MIND: Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery

“If I may say so: Welcome to the future,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., President of the University of Notre Dame. Fr. Jenkins then announced the area launch of a national research center for the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and its Nanoelectronic Research Initiative (NRI), regarding “an initiative that represents the future of a keystone piece of modern technology.”

The objective: develop the next generation of logic devices that will replace today’s semiconductors, revolutionizing the world's trillion dollar per year technology industry.

With the University, the City of South Bend and Project Future played pivotal roles in making the center a reality.

“The sheer size and scope of this undertaking suggests that if we can capture but a portion of those new business activities associated with these new devices, we will transform our local and regional economy for years to come,” said Patrick M. McMahon, executive director of Project Future.

“We are being given a seat at one of the largest economic games in the world,” McMahon Said. “Over the next ten to fifteen years, we will see if we play all of our cards right.”

Officially billed as the Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery (MIND), the center will link Notre Dame, Purdue University, other universities and research firms with the massive development thrusts of some of the world’s largest technology companies.

One of only four NRI centers in the United States—other centers are located in Albany, New York; Austin, Texas; and Los Angeles, California—MIND will focus upon the development of architectures that will allow the new devices to be incorporated into machines, placing the institute in the heart of many of the prototyping activities to follow. This is when research transitions into jobs.

 “One need only look at Austin and Seattle to witness the economic explosion those cities have enjoyed following their involvement in the development of new technologies,” added McMahon.

MIND “has the potential to revolutionize our economy with new technological wonders that have yet to be imagined,” said South Bend Mayor Stephen J. Luecke.

The seeds of a research/economic development alliance were sown years ago as the University, the City and Project Future together worked toward the development of Innovation Park – the campus-based technology park only months away from breaking ground. An announcement of this caliber was beyond the vision of any of these partners as they embarked on the development of Innovation Park.

Providing the communications cornerstone for the park’s development is the St. Joe Valley Metronet. “Quite frankly, we would not be in a position to attract high-tech development and business without the critical infrastructure provided through the Metronet,” said McMahon. “And there’s no way that a nanoelectronic research center would have considered Notre Dame and South Bend without this level of connectivity.”

“This represents an unprecedented opportunity,” Mayor Luecke said, adding that research at MIND “will create the new platform for high-tech applications that will touch many industries and will reshape our local economy.”

“This exceeds any of our expectations,” said McMahon. “Our biggest challenge will be to put together a support structure across a multitude of business, education and social sectors, focusing on capturing as much local and regional development as possible.”

Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) is the world’s leading advanced semiconductor university research consortium, with member companies and research programs spanning the globe. The Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (NRI) is a program funded by six companies within the SRC (IBM, Intel, Micron, Texas Instruments, AMD, and Freescale) seeking to accelerate research in nanoelectronics for the benefit of the semiconductor industry.