Scott Bukofsky has seen the evolution of the semiconductor industry and his own career in it.

As a scientist, new business developer, and as a researcher, Bukofsky, ‘92 (microelectronic engineering) brings more than 30 years of experience to his newest role in the U.S. Department of Commerce to lead its National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC). As its director of capabilities, Bukofsky coordinates national research efforts to advance semiconductor technology.

“This is a great industry. Students wondering if they are in the right place—you are. No one could have imagined how ubiquitous semiconductors would become today,” said Bukofsky. “Today’s phones are beautiful pieces of industrial design, but the fact is there are several dozen chips in there. Unless you are exposed to this, you wouldn’t necessarily know about how the computer chips all work together.”

As an RIT undergraduate, Bukofsky learned firsthand how chips and other components inside devices could work together. He took advantage of co-ops, one at IBM, where he went to work after graduation.

Based at IBM’s Research Center in Yorktown Heights, Bukofsky first worked in the DRAM and lithographic development divisions, then rose to leadership responsibilities with IBM’s worldwide sales division. He later joined Global Foundries, an international chip fabrication and manufacturing enterprise, directing its aerospace and defense programs, then Synopsis, the silicon and systems design company. Over the next several years, he was involved in all facets within the overall semiconductor industry.

“I’ve spent many years in R&D. That was a great experience. Then I was working in manufacturing, and I saw how hard it was to manufacture the chips,” he said, adding that outsourcing parts of the process was cost-effective at the time.

The pandemic was a pivotal moment, highlighting concerns based on the shortage of semiconductors being manufactured, the technical limits of materials and the need to explore alternatives.

The 2022 Chips Act, a $52 billion, three-part legislative investment, represented a major financial, manufacturing, and research commitment to the nation’s economic and security needs. It consists of $39 billion that supports manufacturing institutes and has a direct supply chain focus; $11 billion for research and development, and another $2 billion for the Department of Defense’s Microelectronics Commons. All programs have workforce development aspects.

“In creating this ecosystem for the U.S., this incentives portion of the Chips Act is really about capacity. How do we build capacity?” said Bukofsky, who will oversee multiple NSTC programs and interact with aligned programs such as the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program, the center focused on electronic packaging.

“Packaging today has the same challenges of wafer-based processing as much of it is based overseas,” he said. “Bringing that back onshore is critical.”

By the end of the decade, the semiconductor industry could be a $1 trillion per year market. Memory is one of the biggest drivers in the forecast as it relates to artificial intelligence (AI).

“Along comes AI—seemingly out of the blue—and suddenly there is this surge in demand. These are the most advanced chips driving AI and quantum technologies,” he said.

RIT is positioned well to meet this demand. Memory, storage capacity, and integrated circuit memory cells are only a few of the key areas being taught and further researched by the university’s faculty.  In September, RIT became one of the NSTC’s first awardees for workforce development initiatives.

When Bukofsky was first exploring colleges in the early 1990s, he thought microelectronics “sounded kind of cool.” Today the drive toward global dominance in leading-edge semiconductors through microelectronics and manufacturing innovation is key. Bukofsky is a major part of the drive toward that goal.

“All of that R&D, innovation and the awards are about longevity for the ecosystem in the U.S.,” he said. “We are seeing the merging of government and people in industry working on something that is transformative for the industry and on a scale that we have not done for a very long time.”