The US government wants to create 20 technology centers across the country, which will bring high-paying jobs and possibly attract other businesses. Purdue University could be a possible candidate, being the first university to offer a semi-conductor degree and with two-thirds of its students studying the technology.
“Incredible leadership across the board to ensure that here at Purdue that America continues to be a great technology leader around the world,” said US Sec. Anthony Blinken State, on a visit to Purdue last week.
There was also US Sec. of Business Gina Raimondo.
“The opportunity to create hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs in the semiconductor industry across America, including at the heart of it, right here in Indiana,” said Raimondo. “And at Purdue, what happens here is central.”
The “Chips Act” allows for a new development, which Purdue President Mitch Daniels said the university is ready to be a part of.
While the chips will be manufactured at SkyWater Technology in Minnesota, the company has signed an agreement with Purdue to partner in building a $1.8 billion support center in West Lafayette.
“We deeply feel our responsibility to introduce new high-level skills to this region and the nation as much as we can, to contribute to the economy of the region and the nation,” he said on the day of the visit. adding that several companies were scouting that area that day.
Daniels told Inside Business Indiana that Purdue has a unique opportunity and responsibility to lead the way in new technology.
“People refer to semiconductors as the oil of the next economy or the one we’re in,” he said. “So, if we can be as the secretaries believe, and as we believe, house more of that, this will be a new era of work and economic hope in our region.”
Although the secretaries visited had to visit the laboratories and facilities of Purdue, they are in a big task to determine the houses of the next technology centers.
