Government-funded IBAS Program Enters Next Phase of Silicon Interposer Development at NeoCity in Florida

DoD’s investment of up to $20M enables BRIDG and partners, imec and SkyWater to support next-generation electronic systems that will strengthen national security

BRIDG, a not-for-profit, public-private partnership specializing in advanced system integration and packaging, today announced the U.S. Department of Defense-funded Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) technology development program has kicked off phase four of its contract. The IBAS program’s goal is to establish a comprehensive domestic silicon interposer manufacturing capability, supporting several advanced electronic systems.

Awarded to BRIDG in October 2019, phase one of the program was completed in November 2022 with BRIDG partners, imec and SkyWater Technology. The IBAS federal defense contract, valued at up to $20 million, provides an advanced packaging technology for next generation microelectronic multi-chip systems that will strengthen national security and cyber resiliency for the U.S. defense industrial base.

“We are excited to launch the next phase of this contract,” stated Jim Vandevere, president of BRIDG. “The continued support from IBAS to foster advanced packaging technologies is an acknowledgement to what our NeoCity coalition is all about.”

Silicon interposers are used to integrate semiconductor devices into a highly compact and power efficient format, providing increased performance and capability. Versatile and compact, silicon interposers are quickly becoming one of the most popular choices for advanced packaging.

“This final program phase is an important milestone as we prepare our interposer platform offering,” said Dale Miller, SkyWater Florida vice president and general manager. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with BRIDG and imec to complete this phase and provide a broader interposer technology offering that will support RF, digital and mixed signal applications.”

“We look forward to having this next phase of silicon interposer technology available to support next generation applications for the DoD,” stated Matt Walsh, Office of the Secretary of Defense IBAS advanced packaging chief engineer. “The OSD IBAS organization understands the critical need for an advanced packaging ecosystem in the U.S., and the silicon interposer work at BRIDG and SkyWater Technology is part of that effort.”

“We are pleased that our partnership with BRIDG and SkyWater has helped reach this next stage of the IBAS program, which leverages imec's interposer technology. Partnerships help fuel innovation, and our work with BRIDG and NeoCity is a testament to our commitment to strengthening our footprint in the U.S. and contributing to the ecosystem’s growth by levering our nearly 40 years of experience impacting innovation and advanced product roadmaps through industry-relevant R&D,” stated Raj Jammy, president of operations, imec USA.

About BRIDG

BRIDG is a not-for-profit, public-private partnership specializing in digital, RF, and photonics interposer technology development coupled with advanced packaging capabilities. As an ITAR-certified and DMEA trust-ready supplier, BRIDG offers R&D expertise and a 200mm microelectronics fabrication facility geared toward system miniaturization, device integration, hardware security, and product manufacturing key to aerospace, defense, automotive, telecommunications, medical, and the IoT/AI revolution. With support from Osceola County, Florida High Tech Corridor Council, imec, Orlando Economic Partnership, TEL, SUSS MicroTec, Siemens, and SkyWater Technology (Center for Neovation operator), BRIDG provides the physical infrastructure and collaborative process to connect challenges and opportunities with solutions; “Bridging the Innovation Development Gap” making commercialization possible. Located at NeoCity, BRIDG is centrally located 20 minutes from Orlando International Airport and within a mile of Florida’s Turnpike. www.GoBRIDG.com

About NeoCity

Following the impacts of the Great Recession, Osceola County decided to make a long-term investment to create a 500-acre technology district, known as NeoCity to diversify its economy. Since then, Osceola County, and their regional partners, have invested over $273 million to make NeoCity the hub to Central Florida’s burgeoning semiconductor industry. NeoCity’s anchor building, the Center for Neovation, (total of 109,000 sq. ft) consisting of a 36,000 square ft. cleanroom, is one of the most technologically advanced manufacturing research centers in the western hemisphere, home to SkyWater Technology, imec USA, BRIDG, TEL, and SUSS MicroTec. The Osceola County School District’s NeoCity Academy, located next to the Center for Neovation, works with SkyWater, BRIDG, and imec USA to provide internships for the high school students to work in the fab. www.NeoCityFL.com.

About SkyWater Technology

SkyWater (NASDAQ: SKYT) is a U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturer and a DMEA-accredited Category 1A Trusted Foundry. SkyWater’s Technology as a Service model streamlines the path to production for customers with development services, volume production and heterogeneous integration solutions in its world-class U.S. facilities. This pioneering model enables innovators to co-create the next wave of technology with diverse categories including mixed-signal CMOS, ROICs, rad-hard ICs, power management, MEMS, superconducting ICs, photonics, carbon nanotubes and interposers. SkyWater serves growing markets including aerospace & defense, automotive, biomedical, cloud & computing, consumer, industrial and IoT. For more information, visit www.skywatertechnology.com/.

SkyWater Technology Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements that are based on the Company’s current expectations or forecasts of future events, rather than past events and outcomes, and such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Key factors that could cause the Company’s actual results to be different than expected or anticipated include, but are not limited to, factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and in other documents that the Company files with the SEC, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.

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