Each new research center has a chance to add new research each year – so key to make links with the center directors

– UT Dallas professors with SRC FCRP experience: Bob Wallace, Ken O

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Industry Funding to Universities thru SRC• SRC NRI (Nanoelectronics Research Initiative) – focus on next new

computational approach for ultra-low power and higher performance

– TI and other members agreed to new 5-year NRI centers (2013-2017)

– NIST and NSF co-funding of NRI

– New proposals due on November 13, 2012

– Proposal selection in Dec. 2012; Jan. 2013 new centers start

– UT Dallas and UT Austin have had an NRI Center, SWAN (Southwest Academy of Nanoelectronics – TI assignee: Luigi Colombo

• New proposal planned for next phase of NRI

– New centers can add new professors/research each year

– UT Dallas people involved in NRI: Bob Wallace

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Industry Funding to Universities thru SRC• SRC ERI (Energy Research Initiative)

• Purdue University Photovoltaic Research Center

• Carnegie Mellon Smart Grid Research Center

• Involvement by connecting with the center directors – they can add new research as possible based on funding and completion of existing projects

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Industry Funding to Universities thru SRC• SRC EA (Education Alliance) Undergraduate Research Opportunities (URO)

program – Selected SRC member companies (Intel and GlobalFoundries) have given extra

funds to support this program

– Member companies providing the funding choose the universities that receive funding, and those companies choose the degree disciplines

– Funds provide undergraduate research funding – undergraduate engineering students work with SRC-funded research programs, and receive 20-hours/week funding during the academic year.

– Universities currently funded: Carnegie Mellon University ~ Cornell University ~ Georgia Institute of Technology ~ Howard University ~ North Carolina A&T ~ Oregon State University ~ Portland State University ~ Purdue University ~ University of California at Berkeley ~ University of California at Los Angeles ~ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ~ University of Michigan ~ University of Texas at Austin ~ University of Washington

– Includes focus on women and minorities; goal is to increase number of U.S. undergraduates pursuing graduate research in semiconductor technology.

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SRC-student Interns

• TI HR Leadership Team approved hosting 15 SRC-student interns at TI in 2011, 2012, and 2013– TMG Management approved budget/headcount in TMG SRC budget

– Slots spread out across TI to introduce SRC student to all TI groups• Not a match for all TI needs, since these are all MS or PhD students

– 2011: Hosted 14 interns (41 proposals): 4 hired; 7 moved to TI return intern program

– 2012: Selected 15 interns (26 proposals): 3 job offers; 10 moved to TI return intern program; “co-op” program

– 2013: Call for TI internal proposals issued – they are due Nov. 21• Proposal must be made by the TI person who wants to host an SRC student as a TI

intern in 2013• Students can be from any SRC program – preference given to existing SRC-funded

students with an existing TI mentor/liaison.