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DOC Awards $100M to Strengthen Domestic Chip Supply Chain
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DOC Awards $100M to Strengthen Domestic Chip Supply Chain

The Department of Commerce has awarded three companies up to $100 million in proposed direct funding to enhance the production of critical semiconductor manufacturing components.

The Commerce Department said Friday the proposed investments under the CHIPS and Science Act were awarded to Coherent, SkyWater Technology Foundry and X-Fab. 

Projects Supported by the CHIPS Investment

Coherent will receive up to $33 million to expand and modernize the manufacturing cleanroom in its Sherman, Texas facility. The investment, expected to generate around 70 direct jobs, aims to transform it into the first ever 150mm indium phosphide manufacturing line.

SkyWater Technology will get up to $16 million for its facility in Bloomington, Minnesota. The award will be used to overhaul equipment, enhance the cleanroom, advance its space and IT systems and boost production of 90nm and 130nm wafers by approximately 30 percent. An estimated 70 jobs are expected to be created.

X-Fab will utilize an award of up to $50 million to revamp its silicon carbide foundry facility in Lubbock, Texas. As the only silicon carbide fab in the country, its modernization is necessary to increase production and bolster global decarbonization initiatives. The investment will create an estimated 15 jobs.

“This proposed investment allows Coherent to accelerate its industry leadership in InP technology and manufacturing,” said Giovanni Barbarossa, chief strategy officer and president of materials segment at Coherent. 

SkyWater CEO Thomas Sonderman stated, “As America’s Trusted Foundry, through our business model and expanding capabilities, we are creating a national asset for technology development, which is in a critical state domestically.”

Rico Tillner, CEO of X-FAB Texas, added, “The demand for silicon carbide technologies will be strong for the long term and we are proud to provide solutions that support the transition to electric mobility and renewable energy sources.”

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo commented, “Today’s proposed investments across Texas and Minnesota would help bolster domestic chip production and help secure our supply chain for decades to come.”

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Brad Welch Named Army DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center CIO
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Brad Welch Named Army DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center CIO

The U.S. Army DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center has promoted Brad Welch, most recently digital transformation program director, as chief information officer.

Welch announced his appointment as CIO in a LinkedIn post published Tuesday.

He recently served as a senior service college fellow at the Defense Acquisition University.

According to his LinkedIn profile, the newly appointed CIO first joined the Army DEVCOM Aviation and Missile Center in 2000 as a deputy project manager.

As a deputy project manager, he oversaw the development and deployment of the launcher and command and control system for the country’s first hypersonic capability. He also served as a multimission launcher deputy program director and tech chief between 2017 and 2019.

The University of Kentucky electrical and electronics engineering graduate started his career as a design engineer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in Indiana.

What Is the Army DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center?

The Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center plays a key role in providing research, development, engineering technology and support services for the branch’s aviation and missile platforms.

The Redstone Arsenal, Alabama-based center has approximately 11,000 government and contract employees focused on rapidly transitioning technologies, finding creative platforms and providing synergistic expertise to clients and other stakeholders.

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USPTO Announces Members of Council for Inclusive Innovation
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USPTO Announces Members of Council for Inclusive Innovation

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has appointed 10 new members to the Council for Inclusive Innovation, or CI2.

USPTO said Friday the new council members will work on an action plan to implement the agency’s National Strategy for Inclusive Innovation and develop more ideas to advance innovation. 

The new CI2 members are:

  • Christopher James, president and CEO, the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development
  • Grant Warner, executive director, Center for Black Entrepreneurship
  • Herve Hoppenot, president and CEO, Incyte
  • Liren Chen, president and CEO, InterDigital
  • Mae Jemison, founder, The Jemison Group
  • Megan Smith, CEO and founder, shift7
  • Pamela Melroy, deputy administrator, NASA
  • Rory Cooper, National Medal of Technology and Innovation Laureate and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research, University of Pittsburgh
  • Tony Allen, president, Delaware State University
  • Wendy Lea, co-founder and partner, TechHubNow!

“Increasing participation in our innovation ecosystem is a national and economic imperative,” said Kathi Vidal, under secretary of Commerce for intellectual property and USPTO director.

“We need everyone at bat to lift American communities and solve world problems. This Council’s leadership will define how we work together to break down existing barriers to foster American competitiveness and drive our society and economy forward,” added Vidal.

What Are Some of CI2’s Initiatives?

Since its establishment in 2020, CI2 has introduced initiatives to generate jobs and promote innovation, including an innovative internship program and an initiative to speed up the examination of patent applications from first-time filers.

The council will continue to develop strategies to drive innovation and provide increased access to the innovation ecosystem.

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Amanda Gentry Named Inaugural Director of New AFMC Office
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Amanda Gentry Named Inaugural Director of New AFMC Office

Amanda Gentry, a 23-year leadership and engineering veteran, has been selected as the inaugural director of the Integrated Development Office at the Air Force Materiel Command. The appointment was announced on Dec. 2.

