Penn State Awarded $20M National Science Foundation Grant to Lead AI-Driven Semiconductor Research Initiative

Penn State will lead a new $20 million federal research initiative aimed at using artificial intelligence to speed the discovery and development of materials used in semiconductors, quantum technologies and other advanced electronics. 

The four-year project, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, is part of the agency’s Genesis Mission, a nationwide effort to develop AI-powered research laboratories that can automate experiments and expand scientific discovery. Penn State is one of 20 teams selected nationwide during the program’s first phase. 

“I am proud to announce that Penn State will receive $20 million to further develop emerging technologies that will power America’s future,” U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Howard, said in a statement in July. “Penn State is a world-class institution, leader in research, and this funding will help develop a national model for training the next generation.”

Led by Joan Redwing, distinguished professor of materials science and engineering, the university will work with 20 industry and academic partners to develop an AI-enabled “programmable cloud laboratory” known as LATTICE, short for Layered and Thin-film Technologies with Intelligent Cloud Experimentation. 

The cloud-based research platform will allow scientists to remotely design, run and analyze experiments involving thin-film materials, which are used to manufacture semiconductors that power cell phones, computers and other electronic and quantum devices. 

The project is intended to combine artificial intelligence, cloud computing and automated laboratory equipment to help researchers conduct experiments more efficiently while making specialized research tools available to scientists regardless of their location. 

“This award gives us a unique opportunity to reimagine how materials research is conducted,” Redwing said in a statement. “By combining artificial intelligence, cloud technologies and advanced thin-film synthesis, we’re building a next-generation laboratory that researchers can access from anywhere and that will dramatically accelerate the discovery and development of materials for future semiconductor and quantum technologies.” 

According to Penn State, the new laboratory will build on the university’s existing facilities for thin-film synthesis, materials characterization and research data infrastructure. 

University officials said advances in thin-film materials increasingly require precise engineering at the atomic level, but achieving that level of consistency has remained a challenge. 

The project will use AI, automation and real-time sensing technologies to improve how experiments are conducted while creating standardized workflows that can be shared among researchers across multiple institutions. 

“Penn State is No. 1 in the country for materials science, according to NSF’s most recent Higher Education and Research Expenditures Survey,” senior vice president for research Andrew Read said in a release. “The LATTICE PCL will both make use of and expand upon the multiple top-tier facilities at Penn State to enable reproducible, scalable and distributed materials research that strengthens U.S. leadership in semiconductor, quantum and advanced materials innovation.” 

The award is part of a $380 million investment by the National Science Foundation to establish 20 programmable cloud laboratories across the country. The initiative also includes an additional $20 million in philanthropic support from the Astera Institute. 

Together, the laboratories will form a national network where researchers can remotely program AI-assisted experiments, share data and develop new approaches to scientific discovery across multiple disciplines. 

Penn State’s project includes collaborators from Argonne National Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Maryland and several other universities, national laboratories and private industry partners. 

Redwing will lead the project alongside co-principal investigators Stephanie Law, associate professor of materials science and engineering at Penn State, and Yufei Ding, associate professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California, San Diego. 

Penn State officials said the project further strengthens the university’s role in semiconductor and advanced materials research while expanding access to research infrastructure for scientists across the country.