The race to build faster, smaller and more efficient chips isn’t only happening inside billion-dollar fabrication plants. It’s also happening in Oregon State University laboratories, where researchers are turning scientific breakthroughs into companies that solve some of the semiconductor industry’s toughest challenges. As the U.S. works to strengthen this critical sector, OSU has a long track record of launching spinouts and commercializing new materials, manufacturing processes and specialty chemicals that help move innovation from the lab to production.
New momentum for OSU’s innovation ecosystem
Oregon State is now leading an expanded effort to help turn research breakthroughs into new companies and commercial products. The NSF FAST Engine — recently selected as a U.S. National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine — brings together nearly 100 partners across higher education, government, the technology industry, nonprofits and investors to accelerate innovation and strengthen Oregon’s $21 billion semiconductor ecosystem.
FAST, the Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology, aims to launch 180 startups over the next 10 years, as well as produce 4,000 graduates each year, create 25,000 jobs, and generate $6.5 billion in economic growth.
OSU Advantage gives startups critical support
Oregon State has had a more comprehensive and holistic system for commercialization and entrepreneurship since launching the OSU Advantage office in 2013. According to Karl Mundorff, executive director of innovation entrepreneurship, economic development is an essential component of OSU’s land-grant mission. It’s also a strategy to make the university more competitive.
“If we’re able to offer these professors the ability to commercialize their research and see their work in the real world, we’re more likely to attract and retain the best and the brightest faculty who then attract and retain the best and the brightest graduate students,” he said. It also extends to more opportunities in undergraduate research programs.
What sets the OSU Advantage apart, Mundorff said, is structured mentoring and pathways for researchers turned entrepreneurs, a broad network of startup resources, and perhaps most importantly, connections to funding sources. OSU is a regional hub for the U.S. National Science Foundation I-Corps program, and the NSF Translation to Practice program offers subsequent bridge funding for I-Corps graduates to build, scale and transition their research into real-world products. There are also federal small business innovation grants, state programs and university matching funds.
“We built the OSU Advantage around the full commercialization pathway because no single step gets a startup to market — it’s the whole pathway, said Brian Wall, associate vice president of research innovation for economic impact. “Most incubators give you space, and some offer mentorship. OSU connects intellectual property, venture development, funding, industry contracting, talent and technical infrastructure within one system. That coordination is our distinctive advantage.”
To date, more than 500 startup concepts have gone through OSU Advantage programming, including about 120 that became companies and 60 that are actively registered with the state. In the last five years, more than 30 companies have launched from OSU research and innovation.
One of the highest-profile startups to come out of the OSU Advantage program is Agility Robotics, whose pioneering humanoid robot Digit works alongside people in manufacturing, distribution and logistics operations. The company, which completed the program in 2014, announced its plans to go public in June. In addition to its RoboFab manufacturing operations in Salem, Agility recently opened a facility in Fremont, California, focused on advancing AI technologies that will enable Digit to learn new skills and perform more sophisticated tasks.
ATAMI provides startup research and development infrastructure
In the semiconductor sector, multiple startups have research and development operations at ATAMI, OSU’s Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Institute, where scientists and engineers — many of them OSU graduates — as well as OSU students work on real industry challenges in chip manufacturing, electronics and advanced materials.
According to the head of one successful startup, Inpria President Jason Stowers, ATAMI facilities “have played a critical role in Inpria’s transition from lab-scale concepts to full high-volume manufacturing operations.” Without this incubator space and its resources, Stowers said ground-up facility construction could have been an insurmountable hurdle.
Among ATAMI clients are five semiconductor startups that have commercialized research discoveries by Oregon State faculty.
Amorphyx: Amorphous metals for thin-film electronics
Amorphyx develops next-generation thin-film transistors and other electronics from amorphous metals, using existing manufacturing equipment to simplify processes and reduce costs. Its technologies are used in OLED displays for laptops, tablets and gaming monitors and will migrate to future OLED smartphones, dramatically reducing power consumption while providing new levels of display quality. Amorphyx’s breakthroughs have produced nearly 100 patents in the U.S., China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.
Amorphyx was founded in 2012 as a spinout from Oregon State’s Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry, based on research by Distinguished Professor Doug Keszler in the College of Science and Professor Emeritus John Wager in the College of Engineering.
Inpria: A breakthrough in EUV lithography
As chips shrink, conventional photoresists struggle to absorb extreme ultraviolet light efficiently, limiting how small features can be patterned. Inpria created a first-of-its-kind metal oxide photoresist, an inorganic material that absorbs EUV light far more effectively for efficient use of EUV photons, while also demonstrating unparalleled etch selectivity. Designed, optimized and manufactured in collaboration with semiconductor companies, Inpria photoresists support high-yield, cost-effective production of increasingly powerful, energy-efficient semiconductors.
Inpria is a spinout company from another research discovery by Keszler. Founded in 2007, the company has grown to more than 100 employees in Corvallis and was acquired by JSR Corporation in 2021 for $514 million.
NexTC: High-performance coatings, lower manufacturing costs
Depositing high-performance thin-film coatings on glass and solar panels usually requires expensive, high-vacuum chambers. NexTC developed an atmospheric process for producing conductive oxide and insulator coatings without the need for high-vacuum equipment. A current U.S. Department of Energy-funded project is using NexTC-coated glass to test the long-term durability of perovskite solar panels under harsh environmental conditions.
Founded in 2018, NexTC is a spinout company from Oregon State’s Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry, commercializing research by former postdoctoral scholar Cory Perkins and Keszler. The company was acquired by Tandem PV in August.
Phosio: Next-generation optics for smart glasses and displays
Building the next generation of smart glasses requires complex, expensive manufacturing processes that make devices difficult to scale and too costly for everyday consumers. Phosio’s proprietary thin-film materials platform combines innovative semiconductor manufacturing with low-temperature processing to simplify production, enabling lighter, more affordable AI glasses that can be manufactured at scale.
Phosio co-founder Omid Sadeghi came to the United States in 2013 to pursue a Ph.D. in materials chemistry at Oregon State. The company recently raised $4 million in venture capital, and Sadeghi plans to build a pilot plant in Oregon in 2027.
Valliscor: Supporting the U.S. chip supply chain
Manufacturing advanced logic and memory chips requires specialized fluorinated chemicals that are difficult to source domestically. Valliscor combines proprietary chemical synthesis and manufacturing technologies with expertise in handling complex compounds to develop the fluorinated etchant gases used to create the microscopic features found in next-generation semiconductors.
Valliscor was co-founded in 2012 by Rich G. Carter, professor of chemistry in the College of Science and faculty lead for innovation excellence, and industrial chemist Michael Standen. The company is building a $25 million facility in Albany to significantly expand its production capacity, creating jobs and strengthening the supply chain to support semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S.
OSU as a catalyst for semiconductor innovation and entrepreneurship
As the U.S. invests in rebuilding its semiconductor capacity, Oregon State University is demonstrating how academic research can accelerate innovation, strengthen supply chains and train the workforce needed for the next generation of technology. The spinouts emerging from OSU’s labs, including Amorphyx, Inpria, NexTC, Phosio and Valliscor, illustrate a powerful model: discovery, development and deployment, all supported by a university ecosystem focused on real-world impact.
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