According to the AFMC, Gentry will spearhead the newly established office’s daily operations and lead a team of around 200 personnel. She will report directly to the AFMC Commander, Gen. Duke Richardson, who will serve as the IDO’s capability development executive officer, or CDEO. 

Amanda Gentry’s Career

Gentry most recently served as director of the Sensors Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory. In her over three years at the directorate, she managed a team of 1,200 personnel responsible for enhancing the intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, precision engagement and electronic warfare systems of the Air, Space and Cyber forces.

The IDO director previously served as senior systems engineer and director of engineering at the Air Force’s Office for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. She was also the team lead of F-35 Science and Technology at the Joint Strike Fighter Program Office and served in various engineering-related roles during her initial stint with the AFRL.

Integrated Development Office

The IDO, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is positioned to partner with the Integrated Capabilities Command in accelerating capability development through the Air Force’s great power competition re-optimization efforts. The IDO supervises the acquisition portion of capability development while the ICC spearheads the modernization prioritization efforts. The IDO also serves as the program office and execution arm of the CDEO.

“If you look at all the Air Force re-optimization decisions, I believe the creation of the ICC and the IDO are the most consequential,” said Richardson.

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Absolics, Entegris Awarded $152M for Semiconductor Packaging
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Absolics, Entegris Awarded $152M for Semiconductor Packaging

The Department of Commerce has awarded Absolics and Entegris a combined $152 million in funding to expand domestic production of critical semiconductor components.

The department said Thursday the investments, under under the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities, are intended to strengthen the nation’s supply chain security by constructing and expanding manufacturing facilities in Georgia and Colorado.

New Projects Funded Under the CHIPS Incentives Program

Under the new set of CHIPS investments, SKC affiliate Absolics will receive up to $75 million in direct funding to construct a semiconductor facility in Covington, Georgia. The 120,000 square-foot facility will house the development and production of the company’s glass substrate technology, utilized in semiconductor advanced packaging.

The DOC awarded Entegris up to $77 million in direct funding to expand its operations in Colorado Springs to bolster the production of materials and equipment for the production of advanced semiconductor chips. The manufacturing center funded by the investment is expected to be operational by 2025. It will produce liquid filtration products and Front-Opening-Unified Pods—specialized containers for semiconductor wafers.

Around 1,200 construction, manufacturing and R&D jobs are expected to be available courtesy of the Absolics investment. Meanwhile, the Entegris project will generate around 900 jobs.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, stated, “As a result of these investments, the states of Colorado and Georgia will play an important role in revitalizing the U.S. semiconductor industry while creating thousands of jobs in the process.”

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GovCon Index Starts December in Decline
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GovCon Index Starts December in Decline

Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index sustained a 2.45% decline during the first week of December, closing at an average of $5,176.36.

GovCon Index tracks and displays real-time stock market data for 30 major government contracting organizations. Site visitors can use this information to analyze each enterprise’s performance and examine the GovCon environment’s overall trends.

Palantir’s AI Stock Growth 

Palantir Technologies’ stock rose 13.8% in five days and increased 6.22% before the weekend. On Friday, the data analytics firm announced that it will partner with Anduril, a defense technology company, to enhance the adoption of AI for national security initiatives. 

At $76.34 per share, Palantir’s stock has increased 344.61% year-to-date. AI company NVIDIA is runner-up to Palantir with a 187.71% increase. 

On Tuesday, Palantir also revealed the company received a FedRAMP high baseline authorization from the U.S. government for its two cloud service products. 

AeroVironment’s Stock Loss

AeroVironment recorded a 15.88% loss on Thursday and a 16.03% decrease during the week. In response to the company’s drop in drone sales this year, AeroVironment’s fiscal year 2025 net revenue declined 136.5% year-over-year to $7.54 million. 

Visit GovConIndex.com to view the full list of tracked organizations and learn more about daily GovCon Index performances.

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Senate Bill Seeks Intel Community Partnerships for Tech Access
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Senate Bill Seeks Intel Community Partnerships for Tech Access

Four senators have filed the Enable IC Partnerships Act, a bipartisan bill that would promote public and private collaboration with the intelligence community in the adoption of advanced technologies and development of technical talents.

One of the bill’s proponents, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Az., said the U.S. intelligence community grows stronger once equipped with the tools necessary to tackle foreseen threats to national security.

“This bipartisan effort will make it easier for our intelligence agencies to leverage partnerships to secure state-of-the-art technology and talent, ensuring the U.S. maintains an edge over adversaries,” Kelly remarked.

Kelly’s co-authors in the measure are Sens. John Cornyn, R-Tx.; Mark Warner, D-Va.; and James Lankford, R-Ok. 

Who Are the Potential IC Partners?

A statement from Kelly’s office issued on Friday noted that the intelligence community’s acquisition officials must be able to access public and private capital for the acquisition of technologies suited to address global threats to national security. 

The office also said the lenders that could be explored for potential partnerships under the bill include the Department of Defense’s Office of Strategic Capital, as well as private financial institutions.

