(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Workers dress to enter a clean room at Texas Instruments’ semiconductor fabrication facility in Lehi on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023.
President Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget, if approved by Congress, would have a catastrophic effect on Utah’s semiconductor industry, grinding crucial scientific research to a halt, depriving the workforce of trained experts, and eroding our nation’s technological prowess amid increased global competition.
I urge Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis to reject Trump’s spending plan, which would devastate our nation’s science agencies. Funding from these agencies has led to innovations that have improved the lives of all Americans. Semiconductors, for instance, trace their origin to long-term scientific research, which has led to faster cellphones and computers, and improved health care and efficient transportation systems.
As a researcher at the University of Utah, I use funding from the National Science Foundation to conduct transformative research on electronic materials. And the implications for this work are plentiful. For example, as artificial intelligence ramps up, so does the demand for faster, more efficient semiconductors that enable the necessary computer processing power.
Locally, my research is a good feeder for projects underpinning “Silicon Slopes,” a network of small businesses and big-tech companies in Salt Lake City and surrounding suburbs. In Utah, from 2019-23, nearly 100 small businesses that employ more than 7,900 people received more than $200 million from small business innovation and technology transfer grants from federal agencies.
Nationally, economists have also found that government investments in scientific research and development have provided impressive returns of 150% to 300% since World War II, according to a study produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Again, funding cuts would do irreparable harm to our nation, lead to labs shutting down, and cost far more in the future when we are forced to catch up with other countries. To keep Utah’s economy strong, we need our senators to support robust, sustained federal funding for scientific research.
Zlatan Akšamija, Salt Lake City