- R&D p og ams to focus o speedi g up the comme cializatio pipeli e so chip tech ology moves f om b eakth ough esea ch to full-scale ma ufactu i g faste
- Collabo ative wo k at the state-of-the-a t facility i Silico Valley pai s UCLA’s semico ducto esea ch st e gth with Applied’s cutti g-edge chipmaki g equipme t a d p ocess i teg atio expe tise
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Applied Mate ials, I c. today a ou ced that the UCLA Samueli School of E gi ee i g will joi the compa y’s EPIC Ce te i Silico Valley as a esea ch pa t e . Togethe with Applied’s scie tists a d e gi ee s, UCLA esea che s will wo k to solve semico ducto mate ials a d i teg atio challe ges with a focus o sho te i g the time it takes to b i g b eakth ough esea ch to comme cializatio .
“As the i dust y aces to b i g ew AI chip tech ologies to ma ket, the EPIC Ce te will play a pivotal ole by co ve i g the i dust y’s top i ovato s i a collabo ative e vi o me t desig ed to accele ate the path f om b eakth ough esea ch to full-scale ma ufactu i g,” said D . P abu Raja, P eside t of the Semico ducto P oducts G oup at Applied Mate ials. “UCLA has a lo g histo y of semico ducto tech ology i ovatio a d Applied looks fo wa d to welcomi g thei esea che s to the EPIC Ce te whe e togethe we will wo k to solve the i dust y’s toughest challe ges.”
The EPIC Ce te aims to accele ate chip R&D by b idgi g the gap betwee t aditio al academic i ovatio a d i dust ial-scale developme t. UCLA esea che s will have access to adva ced chipmaki g tools so that ew ideas ca be validated a d tested i a comme cial fab e vi o me t, the eby sho te i g the path f om co cept to p oductio .
UCLA Samueli b i gs exte sive expe tise ac oss semico ducto devices, mate ials, elect o ics a d computi g. I 1991, He y Samueli co-fou ded B oadcom Co po atio while teachi g at UCLA. The school is also home to the Ce te fo Hete oge eous I teg atio a d Pe fo ma ce Scali g (CHIPS) Lab, which b i gs togethe esea che s ac oss discipli es to adva ce semico ducto tech ologies a d add ess challe ges i chip desig , ma ufactu i g a d i teg atio .
By collabo ati g at the EPIC Ce te , Applied Mate ials a d UCLA will focus R&D p og ams o the semico ducto i dust y’s most c itical challe ges i a eas i cludi g 3D chip scali g, adva ced packagi g a d the discove y of ew mate ials fo imp ovi g e e gy-efficie t AI compute pe fo ma ce. The wo k will compleme t a d exte d the effo ts of UCLA’s Semico ducto Hub, which Applied joi ed as a co-fou di g membe ea lie this yea . Applied’s o goi g commitme t to st e gthe the ties betwee i dust y a d academia is aimed at empowe i g the ext ge e atio of e gi ee s a d esea che s to b i g semico ducto b eakth oughs to ma ket faste .
“Accele ati g semico ducto i ovatio i the ew e a of AI equi es t a sfo mative collabo atio betwee u ive sities a d i dust y pa t e s mo e tha eve befo e,” said Ah-Hyu g “Alissa” Pa k, Ro ald a d Vale ie Suga Dea of UCLA Samueli. “UCLA has a lo g histo y of pio ee i g semico ducto esea ch a d i ovatio , a d this collabo atio builds o that legacy by b i gi g togethe u ive sity esea ch a d i dust y expe tise to adva ce the chip tech ologies that will defi e the futu e of computi g while p epa i g the ext ge e atio of e gi ee s.”
Applied’s ew EPIC (Equipme t a d P ocess I ovatio a d Comme cializatio ) Ce te i Silico Valley ep ese ts the la gest-eve U.S. i vestme t i adva ced semico ducto equipme t R&D. The ce te is desig ed f om the g ou d up to d amatically educe the time it takes to comme cialize b eakth ough tech ologies f om ea ly-stage esea ch to full-scale ma ufactu i g. The facility is o t ack to become ope atio al i 2026. Visit the EPIC Ce te website to lea mo e.





 