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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The passage of the CHIPS Act was the first domino to fall in a long line of plans being carried out throughout Indiana to capitalize on building more semiconductors in the United States.

President Biden signed the bill into law on Tuesday. It was a bill heavily influenced by Indiana’s Republican Sen. Todd Young.

The bill increases investment in making computer chips in the United States as well as investing in initiatives ti stay competitive with China technologically. Where that all begins is education, says Vijay Raghunathan, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University.

“The bill also specifically calls for some pretty big initiatives – things like a national science semiconductor technology center, a national center for advanced manufacturing and packaging, and a couple of others,” Raghunathan aid. “These are all areas where I think workforce development would play a very big role, and that includes academia and universities like Purdue.”

Purdue University is starting up a semiconductor degree program with the aim to train students. Part of that includes the building of a new semiconductor development center at Purdue’s Discovery Park.

The bill sets aside $200 billion in investment in public-private partnerships for developing and making computer chips. One of these partnerships is between Purdue and MediaTek, a Taiwan-based developer of computer chips.

Furthermore, Minnesota-based SkyWater Technology announced plans to build a $1.8 billion semiconductor production facility at the Discovery Park and create 750 jobs over five years.

“Even more than the direct funding that the act provides, I think it has sort of provided an impetus to companies actually getting reinvigorated and announcing their plans with an ‘all hands on deck kind of mentality,” he said. “So, I think really will help and we’ll see that play out over the next three or four years.”