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Program

Plenary Speakers

Matthew Walsh

Matthew Walsh
Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS)
Naval Surface Warfare Center
Crane, IN

Presentation Title: OUSD IBAS RESHAPE Project

Abstract: As microelectronic technology developments occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, it was perceived that packaging technologies became very mature and did not require new developments. Therefore, the majority of microelectronics packaging manufacturing was off shored to China and Pacific Rim countries such as Singapore, Malesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia for their low-cost labor and the absence of environmental restrictions to manufacturing. The microelectronics packaging industry since this off-shoring has remained being seen as mature with no requirements for developments and thus remains off-shore.

With Moore's Law coming to an end for IC processing, and a continuing need to reduce SWaP-C and increase performance, the introduction of 2.5-D and 3-D Advanced Packaging has become a focal point for DoD and Commercial applications. It is now in the forefront of development activities worldwide. As the microelectronics evolution progresses, circuit feature sizes decrease to accommodate the need for high-density packaging.

Theoretical feature size limits in the 2-D space and the cost to increase wafer size forces suppliers to move towards 3-D heterogeneous architectures. Integrating ICs from multiple technology nodes to increase cost-efficiency by only fabricating the components that need the highest performance, power advantage, and area savings in the latest node technology, while fabricating other system components at cheaper nodes. Improvements in advanced packaging is required for seamless integration. Although the European and Asian semiconductor industries have embraced these developments, no single country has emerged as a front-runner in the development and scale-up of advanced microelectronics 3-D packaging technologies and manufacturing processes. This provides an opportunity for the US to advance as a worldwide leader, developer, and supplier of these foundational and dual-use technologies.

The focus of the OUSD IBAS RESHAPE (Re-shore Ecosystem for Secure Heterogeneous Advanced Packaged Electronics) effort is to develop a domestic, trusted, pure-play and open-access advanced packaging manufacturing ecosystem for low-volume/high-mix production of 2.5-D and 3-D Advanced System Integration and Packaging (ASIP) secure solutions. This prototype effort relates to foundational Advanced Packaging manufacturing capabilities required for advanced system integration of microelectronics packages including the following:

  • Wafer Preparation
  • Wafer Bumping
  • Silicon Interposer Fabrication
  • III/V Interposer Fabrication
  • Classified Interposer Assembly
  • Advanced Test and Failure Analysis Capability
  • Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging
  • Wafer-Level High-Density Interconnects
  • Advanced Thermal Technologies
  • Specialized Packaging for RF and Photonics
  • Assembly Design Kits (ADKs) for SOTA Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Tools

Biography: Matthew Walsh is the Advanced Packaging Chief Engineer, Industrial Policy, Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy. He is the technical lead on the Secure Advanced Packaging project within the Reshore Ecosystem for Secure Heterogeneous Advanced Packaged Electronics (RESHAPE) effort, and technical SME for other microelectronics projects within the OSD IBAS. Within the Navy, Matt was Advanced Radars Chief Engineer developing advanced packaging technologies for advanced radars, electronic warfare, and communication sensors. Matt has been in the electronics industry since 1988 with most of those years in the industry developing IC packaging technologies, powertrain electronics, radar sensors and harsh environment electronics for automotive and commercial vehicles. He has 13 published papers, 8 patents and 4 defensive publications in the automotive world, and 5 patents with the Navy.

 


 

John Oakley

John Oakley
Semiconductor Research Corporation
Science Director
Durham, North Carolina

Presentation Title: SRC's Microelectronics and Advanced Packaging Technologies (MAPT) Roadmap: Driving a New Era of Innovation in Semiconductors and Digital Twins

Abstract:The semiconductor industry is on the brink of a new era of innovation, propelled by the convergence of Microelectronics and Advanced Packaging Technologies (MAPT). This talk explores how the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) is spearheading this transformation by democratizing and accelerating innovation in research, design, and manufacturing.

Central to this initiative is the development of a Digital Twin Platform/Framework (DT backbone) that serves as the foundation for collaborative endeavors. This framework will ensure data and tool accessibility across all members while prioritizing secure management protocols. SRC is fostering an ecosystem where members can engage and exchange ideas, collaborate on project proposals, conduct privately-funded projects, access funding opportunities, and test Digital Twin innovations.

An integral aspect of SRC's MAPT Roadmap is the emphasis on attracting and training a workforce equipped to harness the potential of Digital Twins. By integrating Digital Twin technologies into education and training programs, SRC ensures a pipeline of talent capable of driving innovation forward. Ultimately, SRC's MAPT roadmap is not only about conceptualization but also about delivery. By seamlessly integrating Digital Twin innovations into the manufacturing value chain, SRC is paving the way for a future where semiconductor advancements are not only envisioned but also realized.

