New NSF fellowship program fuels Boise State’s microelectronics Ph.D. pipeline

A multidisciplinary research team at Boise State University received a three-year, nearly $1 million award from the National Science Foundation's EPSCoR Graduate Fellowship Program (EGFP) to support doctoral students pursuing research in microelectronics and the semiconductor industry.

The award will fund six NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP) Honorable Mention recipients, providing stipends and cost-of-education support as they pursue doctoral degrees across six interdisciplinary programs: Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Biomolecular Sciences, Computing, Materials Science and Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering.

"This federal fellowship program is a direct investment in the talent pipeline that drives Idaho's semiconductor industry forward," College of Engineering Dean Amy Fleischer said. "By pairing rigorous doctoral research with structured mentorship and industry-infused experience, we're preparing fellows who'll help lead contributions to the semiconductor field. It's exactly the kind of talent pipeline our college, university and state need to stay competitive."

The award is led by Principal Investigator Todd Otanicar, with co-PIs Marie Anne de Graaff, Kurtis Cantley and Deb Carter. The program will operate within Boise State's Microelectronics Education and Research Center (MERC), which has become a hub connecting students, faculty and industry partners across the state's rapidly growing semiconductor sector.

"This program builds a pipeline for new Ph.D. students in our state's increasing semiconductor ecosystem through recruiting, retention, and mentoring efforts," Otanicar said.

The EGFP award arrives as Boise State has built significant momentum in microelectronics research and workforce development through programs like UPWARDS for the Future, CREST AWESOME, and the most recent E-RISE XTREME. According to de Graaff, the new fellowship completes a critical piece of that pipeline.

"Our initiatives successfully established robust undergraduate training and research entry points. EGFP completes this spectrum by introducing our first fully formed program dedicated to doctoral-level preparation," said College of Arts and Sciences Interim Dean Marie Anne de Graaff. "By pairing our strategic college-wide push in Ph.D. education with the rapid expansion of Idaho's microelectronic ecosystem, EGFP connects our research priorities with national strategic needs at the precise moment industry demand for advanced degree holders is highest."

Cantley, who is the director and endowed professor of microelectronics research and education, noted that the award reinforces programs that were designed to work together.

"Boise State is truly emerging as a leader in semiconductor and microelectronics education and research," Cantley said. "The EGFP award provides one more boost to these programs, which are all designed to amplify each other and generate outcomes greater than the sum of their parts."

A fellow's structured path

Over the three years of funding, each fellow will move through a carefully layered program of mentorship, career development, and hands-on research experience, according to Graduate College Associate Dean Deb Carter, who helped design the program's professional development framework.

"For each fellow, the structure unfolds in layers across the three years," Carter said. "Mentoring happens through three tracks simultaneously: informal monthly 'lunch and learns' with industry partners like Micron Technology and Intel, academic mentoring through a trained faculty member plus a shared individual development plan revisited every year, and formal external mentoring through TechBridge, pairing fellows with an industry professional. All three run continuously from a year one welcome retreat through graduation."

Carter added that career readiness is built into a required seminar addressing six core competencies including communication, leadership, and career management, with the focus shifting over time from skill-building to job-market readiness. The seminar draws on Boise State's Graduate Student Professional Development Guide, known as the GradPro Hub, which de Graaff originally developed and which now underpins professional development across the Graduate College.

Experiential learning centers on Boise State's UPWARDS partnership, through which fellows apply for two-week international research placements at partner universities in Japan before returning to teach what they learned in a graduate seminar. Some fellows will layer on additional opportunities such as Vertically Integrated Project teams or Idaho National Laboratory fellowships.

Strengthening Idaho's competitiveness

Fellows will be recruited through an NSF system and must hold GRFP Honorable Mention status. Once selected, they will have significant latitude to pursue their own research interests, generally centered on microelectronics, while drawing on MERC's existing labs, advisory board connections and programs such as Semiconductor Career Connections and UPWARDS.

De Graaff said the award positions Idaho, and Boise State, as a growing force in national semiconductor research.

"Idaho occupies a unique national position: we rank sixth in the U.S. for semiconductor employment density and are the only EPSCoR jurisdiction in the top 10," de Graaff said. "This award elevates Idaho from a manufacturing powerhouse to a primary hub for advanced microelectronics research and Ph.D. talent generation."

Cantley added that the stakes extend beyond the university itself.

"Idaho is in a unique position of being a relatively small state with a competitively large, and growing, technology sector, particularly in microelectronics," Cantley said. "EPSCoR awards are incredibly important for us to maintain competitiveness with states that have more resources and more people."

While EGFP is structured as a three-year pilot program, Boise State leaders hope its impact will outlast the grant itself. The program, known internally as B-SMERF, is expected to become a core initiative within MERC, with the team pursuing internal and external funding to sustain it beyond the initial award period.

Share This

• Share on Facebook
• Share on X
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share through Email