A new microelectronics program at Boise State University: The Idaho Microelectronics Manufacturing Research Center (IM/sup 2/RC)

The microelectronics industry in Boise and the surrounding Inter-Mountain region has grown rapidly during the past decade. This growth has led to an urgent need for local microelectronics education opportunities at the associate, bachelor, and graduate levels. In 1995, an AAS program in Semiconductor Technology was created at BSU. Then, with strong support from local industry (particularly Micron Technology), the State of Idaho transformed what had been a satellite engineering program from University of Idaho, Moscow ID into a new School of Engineering at Boise State. BS degree programs in Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical engineering were established, a nationwide search for a new faculty was performed, and classes began in August 1996. Microelectronics is the clear focus of BSU's new program, with four of the new faculty specializing in this area.