Sep 14, 2022   SOURCE: BusinessWire

SkyWater CEO Thomas Sonderman Presents Keynote to Purdue Engineering Students, Reinforces Workforce Development in Support of CHIPS Act

SkyWater Technology (NASDAQ: SKYT), the trusted technology realization partner, today announced the company’s president and CEO Thomas Sonderman presented a keynote, addressing more than 300 engineering students at the Purdue Semiconductors Info Session last night. Sonderman provided an overview of the semiconductor industry and SkyWater’s plans for a $1.8 billion manufacturing facility in Indiana on the Purdue campus.

At the Info Session, students learned about what Purdue has to offer in semiconductor degrees and courses and heard from industry leaders about careers and other opportunities in semiconductors. The Info Session was hosted by Purdue College of Engineering Interim Dean, Dr. Mark Lundstrom. In addition, SkyWater participated in the largest student run job fair in the U.S. organized by Purdue Engineering Student Council.

Earlier in the day, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo, Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb, and U.S. Senator Todd Young visited the campus to discuss the role of universities like Purdue in CHIPS Act funding related to microelectronics research, manufacturing and workforce development. Purdue University President Mitch Daniels moderated the discussion.

According to Sonderman, “SkyWater fully supports the initiatives set forth by the Biden administration and Congress to ensure the U.S. retains the lead in R&D and innovation; regains onshore manufacturing capacity; and develops the talent needed to operate new and expanded domestic facilities.”

Sonderman continued: “We’re excited about all the efforts Purdue and the State of Indiana are putting forth to support the nation’s semiconductor supply chain and look forward to our continued partnership in building the new fab. As such, we’re pleased to announce the addition of Todd Pedersen, VP of corporate development, who will serve as SkyWater’s lead project executive in Indiana.”

Pedersen has deep roots in Indiana and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Indy Chamber, The Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee and The Economic Club of Indiana. He has worked in various business development roles such as the state director of life sciences at the Indiana Economic Development Corporation under then Governor Mitch Daniels. Pedersen served on the Board of Directors of the Indiana Small Business Loan Administration within the Indiana Finance Authority and is the past-Chair of the Develop Indy Council. He holds a B.A. in History and an MBA from Indiana University.

According to Pedersen: “I’m looking forward to establishing local offices and bases of operations for Indiana project development. This is such a unique opportunity to be part of SkyWater and the revitalization of the semiconductor industry right in my own backyard. While initially focused on Indiana, I look forward to providing corporate development services across the entire company, helping enable SkyWater’s unique growth opportunities.”

About SkyWater Technology

SkyWater (NASDAQ: SKYT) is a U.S. investor-owned semiconductor manufacturer and a DMEA-accredited Category 1A Trusted Foundry. SkyWater’s Technology as a ServiceSM model streamlines the path to production for customers with development services, volume production and heterogeneous integration solutions in its world-class U.S. facilities. This pioneering model enables innovators to co-create the next wave of technology with diverse categories including mixed-signal CMOS, ROICs, rad-hard ICs, power management, MEMS, superconducting ICs, photonics, carbon nanotubes and interposers. SkyWater serves growing markets including aerospace & defense, automotive, biomedical, cloud & computing, consumer, industrial and IoT. For more information, visit: www.skywatertechnology.com.

SkyWater Technology Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements that are based on the Company’s current expectations or forecasts of future events, rather than past events and outcomes, and such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Key factors that could cause the Company’s actual results to be different than expected or anticipated include, but are not limited to, factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and in other documents that the Company files with the SEC, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.

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