OCC unveils plans for its Micron cleanroom simulation lab

ONONDAGA, N.Y. — Onondaga Community College (OCC) on Thursday outlined plans for its Micron cleanroom simulation lab, which will be located in the school’s Whitney Applied Technology Center.

Boise, Idaho–based Micron Technology, Inc. plans to build a massive semiconductor campus in the town of Clay.

“Our Micron cleanroom-simulation laboratory will be a place where our students will learn, and it will be a showcase for our entire community,” Warren Hilton, president of OCC, said in his remarks during the ceremony. “This cleanroom-simulation laboratory will be built in the very space we are gathered in today.”

A cleanroom is used to keep contaminants out of the manufacturing process so that it can create chips that are free of defects and provide the reliability that is needed in devices, OCC Professor Mike Grieb, chair of OCC’s applied technology programs, explained in speaking to reporters following the ceremony.

The cleanroom-simulation lab will be a 5,000-square-foot facility. It’ll also have a designation as an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) class 5 and class 6 facility, where students will be trained for careers in the semiconductor and microelectronic industries.

Micron, Onondaga County, and New York State are each contributing $5 million to help pay for the cleanroom-simulation lab, OCC said.

Ashley McGraw Architects of Syracuse designed the lab, and OCC expects the construction effort will be complete in 2025.

Speakers at today’s unveiling included Hilton; Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon; Manish Bhatia, executive VP, global operations at Micron; April Arnzen, Micron executive VP and chief people officer and president of the Micron Foundation; and SUNY Chancellor John King, Jr.

Thursday’s ceremony happened nearly a year after U.S. President Joseph Biden visited OCC for a Micron-related event. Following Biden’s visit, OCC created two Micron-related programs, which it began offering to students in the current (fall 2023) semester. They include an associate degree in electromechanical technology and an electromechanical technology certificate program, OCC said.