Biography: John Oakley, a Science Director at SRC, is focused on leading several collaborative research programs including Hardware Security (HWS), Packaging (PKG), AI Hardware (AIHW), and Supply Chain AI Realized Future (SCARF). John works closely with government, industry, and university partners to advance these research topics. Through this work John has created and managed research programs in collaboration with industry, government, and academia. John also serves as a Board member of the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research (FICS).

A graduate of Texas A&M University, John has over 20 years of successful digital design and architecture experience in industry and was formerly a RF Control Architect at Intel Corporation, at Motorola, Freescale, Fujitsu. John has 14 issued patents and has developed more than 55 successful integrated devices, several of which have shipped in high volumes. He has worked in numerous digital system spaces and was focused on the transceiver and modem fields and on the control planes of cellular platforms.

 


 

Art Wall

Art Wall
Director of Engineering & Fab Operations
NextFlex

Presentation Title: The Use of Additive Hybrid Electronics as a Key Element in the National Strategy for Advanced Packaging

Abstract: There are many challenges and opportunities for the use of additive or printed electronic interconnect to packaging. The manufacturing opportunities include significantly lower cost of entry, inherently fewer process steps, wide variety of materials options, reduced impact on waste, water and power, and the opportunity for viable low volume, high mix electronic device production. The technology is still evolving with some notable innovations that can have a large impact on the future capability. In some cases, these can be disruptive but need further maturity. In the end, reliable solutions to integrated high resolution printing and economical multilayer processes are required to have the greatest impact on electronic advanced packaging.

Biography: Art Wall is the Director of Engineering and Fab Operations at NextFlex, managing the Technology Hub which houses multiple novel electronics manufacturing capabilities for Flexible Hybrid Electronics development and prototyping, a novel new way of producing electronics devices. Prior to joining NextFlex, Art led many different groups of organizations and technologies associated with hard drive products for both IBM and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. His most recent efforts prior to joining NextFlex were as a co-founder and Vice President of NuvoSun, an innovative thin film photovoltaic company that was acquired by The Dow Chemical Company. Art has a Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Minnesota, has co-authored more than 30 articles in refereed journals, presented at more than 20 US and International Conferences, and holds 7 US patents.

 


 

Dr. Radha Nagarajan

Dr. Radha Nagarajan
SVP and CTO
Marvell's Optical and Cloud Connectivity Group

Presentation Title: 2.5D/3D Integration for High-Speed Light Engines

Abstract: Massive deployments of AI data centers have rapidly pushed the speed of optical interconnects from 800Gbit/s to 1.6Tbit/s and beyond, while placing a premium on power, performance and latency.

In this talk, we discuss the use of 3D heterogeneous integration, on silicon photonics, to enable low energy, high density high speed optical interconnects for these applications.

Heterogeneous optical integration in this talk, is where separately manufactured electronic components and semiconductor lasers are assembled on to an active silicon photonics interposer to form a Light Engine.

This process allows for the integration of components independently designed and optimized from several different technology and foundry platforms onto a common interposer.

Biography: Dr. Radha Nagarajan is currently the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Marvell's Optical and Cloud Connectivity Group. At Marvell, he manages the development of the company's optical platform technology and products. Concurrently, he is a Visiting Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the National University of Singapore. He received his B.Eng. from the National University of Singapore, M.Eng. from the University of Tokyo, Japan and Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, all in Electrical Engineering.

Dr. Nagarajan's other recognitions include the IEEE/LEOS Aron Kressel Award, the IPRM Award and the Optica David Richardson Medal for breakthrough work in the development and manufacturing of photonic integrated circuits. He was named to Electro Optics’ The Photonics100 in 2024 which honors the industry’s most innovative people. He has been awarded more than 245 US patents and is a Fellow of Optica, IEEE, and IET.

 


 

Dr. Peter de Bock

Dr. Peter de Bock
Program Director
Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)
US Department of Energy

Presentation Title: ARPA-E COOLERCHIPS Technology for a Future of Energy Efficient High Power Density/AI Data Centers

Abstract: The Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) was founded to support high‐risk/high‐reward technologies that could lead to transformational impact in the energy space.

The $42M COOLERCHIPS program supports teams to develop a new generation of transformational, highly efficient, and reliable cooling technologies for data centers. The target for COOLERCHIPS is to reduce total cooling energy TUE to less than 5% of a typical data center’s IT load at any time and any U.S. location for future high-density compute systems for Enterprise, AI and High-Performance Computing.

