UT Austin Expands Semiconductor Labs with $849M Boost in Austin

AUSTIN — The University of Texas at Austin is dramatically expanding its semiconductor research capabilities, securing nearly $850 million in combined federal and state funding to build cutting-edge facilities supporting Texas' explosive chip manufacturing sector. The Texas Institute for Electronics (TIE) at UT's Cockrell School of Engineering landed an $840 million award from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to establish a national open-access microelectronics manufacturing center focused on 3D Heterogeneous Integration (3DHI) technology. This brings TIE's total funding to $1.4 billion, including a $552 million Texas Legislature investment that modernized two UT fabrication facilities with 84,000 square feet of state-of-the-art cleanroom space.

Governor Greg Abbott announced a separate $4.8 million Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF) grant on Dec. 18, 2025, to the Texas Quantum Institute (TQI) for QLab, a quantum-enhanced semiconductor metrology facility in Austin. Managed in collaboration with UT's Microelectronics Research Center, TIE and Texas Materials Institute, QLab will develop atomic-scale measurement tools vital for advanced chip fabrication and quantum devices, bolstering Texas' CHIPS Act strategy for research, manufacturing and workforce growth.

These expansions build on UT Austin's vast infrastructure, now exceeding 400,000 square feet of research, cleanroom and fabrication space, including the new UT Austin-Taylor Center and Montopolis Facility. TIE, founded in 2021 as a consortium of state government, semiconductor firms, defense companies and academics, aims to pioneer 3DHI for compact, high-performance systems in computing, radar and satellites. Open to industry, academia and government, the facilities promise dual-use innovations and thousands of high-tech jobs in Central Texas.

Texas' semiconductor surge, fueled by giants like Samsung's $17 billion Austin plant and Tesla's nearby operations, positions the state as a U.S. leader. UT's labs will train the workforce and prototype technologies powering phones, medical devices and defense, ensuring long-term economic stakes for Austin and beyond.