ACC Round Rock First Higher Education Institution to Receive Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund Grant

Austin Community College District Receives Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund Grant at Round Rock Campus

Governor Greg Abbott announced on August 14, 2025 that a Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF) grant of $3.6 million has been extended to Austin Community College District (ACC) for an advanced semiconductor manufacturing lab and precision welding program at the Round Rock Campus in East Williamson County. This is the first TSIF grant to a Texas higher education institution.

From the announcement, ACC’s initiative will establish the 2,600-square-foot Austin Semiconductor Advanced Manufacturing Lab, which will include a classroom and simulation of a real-world semiconductor manufacturing environment, complete with locker room and gowning area, airlock transition space, simulated clean room, a Fanuc Fenceless robotics system, a Smart Factory Machine Sensor Trainer, process metrology microscopes, and automation studio software. In addition, ACC will establish a new welding fabrication skills lab in an existing, 3,728-square-foot space on the Round Rock campus with state-of-the-art tools to train students in precision welding and fabrication to support semiconductor manufacturing.

At the end of 2024, ACC Round Rock campus broke ground on projects approved by their 2022 General Obligation Bond to house programs in construction technology, welding, automotive technology, HVAC and advanced manufacturing. Additionally, Samsung Austin Semiconductor recently gifted ACC $200,000 to help expand the college’s semiconductor training program. The TSIF funding, along with the generous gift from Samsung and essential bond funding continues to make ACC Round Rock campus an essential workforce partner to meet the needs of Round Rock and Central Texas employers. The Round Rock Chamber would like to thank the Economic and Tourism Office in the Office of the Governor for the approval of this TSIF award to continue to build the workforce needed for Central Texas.

For more information on the TSIF grant and the original announcement, please click here.