Technologies supported include broad technical teams pursuing transformational concepts in single-phase, two-phase, immersion and passive cooling methods. COOLERCHIPS technologies will achieve these goals by dramatically reducing the thermal resistance of heat rejection to R<0.01 K/W through diverse approaches, which will allow for coolants to exist at temperatures much closer to operating temperatures of the latest generation of chips (targeting <10°C difference between chip and coolant for >1kW chipsets). This will result in more efficient heat removal from the facility. The program will develop solutions for systems of >80kW/m3, equivalent to about >3kW per server or 126kW/42U rack and modular data centers with >20kW/m3 or about >1MW per 40ISO container. In addition, there is an emphasis to develops new tools and methods for component and system reliability engineering to ensure that data center system uptime similar to existing air-cooled data centers today, 99.982% tier 3 can be maintained.

An overview of the program, technology approaches and impact paths will be presented.

Biography: Dr. Peter de Bock currently serves as Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) for the US Department of Energy.

At ARPA-E Dr. de Bock developed the COOLERCHIPS program focused on making a transformational leap in efficiency of cooling of Data Center and leads and developed the ASCEND and PRE-TRAILS programs to realize a future of sustainable aviation. In addition, Dr. de Bock manages projects in the areas of ultra-high power density battery systems, hydrogen storage and propulsion, additive manufacturing and power electronics. Prior to joining ARPA-E, Dr. de Bock worked at GE Research as Principal Engineer ThermoSciences and platform lead Power-Thermal Mechanical Systems. Dr. de Bock is the former chair of ASME K-16 committee on Heat Transfer in Electronics equipment, ASME Fellow, AIAA member and holds 50+ patents and publications.

Dr. de Bock received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and holds MSc degrees from University of Twente in the Netherlands, and University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

 


 

Ani Natekar

Ani Natekar
Technical Sourcing Manager
Meta Platform Inc.
Fremont, California

Presentation Title: Data Center Industry’s Supply Chain Readiness and Scalability for Liquid Cooling

Abstract: Over the past couple of years, the industry has significantly improved our understanding of AI/ML module and rack power estimations and the datacenters needed to support this new performance envelope. Until a few short years ago, supply chains for liquid cooling and 1000W TDP/ GPU were thought to be a problem we might need to address by the end of the decade. Over the past couple of years, we started exploring how to deal with those levels of heat rejection and evaluating if the technologies we are developing today can address these heat rejections. By last year, we were building data centers and setting up supply chains to accommodate heat rejections well above those thresholds. To accommodate for these high heat rejection demands, the industry, including Meta, had to transition away from a decade long history of air-cooled data centers and introduce liquid to the rack. Given the extensive footprint of air-cooled data centers in the world and the times it takes to design and build a new liquid cooled datacenter, the industry has had to develop solutions that can cater to high performance compute in both infrastructure applications.

At Meta, we strive to develop a stable supply chain for our data center infrastructure that will account for the technological advancements needed for our high-performance needs and deliver on Meta's corporate sustainability targets while maintaining our abilities to efficiently manage our growing footprint. We are doing this by focusing on three primary drivers: performance, sustainability, and operability. We are also continuously refining and building out our technology pipeline by a combination of work streams around academic institutions, industry affiliations, supplier roadmaps and in-house developments. In this talk, we would like to share how we saw the industry identify key driving factors in a technology shift, down select the appropriate technology and standup stable supply chains in a limited vendor landscape to enable the industry pivot to liquid cooling.

Biography: Ani Natekar currently serves as technical sourcing manager at Meta where is responsible for a techno-commercial roadmap through the end of the decade. Ani has been instrumental in driving Meta’s journey towards liquid cooling by predicting changes in technology ahead of the curve, developing metrics and development criterion to evaluate these technological changes and enabling a stable supply chain to support the execution of these technological changes into our data centers. Over the past few years, this has involved setting a vision for a new supply chain catering to performance, sustainability and operability and incorporated explorations around chiller plants, natural refrigerants, various liquid to liquid and liquid to air heat exchanger systems and supply chain developments of these commodities. Ani stays curious around liquid cooling optionality, industry adoption of technologies beyond the now ubiquitous single phase cold plate, high performance and sustainable fluids and explorations in advanced packaging. Prior to joining Meta, Ani spent ~15 year in the industrial and automotive space leading engineering, product development, marketing, general management, and business development teams. Notably the last ~6 years where he sold into the data center industry. Experiencing growth within the hyperscale industry for about a decade, Ani was able to bring the growth mindset to Meta's supply chain drafting our first supplier partnership program and helping move our sourcing efforts from commodity sourcing to strategic supply chain management.