Why Did Texas Tech’s School of Engineering Just Receive $2M?

Texas Tech University has achieved countless feats and boasts a laundry list of accomplishments. One perfect example is how the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering recently received a $2,000,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

Texas Tech's $2M Grant

This multi-million dollar grant was given to TTU's College of Engineering to help students prepare to enter the semiconductor workforce, a news release from the university stated.

It is believed that there are currently over $50 billion in new semiconductor plants either nearing construction or in the final stages.

Principal Investigator and Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering Tim Dallas expressed his joy in seeing brand new opportunities for engineering students entering the field.

Dallas also suggested that this new grant can open new doors to strengthening the local Lubbock economy.

X-FAB Texas is a company located in Lubbock that employs nearly 400 people conducting an array of duties and engineering tasks. Equipping current students with the skillset to work for such a company will encourage a talented new wave of engineers to stay in Lubbock.

What is a Semiconductor?

If you've rarely heard this work mentioned before, IBM explains that semiconductors serve as a "substance that can either act as a conductor or insulator of electricity, making it an essential building block of computers, electronic devices, integrated circuits and other modern digital technologies."

You can think of semiconductors as tiny electrical switches, typically made from crystals, that turn off and on to facilitate the flow of electricity.

Semiconductors are common across many industries, like computers, home electronics, automotives, and more. This just emphasizes the importance of creating a new generation of effective workers in such a ubiquitous field.

Not to mention how smart you sound when you talk about it...