U of I receives $2M in BSU partnership to strengthen Idaho’s resilient microelectronics strategy

MOSCOW, Idaho — With a new National Science Foundation award of nearly $8 million, Boise State University and the University of Idaho are partnering to grow Idaho’s strategy and capacity around resilient microelectronics for extreme environments.

The Idaho Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) jurisdiction’s E‑RISE project, “Capacity Building for Resilient Microelectronics for Extreme Environments” (XTREME) investigates materials behavior under high temperature, radiation and mechanical stress — conditions central to national needs in energy, defense and aerospace.

U of I receives $2 million of the state first E-RISE award, empowering both institutions to help organize a statewide strategy around research and workforce development. U of I and BSU will partner with three community colleges — College of Western Idaho, College of Southern Idaho and the College of Eastern Idaho — as well as Brigham Young University-Idaho, Micron Technology and Idaho National Lab (INL) to ensure Idaho’s national leadership in microelectronics.

“The University of Idaho brings decades of expertise in understanding how materials behave under high temperatures, radiation and mechanical stress,” said U of I co-principal investigator John Russell. “This expertise is critical to developing materials and electronic systems that can withstand demanding environments. XTREME gives us an opportunity to build on this foundation and apply U of I’s strengths in materials science and engineering to the next generation of resilient microelectronics.”

The award connects U of I’s Next Generation Microelectronics Research Center (NGeM) to national research priorities, while providing critical workforce skills and hands-on research experience for students at all levels. Micron’s longstanding commitment to supporting research at Idaho universities has also helped advance U of I’s NGeM research through an endowment established to provide permanent research funding for the center.

XTREME is a collaborative effort that builds on 20 years of partnership with INL to advance research, education and workforce development in microelectronics and related fields.

“Idaho is proving a state our size can lead the nation in the technologies that matter most to our security and our economy,” said Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson. “XTREME brings together exactly the right partners — Micron’s historic investment, world-class research at Boise State and the University of Idaho, and the unmatched capabilities of Idaho National Laboratory — to keep America’s semiconductor edge here at home. I’m excited that this NSF investment will train Idaho students and strengthen our research infrastructure for decades to come.”

Micron Technology announced in 2022 a $50 billion investment in Boise to build two microelectronics fabrication facilities over the next two decades. The facilities are expected to indirectly create about 15,000 new jobs, with about 2,000 on-site employees.

U of I and BSU also participate in the Strategic University Partnership for Education and Research (SUPER) agreement with Idaho National Laboratory, deepening collaborative research and development projects toward protecting national security and building a resilient energy future for Idaho and the nation.

XTREME extends BSU’s 10 years of research in its Micron Center for Materials Research, established in 2015 through a $25 million gift from the Micron Foundation, and capacity-building with INL and the Department of Energy through the advanced sensors and instrumentation program.

“Statewide partnerships and investments in materials, microelectronics and extreme environment science have positioned Idaho to lead this important national initiative,” said BSU Materials Science and Engineering Professor David Estrada, principal investigator on the award. “We aim to discover materials that enable microelectronics and sensors that can survive high temperatures (greater than 1000 Celsius) and high radiation environments so we can discover new knowledge critical to the design of future energy and defense systems.”

Todd Combs, the deputy laboratory director for science and technology at INL, said “Advanced reactors, defense systems and space missions all depend on electronics that can operate reliably in extreme conditions. XTREME is taking on that challenge by bringing together Idaho’s research universities, community colleges, Micron and INL. We’re proud to be part of this statewide partnership.”

The team also includes a world-class advisory board with representatives from NASA, the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Department of Energy Nuclear Science User Facilities, industry and R1 universities.

Award co-principal investigators also include University of Idaho Department Chair and Professor of Metallurgical Engineering Indrajit Charit and BSU College of Engineering Associate Professor Krishna Pakala and Associate Professor Brian Jaques.

Media contact

Alexiss Turner 
University of Idaho College of Engineering 
208-885-7511 
alexisst@uidaho.edu