In 1976, the Taiwanese government sent a small group of promising young engineers to the United States to learn how to make computer microchips, seeding Taiwan’s rise to global superpower status in the modern semiconductor industry.
In 2026, the University of Washington sent a small group of promising young engineering students to Taiwan to learn how they did it — and continue to do it.
The inaugural Chips2Future summer engineering immersion, piloted and led by UW electrical and computer engineering (ECE) faculty, offered undergraduate students an intensive primer in semiconductor design and production, hands-on practice in world-class facilities and visits to many of the companies that now produce 90 percent of the world’s advanced microchips.