U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks on the investment in science and technology in Massachusetts during her visit to the university’s Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center April 14, 2023. Warren, joined by U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, UML Chancellor Julie Chen and biotech leaders, toured the facility and spoke with researchers and students on their work. (Cameron Morsberger / Lowell Sun)
LOWELL — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren visited UMass Lowell’s Mark and Elisia Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center to meet with local technology leaders on improving scientific investment in the state on Friday.
Joined by U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan and UML Chancellor Julie Chen, Warren met with graduate students, toured the Nanofabrication Lab and sat for a roundtable discussion with representatives from the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition, who recently submitted a funding proposal to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Microelectronics Commons program.
That program, which plans to allocate about $1.6 billion to a handful of regional hubs, is funded by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the passage of which Warren previously advocated. The act bolsters the country’s production of semiconductors and other micro-technologies with nearly $50 million in additional monies — doubling the current funding.
The legislation is a source of pride for Warren, as is Massachusetts’ leadership “in cutting-edge research and innovation,” she said during the roundtable.
“The advances that we’re seeing in microelectronics research will strengthen our national security, like onshore manufacturing, and it’s going to create a lot of good jobs here in Massachusetts, which is always important to remind everyone why we care about this,” Warren said. “I’m proud to have led the entire Massachusetts delegation in making clear our views on this to the Department of Defense.”
Prior to the discussion, Warren, Trahan and Chen walked through the Nanofabrication Lab, where local agencies conduct research on the nano and micro scale. There, Warren said she spoke to scientists who are developing ways to grow organs and improve the capacity for infrared technology.
Most impressive, perhaps, was that these companies were just startups, Warren said, but are able to work in a multimillion-dollar lab. It’s that real-world impact and a look into the future of Massachusetts that Warren said “gave me goosebumps.”
“There will be young people who are deciding right now where to go to college, people from here in Massachusetts and people from out of state, who will decide to come to UMass Lowell,” Warren said, “and start participating in some aspect of one of these programs and eventually change the world.”
Trahan already knows the “incredible talent and the incredible work” that comes out of the UML system, she said, so stepping foot on campus to speak with students on the complex products they’re designing is “amazing.”
But that innovation is a result of the collaboration between the many biotechnology leaders in Massachusetts — Raytheon, MITRE and other organizations who are working together, not competing, Trahan added.
“We’ve always had world-class research institutions. We’ve got a public research institution right here in our backyard,” Trahan said. “And the fact that they’re able to work so closely with so many different aspects of industry is going to, one, create the pipeline, but two, it’s really going to make the ecosystem so much stronger.”
Massachusetts is home to a strong contingent of startups, many of which are “university-born,” said Vladimir Bulović, MIT.nano director and professor of emerging technologies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Bulović mentioned a state voucher program, in which startups receive funding to use lab-type facilities at discounted costs, thereby increasing access to those spaces. Through such investment, he said the state is able to cultivate strong startups faster.
“It takes a decade to nurture a good hard-tech startup,” Bulović said, “and figuring out ways to actually support those hard-tech startups through ecosystems like this make it just a little bit cheaper, a little bit simpler, a little bit easier… You’ve enabled us to very quickly make this 10-year journey into a five-year journey.”
It was the first time graduate student Basil Vanderbie said he’s created a poster displaying his work, but now seemed like the perfect occasion. With Sam Fedorka, the two collaborators explained their research on nanoantenna detectors and how their own detector is able to operate at room temperature, instead of at the typical minus 400 degrees cooling temperature. That has wide implications on the medical field and communication across long distances, Vanderbie explained to Warren.
Both Vanderbie and Fedorka later expressed their excitement on meeting the senator.
“It was amazing,” Fedorka said. “Sen. Warren is an inspiration … I was over the moon.”
Chen acknowledged Warren’s promotion of the CHIPS and Science Act, adding that “Massachusetts has really led the way” when it comes to science innovation.
The pioneering work at UMass Lowell is part of that charge, Warren said in an interview.
“I think one of the most extraordinary pieces of the undertaking at UMass Lowell is smaller businesses and researchers in training will be able to contribute to and benefit from the federal investment in science going forward,” Warren said.
