Agenda
The 2026 Texas Semiconductor Summit begins with a Wednesday evening welcome reception, followed by two focused days of programming: Day 1 centered on research, technology, and innovation; Day 2 centered on workforce, ecosystem, and talent pipeline development.
Welcome Reception
Opening Reception
Day 1 • Research/Technology/Innovation
Breakfast & Registration
Welcome
Keynote
The Semiconductor Industry Outlook: What Changes Next, and Where Texas Fits
This spotlight conversation will connect the national semiconductor industry outlook with Texas's role in the next phase of growth. The discussion will examine what is changing across the industry, which demand drivers appear durable, and what companies are weighing as they make major investment and site-selection decisions. Joe Stockunas and Adriana Cruz will explore the factors that turn investment announcements into successful operating projects--including talent, infrastructure, power, permitting, and broader investment competitiveness--and where Texas is best positioned to lead across the semiconductor value chain.
Networking Break
Investing in Texas Semiconductor Leadership: TSIF Update & Outlook
The Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund has become a central tool in the state's strategy to strengthen semiconductor research, manufacturing, commercialization, and ecosystem development. This plenary will provide an update on TSIF progress to date, highlight how state investments are being used to build long-term semiconductor capability, and examine the priorities and opportunities that could shape the next phase of Texas's semiconductor strategy.
Move to Breakout Rooms
Breakout Block 1
Three concurrent sessions. Choose one session during this block.
What's Next on the Wafer: Emerging Devices, Materials, and the Processes to Make Them Real
From novel device concepts and emerging materials to the process capabilities required to manufacture them, this breakout examines what may be next on the wafer. Panelists will explore which advances show the most promise, where scaling and integration remain difficult, and what equipment, fabrication, and translational capabilities are needed to move emerging technologies from research toward manufacturable platforms.
Beyond the Die: Advanced Packaging as the New Performance Frontier
As traditional scaling becomes more difficult, packaging and heterogeneous integration are increasingly shaping system-level performance. This breakout will examine how chiplets, advanced interconnects, new materials, design enablement, and integration approaches are changing the role of packaging in semiconductor innovation. Panelists will explore where the greatest technical opportunities remain, what makes advanced packaging solutions difficult to scale, and how design, materials, research, and manufacturing capabilities must come together to move beyond the die.
Supply Chain Fundamentals: Materials, Substrates, Gases, and the Inputs That Actually Matter
Semiconductor supply chains begin long before a wafer reaches the fab. This breakout will focus on the foundational inputs that determine whether semiconductor manufacturing can actually be built and sustained: critical materials, wafers and substrates, specialty gases, high-purity chemicals, and other industrial essentials. Panelists will examine where supply-chain fragility remains, why purity, qualification, consistency, and capacity matter, and what it takes to build a more resilient supply base capable of supporting semiconductor growth in Texas and across the United States.
Lunch
Research and Innovation Outlook: From Breakthrough to Real-World Impact
Semiconductor breakthroughs do not move from research to manufacturing in a straight line. This conversation will examine where promising advances are emerging, what separates a meaningful technical breakthrough from an interesting laboratory result, and what it takes to move new materials, devices, processes, and enabling technologies toward real-world impact. Bringing together perspectives from academic research, deep-tech commercialization, and the broader innovation ecosystem, panelists will explore what happens after the breakthrough--how promising technologies are validated, de-risked, financed, partnered, and ultimately positioned for industry adoption and scale.
Leadership, Security, and the Future of American Microelectronics
Semiconductors have become central to both American economic competitiveness and national security. This conversation will examine what the United States has learned from the effort to rebuild domestic microelectronics capability, how Texas fits into that national strategy, and what remains unfinished. The discussion will connect federal policy, state investment, research, talent, manufacturing, and supply-chain resilience to the larger question of what it will take to create durable American semiconductor capability.
Move to Breakout Rooms
Breakout Block 2
Three concurrent sessions. Choose one session during this block.
Scaling Under Real Constraints: Yield, Reliability, Power, and Performance
Moving from technical promise to manufacturing reality requires more than strong device performance. This breakout will examine the engineering constraints that determine whether semiconductor technologies can scale--including process control, yield and repeatability, reliability qualification, power/performance tradeoffs, and manufacturability. Panelists will explore what changes between the lab, pilot environment, and production, and what industry needs to see before new technologies become credible at scale.
AI, EDA, and the Next Semiconductor Design Stack
AI is reshaping how semiconductors are designed--from EDA tools and design workflows to compute architecture and system-level optimization. This breakout will explore how these changes are redefining the semiconductor design stack and what they mean for the next generation of chips.
Building Better Bridges: Research Partnerships That Actually Work
This breakout will examine what it takes to make industry-university research partnerships work in practice. Rather than simply calling for more collaboration, panelists will discuss how partners align research questions with industry needs, set realistic expectations, structure repeatable models for engagement, navigate IP and sponsored research considerations, use consortia and shared infrastructure effectively, and create stronger pathways for faculty, students, and companies to work together. The conversation will surface concrete models, lessons learned, and practical ways to reduce friction between research ambition and industry execution.
