/about · thesis & governance
The portal is the bridge between policy and production.
The Michigan Open Module Foundry is the digital coordination layer for a packaging-first semiconductor jobs strategy. It allows startups and universities to download open chip designs, identify compatible packaging and test providers, find Rust Belt suppliers, submit RFQs, access module standards, and connect with brownfield manufacturing capacity.
The purpose is to make semiconductor reindustrialization operational: not a broad DARPA-style challenge program, but a focused marketplace and standards portal for turning mature-node silicon into rugged industrial modules.
How this differs from DARPA-style procurement
DARPA-style
- Problem statement
- Proposal solicitation (BAA)
- Performer teams
- Award cycles
- Custom deliverables
- Government review
Opportunity-driven. Bespoke. Slow.
MOMF
- Open design package
- Known process node
- Known package options
- Known suppliers
- Known test & calibration
- Known module standard
- Buildable industrial product
Capability-driven. Repeatable. Industrial.
The five layers
The portal is organized around five layers — open chip designs, manufacturing pathways, module standards, RFQ / procurement, and an evidence / certification layer that attaches manufacturing provenance and reliability records to every design.
The economic moat
Mature-node silicon does not win on secrecy. It wins on packaging, calibration, ruggedization, and reliability. The Rust Belt has the supplier base, the tooling tradition, and the workforce for exactly this work. MOMF makes that capability visible and bookable.
Governance
v0 is published by the program office as a reference portal. v1 introduces supplier onboarding and an RFQ workflow; v2 adds the transactional procurement layer; v3 is the full industrial operating system, with state funding dashboards, OEM qualification programs, certification audits, and a field-return learning loop.
One-sentence thesis
Michigan needs an open-source silicon portal that turns chip designs into buildable industrial modules by connecting downloadable designs, qualified suppliers, brownfield facilities, workforce pathways, packaging / test standards, and procurement-ready RFQ workflows in one place.