The USF College of Engineering\u2019s NSF Research Traineeship program, \u201cScience, Technology,
\n Engineering Program for Upward Partnership for Advancing Microelectronics Education
\n and Training\u201d, has received the 2026 Florida Semiconductor Institute Semiconductor
\n Workforce Development Program of Excellence Award.<\/p>\n
The FSI Workforce Development Program of Excellence recognizes Florida\u2019s most outstanding
\n workforce development initiatives that are expanding a highly skilled, job ready semiconductor
\n talent pipeline. Award recipients demonstrate leadership in innovation, measurable
\n trainee outcomes, and the ability to create scalable career pathways.<\/p>\n
In addition, Ashok Kumar, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace
\n Engineering and director of the NSF NRT program at USF, has been selected as an FSI
\n fellow. The fellowship recognizes sustained leadership in advancing semiconductor
\n research, education, and workforce development across the state.<\/p>\n
The USF STEP UP NRT program integrates advanced microelectronics research, interdisciplinary
\n collaboration, and structured professional development to prepare graduate trainees
\n for careers in academia, industry, and federal laboratories. The program is supported
\n by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2347019 and by the Florida High
\n Tech Corridor Program.
The program\u2019s success is closely tied to the semiconductor fabrication facilities
\n housed within the Nanotechnology Research and Education Center, which provide critical
\n infrastructure for research and workforce preparation.<\/p>\n
Both recognitions were formally presented at the 2026 Florida Semiconductor Summit
\n held February 23-25 in Orlando.<\/p>\n
This recognition reflects the continued expansion of USF Engineering\u2019s semiconductor
\n research ecosystem and its contribution to Florida\u2019s growing technology sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The USF College of Engineering\u2019s NSF Research Traineeship program, \u201cScience, Technology, Engineering Program for Upward Partnership for Advancing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-178162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}