Meet the Microelectronics Commons Director: Stephanie Lin
November 9, 2023
Meet Stephanie Lin, the new Director of Microelectronics Commons here at NSTXL. Stephanie started her role in August, adjacent to the planning and launch of the Microelectronics Commons program. The program award was the first award for the Department of Defense (DoD) under the CHIPS and Science Act, officially announced at the Pentagon by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks on September 20th. The DoD created the Microelectronics Commons to address domestic prototyping challenges and expand global leadership in microelectronics within the United States.
About Stephanie
Previous to this role, Ms. Lin served as a Department of Defense contractor who advised and supported various senior leaders within the Office of the Secretary of Defense in anti-tamper, hardware assurance, and microelectronics policy. Most recently, she led policy and Congressional activities for the Defense Microelectronics Cross-Functional Team and advised the Trusted and Assured Microelectronics (T&AM) Program Manager on DoD policy and strategy. She holds degrees in electrical and computer engineering. However, she is now ready for a different type of role.
“Having spent so much time at the right-hand side of the government and its acquisitions, I wanted to immerse myself more on the private sector side to understand better the challenges from that perspective,” said Ms. Lin. “I know there are a lot of barriers to overcome and conversations to be had and I truly seek out this challenge because I know that’s where the growth happens and the best lessons learned are obtained.”
Current Role
As the NSTXL Director of Microelectronics Commons, Stephanie Lin aims to leverage her role within the Consortium Manager to work with the DoD and microelectronics community to facilitate the establishment of this lab-to-fab technology prototyping pipeline. She will be responsible for facilitating alignment across the 8 regional Hubs that were designated by the DoD. This effort will ensure that all contributors can leverage the benefits of this nationwide effort while enjoying the agility of independent operations. Stephanie plans to leverage the Commons Hub Board to address collaboration challenges, which will serve to facilitate and manage cross-Hub discussions around infrastructure and technology within Commons.
“Given that the end goal for Microelectronics Commons is that the Hubs are self-sustaining, it behooves us to try to work through as many challenges at the Hub level as we can and the Commons Hub Board will provide that platform.”
About Microelectronics Commons
The Microelectronics Commons not only focuses on the technology, but also on it’s transition and the development of a robust workforce. The projects will be tied to end-application technology areas, which more easily connects the prototyping with commercialization or other technology transition opportunities. The Commons also focuses on the establishment of infrastructure for the prototyping pipeline that provides the environment in which technologies are developed.
“The infrastructure is just as important as the technology, or even more important, I’d argue that the technology is the short game but the infrastructure provides the long-game lab-to-fab prototyping pipeline that should sustain beyond the selected technologies for the next 5 years,” Lin mentioned.
Comprised of a diverse set of partners in the private sector, the not-for-profit sector, and academia, the Microelectronics Commons has garnered rapid nationwide support, engagement, and public interest since the awardees were announced at the Pentagon.
“Ideally, this also means a lot of incentivized collaboration and synergy at the regional level to further establish those relationships and economies for the long haul.”
Connect
While you do not have to be a Hub member to get involved in this effort, membership allows for facilitated connections with any of the 8 Hub leads, who serve as the primary interface points to the community. Members of these Hubs will have the closest access to communication with the Hub leads. Additionally, only these Hubs will have access to submit proposals to the NSTXL Call for Projects. Once projects are released, all Hub members may submit solutions. Learn more about the benefits of membership here.
You can connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn or reach out to our team at marketing@nstxl.org to set up a call. If you’d like to learn more about the Hubs, click here.
About SpEC
The Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC) was created in 2017 through the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. SpEC was created to bridge the cultural gap between military buyers and commercial space startups and small businesses through OTAs. SpEC’s innovative contracting process allows them to solicit bids from a mix of member companies including companies that have not previously done work with the DoD.
About NSTXL
NSTXL is focused on building a network of innovators and creators across the most sought-after emerging technology fields. As an open-source platform, our approach was designed to encourage network growth and collaboration without stifling change. We support our network by providing commercial-term contracting, open-source technology discovery, modern-day marketing outreach, a strongly interconnected network for easy teaming and cybersecurity compliance support.