Technology donation valued at $7.7 million supercharges ECE education
The University of Arizona’s Nano Fabrication Center, located in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, provides direct access to industry-level semiconductor manufacturing. The NXP donation reinforces student interest in the growing tech sector.
Kris Hanning, The University of Arizona, Office of Research and Partnerships
Technology company NXP Semiconductors donated $7.7 million worth of circuits and motherboard components to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The gift of nearly 75,000 components will give ECE students hands-on experience with industry-grade hardware.
“This gift accelerates the academic-to-industry pipeline and prepares students for global challenges in computer technology,” said Michael Wu, ECE department head and professor. “We want to thank NXP for this generous donation, which speaks to the company’s commitment to academic research and education.”
The components – chiplets, chipsets and analog-to-digital converters – are the building blocks of computer systems. Students can apply the donated hardware for work in a variety of fields, like cybersecurity and biomedicine, and the components will be available for use in capstone projects.
ECE faculty are planning how best to incorporate the tech into their curriculum.
“In teaching traditional electrical engineering, this may be the first time that students have firsthand experience working with ADC chips and processes,” said Janet Roveda, the Litton Industries John M. Leonis Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “They will get to see how the firmware works on the chiplets and how these signals are digitized.”