DURHAM – Wolfspeed and North Carolina A&T plan to seek federal funding for the building of a semiconductor research and development facility at he university’s campus in Greensboro as the two expand an education partnership that’s already designed to help Wolfspeed expand its workforce.

The R&D plan would seek funds made available by the federal CHIPS and Science Act pushed through Congress with bipartisan support at the urging of President Biden.

The company and the university announced their plans during Biden’s visit to Durham on Tuesday. “Notice of Funding” for R&D facilities is expected to be announced later this year.

Wolfspeed also wants CHIPS funding for new and expansion projects in North Carolina and New York as it seeks to capitalize on demand for chips to help power electric vehicles. The John Palmour Manufacturing Center for Silicon Carbide, which Wolfspeed says is the world’s largest Silicon Carbide crystal growth facility, currently under construction in Siler City. It is named after the late John Plamour, one of the founders of Cree which evolved into Wolfspeed.

Wolfspeed and A&T intend to submit the project for federal investment as part of the CHIPS and Science Act when the Notice of Funding Opportunity for R&D facilities is released this fall.

“Wolfspeed has been working with North Carolina A&T to develop a workforce of the future, and we are excited to expand that partnership to develop the technology of the future,” said Gregg Lowe, CEO of Wolfspeed. “The R&D facility will enable the next generation of innovators to explore new processes, applications and breakthrough advancements to support the global transition from silicon to Silicon Carbide technology and achieve new levels of sustainability and energy efficiency across a variety of industries.”

Wolfspeed in 2020 launched a $4 million effort with A&T to create an Endowed Scholars Program and two years later unveiled a variety of education initiatives at the university.

“As one of the top three public research universities in North Carolina and the nation’s largest HBCU, we are keenly interested in the future of the semiconductor chip industry in our state,” said Chancellor Martin. “As a research and education partner with Wolfspeed, we bring deep academic and scientific strengths in STEM disciplines to our collaboration, as well as the fact that we produce more Black engineers than any university in the nation. This new facility will integrate our research and development interests toward major economic and social impact, not just in North Carolina, but globally. The possibilities are tremendously exciting.”