Albany Nanotech’s Grose: ‘The right players are here’
The recently retired leader and NY CREATES CEO sees limitless potential in research and development
Doug Grose left his job overseeing the day-to-day operations at Albany Nanotech last week, but his influence won’t fade away.
Grose, who since 2018 has served as president of NY CREATES, the quasi-govvernment nonprofit that oversees Albany Nanotech’s real estate, research and economic development programs, retired June 30.
However the longtime IBM executive who later became CEO of Globalfoundries as it was getting its Saratoga County chip factory off the ground, won’t be stepping away from the Albany semiconductor scene anytime soon. He has agreed to become chair of the NY CREATES board of directors, a position that should keep him tied into the Capital Region’s tech sector as it embarks on a potentially transformative period that could bring billions of dollars in federal and private funding in the next several years to the area.
Grose, who grew up in the Mohawk Valley and has a home in Tupper Lake in the Adirondacks, spoke to the Times Union on Tuesday when he made his retirement from NY CREATES official. He exited one role but was appointed chair of the organization’s board.
Grose came out of retirement in 2018 to take the job of president of NY CREATES, which was started to expand the mission of Albany Nanotech and make its governance structure more transparent. That move was needed after two little-known nonprofits that owned Albany Nanotech’s real estate and ran its research and economic development programs became ensnared in scandal, leading to the dismissal of Albany Nanotech founder Alain Kaloyeros in 2016.
Grose says it is still a challenge convincing commercial research partners that the scandal is a thing of the past, but he and the NY CREATES team have been extremely successful in inking new long-term research agreements with IBM, Applied Materials and others that have aided the long-term success of Albany Nanotech and positioned it for a potential $2 billion-plus federal computer chip research lab that IBM and Albany Nanotech are planning to build in Albany and potentially others sites across upstate.
The money for the federal chip lab — dubbed the National Semiconductor Technology Center — is part of the $52 billion in federal funding plan being pushed through Congress by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer for
the semiconductor industry to combat China’s growing influence in chip making. China’s rise has caught the attention of the U.S. military, which doesn’t want to rely on Chinese tech for its weapons systems and is trying to ensure that the U.S. chip industry has a robust domestic manufacturing ecosystem that can be verified as safe.
Grose said the COVID-19 pandemic and the global chip shortage that followed helped to highlight the issues that the U.S. electronics market and the military face. And he said it’s why Schumer’s subsidy program, originally called the CHIPS Act, is so important to the country and why the Capital Region can play a vital role.
The fact that Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, has decided to join IBM’S research operations in Albany — which already include Samsung — is a major development amid the $52 billion semiconductor spending package Congress wants to pass, Grose said.
“I think it’s an enormous deal in terms of trying to concentrate some federal funding around prototyping and developing the new technology that’s going to continue to push advanced electronics in this country, but don’t underestimate the announcement with Intel,” Grose said.
“That’s a huge step, as one of the leading players will be joining us (along with Samsung and IBM). The right players are here, and now we’ve got to make our proposal (for the NSTC) broad enough to attract the other players.”
With Samsung and
Intel now working with IBM at Albany Nanotech, and $52 billion in potential federal subsidies to entice chip makers to build new U.S. chip fabs, upstate New York and the Capital Region could soon have the largest concentration of new chip manufacturing in the U.S.
Globalfoundries, which employs 3,000 at its Fab 8 chip factory in Malta, has said it would build a second fab in Malta with federal funding. Intel and Samsung are also looking at new sites upstate.
Grose said that while China tried unsuccessfully 20 years ago to build out its own chip making industry and secure its own supply chain, it has been making the right moves lately, focusing on design and “packaging,” which involves how different parts of a chip are stacked.
Getting manufacturing right can be difficult, which is why the U.S. is so focused on funding a new NSTC that could be based in Albany.
Such a win for Albany Nanotech would likely lead to new chip fabs upstate within a close proximity to Albany Nanotech.
“It could bring more manufacturing to New York state and potentially all the big players here,” Grose said.
Grose is pushing for his replacement to be someone who has been in the industry. The NY CREATES board, which he now chairs, will make the ultimate decision.
“That’s what I’m pushing for, I think that’s the best thing, somebody that’s familiar with the industry, especially now at this time and not necessarily someone that’s been in academics,”
Grose said. “This place is less about academics and more about piloting, prototyping and research and development.”
Grose did not say whether Paul Kelly, NY CREATES chief operating officer, would be a potential candidate, although on paper Kelly would appear to be an ideal choice.
The search for a new president has not officially started.