Student and Faculty Exchanges
UPWARDS is an international partnership between 11 Japanese and United States universities. UPWARDS@VT are holding short- and long- exchange programs to enhance collaboration and communication among students and faculty from diverse academic backgrounds.
Virginia Tech is proud to partner with Micron and leading U.S. and Japanese universities to support economic innovation by advancing growth and diversity in the semiconductor workforce,” Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said. “Our top-ranked electrical and computer engineering department is educating the next generation of engineers with 10 specialized areas of study including a major in chip-scale integration. This creative partnership will keep Micron and Virginia Tech at the forefront in meeting the nation’s critical need for talented, innovative engineers with a global perspective.”
Along with Virginia Tech, partner universities in the UPWARDS for the Future initiative from the U.S. are Boise State, Purdue, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the University of Washington. Partner universities from Japan are Hiroshima University, Kyushu University, Nagoya University, Tohoku University, and Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Events
Students from Hiroshima University, Kyushu University, Nagoya University, Tohoku University, Institute of Science Tyoko joined the 2025 UPWARDS Summer Camp hosted by Virginia Tech.
The 2025 UPWARDS Summer Camp is featured in the Virginia Tech's news, Science and engineering take center stage at UPWARDS Summer Camp in the D.C. area.
Three Virginia Tech students Chaitrali Samant, Chris Howard and Sammy Craypoff joined the 2025 UPWARDS Summer Intensive Program hosted at NAGOYA University from July 28 to August 8 in Nagoya, Japan. The program revolves around the topic on state of the art semiconductor technologies. Students visited the research facilities at Nagoya University's HIGASHIYAMA campus. In addition, they gained first hand experience from semiconductor and automotive electronics companies in the Tokai region. Throughout the program, they immersed themselves in Japanese culture with additional perspective on the semiconductor research and development.
The UPWARDS US-Japan STEM Networking event was successfully held on July 23, 2025, bringing together 48 participants, including students, researchers, and faculty members from U.S. and Japanese universities in UPWARDS to explore graduate school experience and career. Featured speakers Dr. Cindy Yang Yi (Virginia Tech) and Dr. Jungwon Choi (University of Washington) shared inspiring insights into their academic journeys.
UPWARDS Lightning Talks on the topic of “Heterogeneous Integration” took place on June 30, 2025, hosted by Rochester Institute of Technology. Speakers from U.S. and Japanese universities discussed various aspects of heterogeneous integration including semiconductor materials, devices, circuits, and systems. Xiaomeng Wang from Virginia Tech presented the research on chiplet based AI accelerators design with the help of advanced machine learning algorithms.
Institue of Sceince Tokyo Visit -- March 18th.
As one of the participants in the UPWARDS Summer Camp, Fabiha, another student in the BRICC Lab, joined a vibrant community of university students gathering at the Tokyo Electron Karuizawa Club in Nagano.
In August of 2024, two members of the BRICC Lab, Danny Rosen and Kris DeGray, attended the UPWARDS Summer Internship Program hosted by Nagoya University’s Semiconductor Research Lab. Four students from University of Washington, Boise State University, and Rochester Institute of Technology accompanied Virginia Tech’s representatives.
"Advancements in III-Nitride Materials: Potential of UV Photonics and Next-Generation Display Technologies"
by Dr. Jing Zhang, Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology
on Mar 28, 2024