This month, a team of Boise State students and faculty received a historic U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) award of $7.4 million — the largest NSF award in the university’s history. The award will go towards The Center for Advancing Workforce Experience through Semiconductors, Outreach and Mentoring Excellence (AWESOME).
The semiconductor industry refers to the development and advancement of semiconductors, or switches, found in phones, computers and other electronic devices that conduct and resist electricity during use. AWESOME aims to strengthen research on improving energy efficiency within the industry and grow student success alongside workforce opportunities.
The Director of the Micron School of Science and Engineering, Eric Jankowski, led the development and submission of the grant proposal for the National Science Foundation.
According to Jankowski, the grant will mostly go towards personnel, including PhD, post-doctoral and undergraduate students. PhD students working within the conceptual center will participate in four scientific subprojects that “comprise the center.”
“The large scientific aim of these subprojects is to lower the cost of advanced computing and to lower the cost of training [and deploying] artificial intelligence,” Jankowski said.
Grants are typically enough to fully or partially fund one student’s 5-year PhD program. The $7.4 million grant that comes with this award will increase the number of students accepted while enhancing the quality of their education and opportunities within the center.
“The educational components to this center are expanding some of these opportunities and focusing some of them specifically around semiconductors,” Jankowski said. “Then there’s the research side of it, which is very, very woven into the educational fabric.”
Interim President Jeremiah Shinn emphasized this award as a defining moment for Boise State.
“[This award] affirms the creativity and expertise of our faculty, expands opportunity for our students and strengthens Idaho’s position in an industry that is vital to our nation’s future,” Shinn said. “Boise State is proud to be both a rising research powerhouse and a student-centered university committed to building the semiconductor workforce our country needs.”
Assistant Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Karthik Srinivasan, highlighted the impact that the center will have on the university. He believes will build “expertise, workforce and credibility” in doing semiconductor research at Boise State.
Srinivasan explained through collaboration across subprojects, students can participate in an “organized structure”, allowing them to understand all components of their semiconductor research, such as magnetism and photonics, computational modeling and synthesizing materials.
He added students can also identify specialized needs within their research to “fill gaps in the industry” and establish expertise as they become scientists in the semiconductor workforce.
“Now they have more opportunities to learn skill sets that they might not necessarily get by just being in one faculty’s research group,” Srinivasan said.
PhD computer and mechanical engineering student Miguel Mancias works with Srinivasan in applied magnetics and photonics. His focus is on studying magnetic materials for high-power and high-frequency conversion in extreme environments, specifically, the use of light rather than electricity for computing.
Exposure to research opportunities, collaborating with other research groups, making connections with professors and identifying research areas he wants to pursue after completing his time at Boise State are some of the ways he sees the AWESOME Center impacting him and fellow students.
“Being able to collaborate, learn from experts in different fields and have undergrads learn and possibly continue the work that we do with graduate degrees here at Boise State,” Mancias said.
Srinivasan and Jankowski also highlighted Boise State’s goals of becoming an R1 university, which refers to the Carnegie Institute’s classification of research activity.
Boise State is currently classified within the R2 group, but earning its R1 classification would mean it is recognized as a university of high research activity that produces a significant number of doctoral students.
Boise State can become an R1 University by showing it has received a certain amount of federal funding for research and graduated a certain number of PhD students, Srinivasan said.
Srinivasan shared he hopes the program will graduate 5-12 students within the next five years.
The funding from the NSF award will contribute to the graduation rate by increasing the number of PhD students seeking to become doctoral students, while advancing the activity and quality of their research.
Along with faculty and advisors who will mentor students during their research, the AWESOME Center integrates faculty from other programs to help with its exposure and growth. Srinivasan said.
Plans for a new course in learning the basics of building semiconductors, the industry, and its impact on society are already underway, according to Jankowski. The course is planned to be available in Fall of 2026.
“Students from any discipline can come get a taste of what this industry is all about,” Jankowski said. “There are so many students here in the Treasure Valley who’ve never thought about going into a semiconductor career. That’s money that’s being left on the table.”
Jankowski expressed his gratitude towards the University’s partners, like Micron Technology, in supporting engineering students, and stressed this grant is just the beginning. The Micron Foundation connects students with interactive experiences and internship opportunities both during their education and after graduation.
“This award is a demonstration of the competitiveness and the effort that Boise State has put into semiconductor workforce development at large, and I think that helps make the case for more sustained support for efforts,” Jankowski said. “We can continue to scale them out so that they are long-term and benefit multiple generations of students.
He noted some of these long-term effects from the center include attracting students in other disciplines to studying the semiconductor industry, and improving PhD students’ mental health by providing mentorship and a higher quality of education.
“We can see that there exist real stereotypes about who belongs in engineering and who doesn’t, and those aren’t right,” Jankowski said. “Our job as scientists is to reveal the truth about the universe, and as engineers, to use those truths to help people.”
Students interested in semiconductor research can reach out to professors, like Jankowski and Srinivasan, and students looking to join the AWESOME Center and pursue a PhD can expect applications to open in late fall.
Once applications are received and evaluated, accepted PhD students can start their program and become a part of AWESOME as early as Spring of 2026.
