November 18, 2024

Purdue University's Rapid-HI Institute Joins DARPA's initiative to lead next-gen microelectronics manufacturing

Purdue University’s Rapid-HI Design Institute is part of DARPA’s Next Generation Microelectronics Manufacturing (NGMM) Program, led by the Texas Institute for Electronics. The institute will develop advanced digital twin models and lead efforts in reliability assessment to drive innovations in three-dimensional heterogeneous integration (3DHI) technology.
A professional woman in a dark business suit stands confidently in front of a large window.
Dan Jiao, Synopsys Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

The Rapid Heterogeneous Integration (Rapid-HI) Design Institute at Purdue University, an Elmore ECE Emerging Frontiers Center, is part of DARPA’s $840 million Next Generation Microelectronics Manufacturing (NGMM) Program. The program is led by the Texas Institute for Electronics (TIE) at the University of Texas and aims to develop cutting-edge science and technology to drive the next wave of high-performance microelectronics manufacturing through three-dimensional heterogeneous integration (3DHI). The NGMM team consists of 32 defense electronics companies, major semiconductor firms, and 18 leading academic institutions.

Dan Jiao, Synopsys Professor in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the Rapid-HI Design Institute, represented the Purdue team at the NGMM kick-off meeting held in September in Austin, TX.

“In the NGMM project, researchers in the Rapid-HI Design Institute will contribute by developing a system-scale digital twin of advanced 3DHI systems, addressing crosscutting considerations across a diverse range of technologies, while simultaneously ensuring acceptable multiphysics performance, including electrical, optical, thermal, mechanical, and material behavior,” said Jiao. “Machine Learning (ML) models will be developed, using the fast and first-principles accurate multiphysics simulation capability of the Rapid-HI Institute, to construct high-fidelity digital twins of 3DHI products.”

The Purdue NGMM team is led by Ganesh Subbarayan, James G. Dwyer Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and focuses on reliability modeling, assessment, and characterization. Purdue ECE faculty involved include Cheng-Kok Koh, Qiang Qiu, and Dan Jiao, who will collaborate closely with Shubhra Bansal (Mechanical and Materials Engineering), Tiwei Wei (Mechanical Engineering), Ganesh Subbarayan, and the broader NGMM team. Together, they aim to establish a nationally recognized center of excellence in 3DHI technology and semiconductor workforce development.