“Through IC partnerships with federal lending agencies like DOD’s Office of Strategic Capital and fostering greater IC public-private partnerships, we can better equip collectors and analysts with the tools to meet workforce demand and strengthen our national security,” Cornyn said.

Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, noted that U.S. intelligence operations must meet the rapid rise of the technological capabilities of U.S. adversaries, stating, “This legislation would help give the IC the support, funding and flexibility needed to better protect our national security.”  

Kelly, Warner, Cornyn and Lankford are also co-authors of the proposed Enabling New Agile Buying-power and Leveraging Enhancements in Intelligence Community Acquisitions Act, which seeks to streamline IC’s acquisition of advanced technologies.

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California Supercomputer Center Receives NSF Grant
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California Supercomputer Center Receives NSF Grant

The National Science Foundation has awarded the San Diego Supercomputer Center new funding to provide IT support to research groups that will use the NVIDIA DGX Cloud platform in their experiments. The SDSC said Thursday that the award, made under NSF’s Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research program, ensures that researchers can take advantage of cloud and physical servers to make scientific discoveries. 

Mahidhar Tatineni, user services director for the high-performance computing systems at the SDSC, shared that his team will work with National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource—a.k.a. NAIRR—Pilot scientists to establish dedicated systems for their respective projects. 

“Unlike systems that are shared by many users, the dedicated systems will allow for researchers to have uninterrupted access to perform modeling that require weeks or months to complete,” he explained. “For example, some tools need special configurations that aren’t possible in a shared system environment, and NVIDIA DGX Cloud allows us to work with NAIRR Pilot researchers to create custom environments for their work.”

Tatineni added that SDSC will offer tools, training and guidance that would enable NAIRR Pilot researchers to use the NVIDIA DGX Cloud and other platforms.

SDSC is part of the School of Computing, Information and Data Sciences at the University of California San Diego.

What Is the NVIDIA DGX Cloud?

NVIDIA launched DGX Cloud in March 2023. The platform provides access to software and infrastructure that enterprise users need to train and deploy generative artificial intelligence and other advanced applications. 

The computing company has been supporting the NAIRR Pilot program since its launch in January. NVIDIA committed $30 million in technology contributions to the initiative over the next two years to accelerate responsible AI innovation.

Presidential Advisory Council Reviews, Advises NITRD Program
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Presidential Advisory Council Reviews, Advises NITRD Program

The Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program continues to effectively support commercial growth and innovation in U.S. computing and communication technology, according to a review of the initiative recently carried out by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

PCAST went on to say on Thursday that, based on the review, which is mandated by Congress, the NITRD Program continues to be a valuable tool for the U.S., although the council did offer several recommendations to bolster the efforts under the program.

What Are Some of PCAST’s Recommendations?

The council’s recommendations include the NITRD Coordination Office updating its program component areas, or PCAs, so that they are future-oriented and aimed at encouraging agencies to support R&D on relevant technologies. At the same time, the PCAs should be updated in a way that they become more useful as budget-reporting categories for policymakers.

PCAST also recommends that NITRD Program entities specifically address artificial intelligence in their activities. The NITRD National Coordination Office should should also become more involved with various federal AI-related activities.

What Is the NITRD Program?

The NITRD Program works to coordinate efforts by various federal agencies that tackle R&D needs, including those concerning advanced information technologies in computing, networking and software. The program was established by the High Performance Computing Act of 1991 and has been reauthorized and expanded by Congress three times since then, most recently via the 2017 American Innovation and Competitiveness Act.

The program invests about $11.2 billion annually in R&D. It involves over 100 member and participating agencies.

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DOD Selects Hive to Prototype Deepfake Detection, Attribution Tech
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DOD Selects Hive to Prototype Deepfake Detection, Attribution Tech

The Department of Defense has awarded London, U.K.-based smart home device company Hive a contract to prototype a deepfake detection and attribution technology meant to enhance the agency’s ability to combat synthetic media threats.

Under the two-year agreement, Hive will develop a capability to help the DOD address artificial intelligence-generated content with precision and speed, the Defense Innovation Unit said Thursday. The technology will enable the department to prevent adversaries from using deepfakes for their deception, fraud, disinformation and other malicious operations.

DOD Information Advantage

According to Capt. Anthony Bustamante, project manager and cyber warfare operator for DIU, the effort is expected to bolster the agency’s information advantage in combating disinformation campaigns and synthetic media threats. “This prototype has the potential to enable the DOD to detect and counter AI deception at scale, maintaining our nation’s information advantage in an increasingly complex digital battlefield,” he added.

DIU noted that the project will advance ongoing efforts to counter threats posed by deepfakes and manipulated multimedia content. The tools and methodologies developed through the initiative could also be used to safeguard civilian institutions against disinformation, fraud and deception.

Protecting the Information Ecosystems’ Integrity

In a statement, Hive said its offering will protect the vital information ecosystems’ integrity and boost the DOD’s preparedness for the future spread of misinformation, threats and conflicts.

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