Editor's Note: This story was originally published Oct. 20 in advance of the LVEDC's Fall Signature event Nov. 8 at Iacocca Hall at Lehigh University.
The Lehigh Valley's semiconductor industry, which includes more than 30 companies that employ 1,500 people, will be the subject of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.'s Fall Signature Event, presented by Intel, on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 4 p.m. at Iacocca Hall at Lehigh University.
A regional consortium led by LVEDC recently applied for the Lehigh Valley to be designated as a Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs under the CHIPS and Science Act. The federal government is looking for regions with the assets, resources, and capacity to become globally competitive centers for the technologies and industries of the future. While the Lehigh Valley was not among those designated, the application process helped stitch together the region's innovative tech companies and build a partnerships that will position the Lehigh Valley to be competitive.
The Lehigh Valley already has a strong ecosystem that is making a national impact. It stems from the rich history of innovation that began with the nation’s first mass production of transistors seven decades ago in Allentown. Here is a photo gallery of some of the products that are made and some of the people who make them at a few of those companies. (Photos by Donna Fisher Photography)
Broadcom, Upper Macungie Township
Broadcom operates a wafer fabrication facility in Upper Macungie Township that develops and manufactures indium phosphide semiconductor lasers and detectors for fiber-optic networks and data centers. Those technologies are key to recent developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning. About 250 employees and contractors work in the 24-hour, seven-day a week operation.
iDEAL Semiconductor, Bethlehem
iDEAL Semiconductor, located at Ben Franklin TechVentures in Bethlehem, has developed “SuperQ™,” a technology at the atomic scale that dramatically improves energy efficiency. It is applicable to all types of semiconductors and works by opening more room on the devices for conduction, reducing resistance and energy loss.
Infinera, Upper Macungie Township
Infinera designs, manufactures, packages, assembles, and tests optoelectronic packages and modules built around its unique optical, compound semiconductor photonic integrated circuits. Chips produced in the company’s California-based fab are sent to its 60,000 square-foot advanced testing and packaging (ATP) facility in Upper Macungie Township that employs about 300 people. There, those chips are tested for quality, and then assembled into modules to be inserted into optical transport equipment used for networking, cloud connectivity, and data center interconnect services.
