Congressman Honda, Secretary Carter Announce Quarter Billion Dollar Investment in Silicon Valley

New Public-Private Partnership Will Build a New Manufacturing Innovation Institute

Silicon Valley, Calif. – August 31, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Congressman Mike Honda (D-Silicon Valley) and Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced the latest Manufacturing Innovation Institute in Silicon Valley. The institute brings together over $150 million in private funding with $75 million from the Department of Defense (DoD) to bring to market Flexible Hybrid Electronics.

“I congratulate FlexTech Alliance, Silicon Valley, and their 162 partners around California and the nation for their successful bid to form this new advanced manufacturing center. As the epicenter of American innovation, Silicon Valley is uniquely poised to be the leader in advanced manufacturing. Headquartering this Flexible Hybrid Electronics hub in San Jose ensures that the best of Silicon Valley’s tremendous academic, commercial, industrial, public, and labor resources are available to bridge the technology transfer gap and develop this emerging, game-changing technology as it reshapes the electronics industry and brings good-paying, middle-class manufacturing jobs to the BayArea,” said Congressman Honda.

Honda led the efforts in Congress to bring the institute to Silicon Valley. Congressman Honda led a Silicon Valley Congressional delegation letter to Governor Brown in February to advocate for state support of the FlexTech Alliance led proposal and in June, Congressman Honda rallied 24 members of the California Congressional delegation to send a letter to Secretary Carter to advocate for the institute to be located in Silicon Valley. The letter to Governor Brown can be found here, and the letter to Secretary Carter can be found here.

The new advanced manufacturing center, led by San Jose-based FlexTech Alliance, will focus on research, product development, and bringing to market Flexible Hybrid Electronics. FlexTech Alliance has brought together academic, industry, non-profits, and government partners to focus on the emerging field of Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE). The group includes a diverse partnership of California based private industry leaders – including Qualcomm, Applied Materials, and Flextronics, trade associations – including Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), and academic institutions – including the University of California, San Diego; the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, San Francisco; San Jose State University; California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; and Stanford University.

“FlexTech Alliance applauds the efforts of Rep. Mike Honda to support our Manufacturing Institute proposal and galvanize resources from federal and state levels. We are very grateful for his enthusiastic backing,” said Michael Ciesinski, President & CEO of FlexTech Alliance.

The emerging FHE field has the potential to reshape the electronics industry by allowing for electronic devices to be printed and attached to flexible, conformable materials like fabric or curved surfaces. Private companies and the U.S. military will benefit from the technology by creating wearable electronics.

The institute will be a part of National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI), which focuses on emerging technologies that are set to reshape advanced manufacturing. These centers of innovation have a proven track record of creating good-paying manufacturing jobs. Congressman Honda has long been a champion of NNMI centers and as the Ranking Member of the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommittee, he has repeatedly pushed for increasing the funding and resources available to federal agencies to dramatically increase the number of these public-private innovation centers.

“Today’s announcement promises to further strengthen a U.S. manufacturing base that remains critical to the incredible innovation that takes place in Silicon Valley and other regions of the country,” said John Mitchell, president and CEO of IPC – Association Connecting Electronics Industries®. “I commend Congressman Mike Honda for his steadfast leadership in support of advanced manufacturing and the FlexTech Alliance, of which IPC will be an enthusiastic partner.”

Press Contact
Lauren Smith | Communications Director & Senior Advisor | lauren.smith (at) mail.house (dot) gov | (202) 225-2631