UCLA’s Samueli School of Engineering has launched a new $125 million Semiconductor Hub in partnership with Broadcom, Applied Materials, GlobalFoundries, Meta, and Synopsys, creating one of the most ambitious university-industry semiconductor collaborations announced in the United States to date. The five-year initiative will focus on research, innovation, and workforce development in AI-powered semiconductor technologies, with an emphasis on energy-efficient computing and next-generation chip architectures.
The Semiconductor Hub brings together capabilities spanning chip design, EDA software, wafer manufacturing, semiconductor equipment, packaging, materials science, and cloud-scale AI infrastructure. UCLA said the program will support collaborative research aimed at advancing connectivity, computing, and intelligent systems while helping the U.S. strengthen domestic semiconductor leadership. Research priorities include AI-native hardware and software co-design, ultra-broadband data links, energy efficiency, thermal management, and advanced packaging. UCLA said the effort aims to move beyond traditional silicon scaling constraints and explore new computing modalities optimized for AI workloads.
The initiative also includes a workforce development component designed to build a talent pipeline for the semiconductor industry. Doctoral engineering students will conduct research at UCLA while participating in yearlong internships with the founding member companies. The hub will be led by Mona Jarrahi, UCLA Samueli’s Northrop Grumman Professor of Electrical Engineering, with support from faculty across multiple engineering disciplines. The university said the program is intended to serve as a long-term collaboration point between academia and industry as demand accelerates for advanced semiconductors supporting AI data centers, edge inference, next-generation wireless systems, optical communications, robotics, and autonomous systems.
“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 U.S. 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.
🌐 Analysis
The UCLA Semiconductor Hub arrives as the semiconductor industry increasingly shifts toward ecosystem-level collaboration around AI infrastructure. Training and inference workloads are driving new demands for compute efficiency, advanced packaging, thermal performance, memory bandwidth, and optical interconnect density—areas that cut across the traditional boundaries between chip design, manufacturing, packaging, software, and systems architecture. The participation of Broadcom, Applied Materials, GlobalFoundries, Meta, and Synopsys reflects that broader convergence.
The mix of partners is notable. Broadcom contributes expertise in networking silicon and AI accelerators; Applied Materials brings process technology and packaging innovation; GlobalFoundries adds manufacturing scale; Meta represents hyperscale demand for AI infrastructure; and Synopsys anchors the design software stack. Together, the group spans nearly the full semiconductor value chain—from design tools to fabrication to deployment at cloud scale. The focus on co-design across materials, devices, packaging, and systems closely mirrors broader industry trends now shaping next-generation AI platforms.
Profile: UCLA Semiconductor Hub
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Name | Semiconductor Hub at UCLA Samueli School of Engineering |
| Investment | $125 million initial commitment |
| Commitment Term | Five years |
| Founding Partners | Broadcom, Applied Materials, GlobalFoundries, Meta, Synopsys |
| Research Areas | AI-native chip design, advanced packaging, ultra-broadband data links, thermal management, energy efficiency, next-gen communications |
| Workforce Focus | Ph.D. research support and yearlong internships with partner companies |
| Faculty Director | Mona Jarrahi |
| Location | UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, Los Angeles, California |
