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August 30th, 2018

DARPA's ERI Selects Northrop Grumman as One of the Initiative's Participants


The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) as one of the performers for the agency's Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI) — the decision was announced by DARPA during the first annual ERI Summit in San Francisco, California, in July.

Northrop Grumman is helping to lead a resurgence in the microelectronics industry through groundbreaking research. The five-year research initiative, led by DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office, is potentially worth upward of $1.5 billion over five years, shared among all participants.

Established by DARPA in 2017, the initiative is comprised of existing programs as well as six new programs — two for each of the three key research thrusts. The initiative has been crafted to spark the next wave of U.S. semiconductor advancement, particularly in the areas of microsystem materials, designs, architectures and integration. ERI is meant to increase momentum for innovation in the microelectronics industry while maintaining technical superiority and advancing national defense.

Northrop Grumman, along with subcontractor JITX, headquartered in Berkeley, California, was one of 11 selected research teams to perform on the Intelligent Design of Electronic Assets program, one of the efforts part of the ERI. The company will attempt to create an automated electronic circuit layout generator that enables users with no experience to create circuit designs ready for manufacturing within 24 hours. The technology could reduce design times for electronic circuitry from potentially years to a single day.