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Speaker Dade Phelan, left of Gov. Greg Abbott, speaks during the March 19 announcement
Texas Speaker of the House Dade Phelan announced March 19 he appointed semiconductor industry experts Eric Almgren and David (Jong Ho) Lee to serve on the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium Executive Committee.
The Speaker announced his appointments at a press conference with Gov. Greg Abbott, Representative Greg Bonnen and University of Texas at Dallas President Richard Benson at the UT Dallas Natural Science and Engineering Research Laboratory, where they highlighted the critical work the committee will conduct to support Texas’ leadership in the semiconductor industry.
“Texas has emerged as the nation’s leader in semiconductor manufacturing, and the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium’s executive committee will guide further statewide growth of this vital industry in the years to come,” said Phelan. “Semiconductors are increasingly ubiquitous in our everyday lives, and it is important we work to ensure Texas remains at the forefront of advanced semiconductor research and design. I want to thank Representative Bonnen for authoring the legislation that made today’s announcement possible, and to all House members who supported these measures that will ultimately keep Texas America’s leader in innovation.”
House Bill 5174, the “Texas CHIPS Act,” in the 88th Legislative Session created the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium Executive Committee tasked with developing a comprehensive statewide strategic plan for continued semiconductor innovation in Texas. Composed of appointees by the Governor, Speaker of the House and Lieutenant Governor, as well as the chancellor or chancellor’s designee from Texas A&M University and The University of Texas, the executive committee will lead key efforts of the consortium, including:
• Leveraging the expertise and capacity of institutions of higher education, industry and nonprofit stakeholders to develop a comprehensive strategic plan to ensure ongoing semiconductor innovation,
• Sustaining Texas’ leadership in advanced semiconductor research, design and manufacturing,
• Attracting public and private investment in Texas related to research, development, commercialization and manufacturing of semiconductors,
• Identifying and expanding opportunities for workforce training and development related to research, design and manufacturing of semiconductors, and
• Establishing a forum for public and private stakeholders across the semiconductor manufacturing industry in Texas to focus on education, research and development, and commercial production.
The Texas CHIPS Act also established the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund to provide funding to companies that manufacture chips in the State of Texas, in addition to Texas universities that invest in their design, research and manufacturing. Last session, the State of Texas dedicated approximately $1.4 billion toward microchip research and manufacturing with the goal of attracting new investments, capturing federal dollars and creating high-paying, permanent jobs in the State of Texas.
Almgren is a managing director at Castle Peak Advisors, an Austin-based strategic advisory company for high technology companies. Almgren began his career designing microprocessor chips at Hewlett Packard and later joined LSI Logic, now Broadcom, where he oversaw marketing and sales of highly integrated circuits and played a pivotal role in establishing CoreWare. Almgren went on to co-found Silicon Image, Inc., a pioneering company in the development, sale, and licensing of high-speed serial circuits.
At Silicon Image, Almgren led the HDMI licensing business, leading Silicon Image to become a top-five semiconductor licensing business. As CEO and chairman of Keyssa, Inc., Almgren led disruptive innovations in high-speed wireless chips for customers that included Samsung, Amazon, Meta, Google, Intuitive Surgical, Foxconn, and LG.
Almgren earned an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of California, Santa Barbara.
Lee is the director of corporate strategy at Dongjin USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Dongjin Semichem Co., Ltd. (Dongjin). Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, Dongjin is a global chemical company specializing in the production of semiconductor, display, and energy materials, as well as foaming agents, generating more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Since joining Dongjin in 2019, Lee has primarily overseen large-scale overseas investment projects, including two ongoing projects in Texas for semiconductor material production.
Dongjin Semichem Texas, Inc. is expected to invest over $100 million for the construction of a photoresist thinner production facility in Killeen. Similarly, DSM Semichem LLC, a joint venture among Dongjin USA, Inc., Samsung C&T America, Inc., and Martin ELSA Investment LLC, will initially invest at least $100 million for the construction of an electronic level sulfuric acid plant in Plainview.
Lee holds an A.B. in Chemistry from Harvard University.