What the NSF FAST Engine Means for Greater Portland's Semiconductor Industry

A Ten-Year Federal Investment Lands in Oregon's Semiconductor Ecosystem

For companies evaluating where to design, fabricate, or scale semiconductor operations, one question sits above the rest: is the region committed to this industry for the long term, or is it chasing a moment? Greater Portland and the State of Oregon are doubling down on decades of semiconductor research & development leadership, to ensure our industry ecosystem remains at the forefront of American science & technology.

On July 14, the U.S. National Science Foundation named Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology (FAST) an NSF Regional Innovation Engine. FAST is an Oregon consortium of nearly 100 partners, administratively housed at Oregon State University, and it is set up to receive up to $160 million over the next 10 years to grow the state's semiconductor ecosystem. It is one of 12 Innovation Engines announced across 20 states.

The award is structured in stages. Each of the 12 teams receives an initial $15 million over two years, and teams that hit well-defined milestones have the potential to eventually receive up to $160 million. That structure matters: this is not a one-time grant but a decade-long commitment tied to demonstrated progress.

Greater Portland Inc is one of the FAST partner organizations, alongside regional institutions and employers across the Silicon Forest.

What Is the NSF FAST Engine?

The NSF Engines program builds and scales regional innovation clusters to accelerate development of critical technologies, grow regional economies, and secure the country's position at the forefront of science and technology. Across the 2026 cohort, the awards span technologies from energy grid security to critical minerals extraction to quantum computing.

Oregon's Engine is focused squarely on semiconductors. FAST unites partners across higher education, government, the technology industry, nonprofits, and investors, and it builds on Oregon's foundational role in advancing the semiconductor industry over decades.

Oregon State launched FAST in 2022 and in 2023 it received $1 million from the NSF Engines program to build its foundation. In 2024, NSF advanced FAST to the full proposal stage, allowing the team to compete for the up-to-$160-million award. Four years of coordinated work preceded this announcement.

"This award is NSF's recognition of the value in our region's unique ability to lead the world in design to fabrication of the world's most advanced chips," said Rob Stone, interim CEO and principal investigator of FAST and an Oregon State engineering professor.

Why Does This Matter for Companies Looking at Greater Portland?

Greater Portland is home to the Silicon Forest, with more than 350 computers and electronics manufacturers in the region and a tech talent concentration 15 times the national average. Oregon holds roughly 15% of the nation's semiconductor workforce and is the only place in the U.S. with High NA EUV technology.

FAST is designed to strengthen exactly that base. More than 40,000 Greater Portlanders work in semiconductors today, and according to FAST, Oregon's $21 billion chip sector is home to the only advanced logic design-to-fabrication capability on U.S. soil. The Engine's purpose is to compound that design advantage rather than replicate what already exists elsewhere.

Many of the region's most recognizable employers are FAST partners, including Intel, HP, Lam Research, Tektronix, Siemens, Analog Devices, NVIDIA, Synopsys, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Jireh Semiconductor. Regional academic partners include Portland State University, Portland Community College, and Mt. Hood Community College. The City of Hillsboro is a government partner, and the Technology Association of Oregon, Portland Seed Fund, Oregon Entrepreneurs Network, Elevate Capital, and Oregon Venture Fund round out the innovation and venture side.

"The NSF's investment in FAST is a real vote of confidence in US manufacturing," said Mara Howell, Oregon Factory Manager at Intel.

How Will FAST Address the Talent Pipeline?

Workforce is one of three priorities FAST will pursue with the new funding: creating career pathways to grow and sustain talent for an expanding, AI skills-dependent industry.

FAST unites K–12 schools, community colleges, universities, workforce organizations, and employers to establish scalable pathways into well-paying semiconductor jobs. According to FAST, average salaries in the roles it targets run approximately $180,000, nearly $100,000 above Oregon's average.

Kyle Ritchey-Noll of the Oregon Business Council, FAST's co-director of workforce development, framed the logic directly: the scale of the industry's talent challenge is beyond what any single sector can solve alone, and FAST has enabled cross-sector partners to build new programs and models for semiconductor career pathways.

This builds on coordinated workforce investments already underway across Oregon and Washington, and on the work regional employers are doing independently, as ADI has demonstrated in Beaverton.

What Does FAST Mean for Startups and Suppliers?

FAST's second priority is re-aligning the ecosystem to derisk and accelerate startups by building the pipeline that connects entrepreneurs, investors, and semiconductor companies.

For emerging companies, that connection is often the difference between a promising technology and a commercial one. Rob Stone noted that FAST will help startups and small businesses engage in the research and development that maintains U.S. leadership in the sector.

The third priority closes the loop on research: identifying the innovations the semiconductor industry needs, then accelerating the translation of use-inspired research into practice. For companies evaluating where to place R&D functions, proximity to that pipeline is a tangible asset.

Why the Timing Works in the Region's Favor

Global demand for semiconductors is rising rapidly across artificial intelligence, electric technologies, and national security applications, and recent estimates expect roughly $1 trillion of investment into the semiconductor industry by 2030.

Companies deciding where that capital goes are weighing talent depth, research access, supply chain proximity, and policy stability. Greater Portland already competes on the first three. Oregon's CHIPS Act allocates up to $200 million for semiconductor and advanced manufacturing development, and the state's decades-long semiconductor foundation gives incoming companies infrastructure and supplier networks they would otherwise have to build.

The FAST award adds a decade-long federal commitment on top of that, and a coordinating body whose job is to make the pieces work together.

What Should Companies Take From This?

For companies evaluating West Coast locations for semiconductor design, manufacturing, R&D, or supply chain operations, the FAST award is a signal worth reading closely. It confirms that Greater Portland's semiconductor strength is being actively reinforced by federal investment, state policy, and coordinated regional partnership rather than left to run on legacy alone.

Greater Portland Inc is the regional economic development organization for the Greater Portland area. Our services are confidential and no-cost. We help companies evaluate the region, connect with the right partners and resources, and move from consideration to operation.

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