Networking Break
Breakout Block 3
Three concurrent sessions. Choose one session during this block.
From Blueprint to Fab: What It Takes to Bring Semiconductor Manufacturing Online
Bringing a semiconductor fab online requires far more than constructing a building. This breakout will examine the full delivery chain—from translating owner requirements into site and infrastructure plans through design and engineering, construction and cleanroom delivery, tool and process-system integration, commissioning, turnover, and operational startup. Drawing on perspectives from fab operations, design and engineering, semiconductor construction, critical environments, and infrastructure, panelists will explore the coordination, sequencing, and technical decisions required to move from facility concept to an environment truly ready to support people, tools, and production. The conversation will examine where projects most often encounter risk or rework, what owners need from delivery partners at each stage, and how teams can better bridge the gap between construction completion and manufacturing readiness.
Entangled: What Quantum Will Need from Semiconductors
Quantum technologies ultimately depend on the ability to build, integrate, test, and scale extraordinarily complex physical devices. This breakout will examine the semiconductor capabilities required to move quantum systems toward greater scale and practical application--from materials and device fabrication to foundry access, process integration, packaging, metrology, reliability, and the infrastructure needed to support increasingly complex quantum systems. Bringing together perspectives from quantum research, semiconductor devices, and advanced manufacturing, panelists will explore what is possible today, what remains technically difficult, and where advances in semiconductor capability may determine how quickly quantum technologies move from research toward real-world systems.
Space-Enabled Semiconductor Materials: From Microgravity Research to Manufacturing Potential
Can microgravity and in-space production create meaningful advantages for semiconductor materials--and what evidence would industry need before those advantages matter? This session will examine what microgravity research and emerging flight demonstrations may reveal, how potential materials improvements would need to be characterized and validated, and what technical, operational, and commercial hurdles remain between promising experiments and viable manufacturing. The discussion will also explore where Texas-based space and semiconductor capabilities could intersect.
Return to Ballroom
Across the Stack: What We Heard, What Connects, and What Comes Next
After a full day of conversations spanning semiconductor research, manufacturing, design, packaging, supply chains, quantum technologies, infrastructure, and industry partnerships, this closing plenary will bring several of those threads back together. Selected breakout moderators will share the strongest signals from their sessions and join Texas A&M Semiconductor Institute Director Steve Putna for a closing conversation on what Texas must connect, build, and prioritize next.
Closing Remarks
Reception
Day 2 • Workforce/Ecosystem/Talent Pipeline
Breakfast & Networking
Day 2 Frame
Building the Texas Talent Engine
Critical Semiconductor Workforce Needs: Closing Today's Gaps, Building Tomorrow's Talent
Texas’s semiconductor growth is already putting pressure on technician and technical talent pipelines, while changing technologies and manufacturing requirements are reshaping the skills the workforce will need next. This panel will examine where the most urgent workforce gaps exist today, what can be addressed through education, upskilling, and reskilling, and how higher education, economic development, workforce organizations, and industry partners can better coordinate their response. The discussion will give attendees a clearer view of today’s constraints, tomorrow’s talent needs, and the partnerships Texas must strengthen to build a sustainable semiconductor workforce.
Networking Break
Great Transitions: Turning Military Talent into Semiconductor Careers
Texas has one of the nation's largest military-connected talent pools, with technical experience, leadership skills, and mission-oriented problem solving that can translate directly into advanced manufacturing and semiconductor careers. This conversation will examine how military experience can be translated into civilian opportunities, where credentialing and employer recognition still create barriers, and how state agencies, universities, employers, and transition programs can build clearer pathways into high-demand technical roles.
Connecting the Dots: Linking NNME and the Southern Node to Texas's Semiconductor Workforce Strategy
The National Network for Microelectronics Education and its Southern Node are being developed within a much larger Texas workforce ecosystem. This session will introduce those efforts while examining how national and regional microelectronics education initiatives can connect more effectively with Texas employer demand, higher education pathways, state workforce priorities, and emerging training programs. The discussion will focus on reducing fragmentation, strengthening coordination, and using these networks to support a more connected and responsive semiconductor talent pipeline across the state.
From Gaps to Action: What Texas Must Build Next
Texas has significant semiconductor workforce assets, but building a truly competitive talent ecosystem will require more than isolated programs and individual successes. This closing conversation will synthesize the day's discussions, examine what Texas can learn from other semiconductor hubs, identify where the state is strongest and where meaningful gaps remain, and translate those insights into a forward-looking workforce agenda. Panelists will consider what employers, education partners, workforce organizations, and public agencies should prioritize next--and what progress Texas should be able to demonstrate by the 2027 Summit.