The Virginia Microelectronics Consortium (VMEC) invites proposals from member Virginia universities for seed grants in the fields of microelectronics and nanoelectronics. These grants are intended to support innovative research, foster collaboration, and strengthen the Commonwealth’s position in advancing next-generation semiconductor technologies.
For more information, visit https://vmecteam.org/vmec-equipment-and-seed-grants/.
The VMEC Summer Scholar Program offers sophomores, juniors and seniors attending a university in Virginia the opportunity for hands on research and development in microelectronics in either an academic or industrial environment. You are also eligible to apply if you are a student at a community college in Virginia and have been accepted to one of the participating 4-year engineering schools. You can also apply if you are a graduating senior and have been accepted into a graduate school at one of the Virginia universities.
For more details, visit https://vmecteam.org/vmec-summer-scholar-program/.
Complete the form at the URL below and submit by October 31, 2025.
https://vmec.wufoo.com/forms/summer-scholar-program-application-20252026/
Congratulations to the following scholars for receiving the VMEC Gold Scholar recognition at the August 11, 2025 VMEC Poster and Oral Presentation Session.
VMEC is pleased to announce the selection of the following students as VMEC Summer Scholars for 2025.
| Name | Studying at | Working at |
| Benjamin You | William & Mary | BAE Systems |
| Typho Dang | Virginia Tech | BAE Systems |
| Jordan Vargas | Virginia Tech | BAE Systems |
| Zoie Mills | Virginia Tech | Elbit Systems of America |
| Troy Harmon | University of Virginia | Elbit Systems of America |
| Julia Rodrigues | William & Mary | George Mason University |
| Noreen Hossain | University of Virginia | George Mason University |
| Liam Colbert | University of Virginia | Micron |
| Brendan Black | University of Virginia | Micron |
| William Liu | University of Virginia | Micron |
| Aaditya Sharma | Virginia Tech | Micron |
| Rami El Assadi | George Mason University | Micron |
| Rawand Abuelhawa | George Mason University | Micron |
| Yazan Yaghmmour | Christopher Newport University | Micron |
| Joel Ramos | Virginia Commonwealth University | Norfolk State University |
| Nikolay Rozenov | Virginia Tech | Norfolk State University |
| Jikai Liu | University of Virginia | Old Dominion University |
| Daras Bhullar | Virginia Tech | University of Virginia |
| Cody Bullock | Virginia Tech | University of Virginia |
| Jeshua Stam | Old Dominion University | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Finnur Oddsson Cricco | William & Mary | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Charis Landis | University of Virginia | Virginia State University |
| Samuel Holliday | University of Virginia | Virginia State University |
| Hung Lam | University of Virginia | Virginia Tech |
| Robert Rondon | Northern Virginia Community College | Virginia Tech |
| Ryan Hatfield | Virginia Commonwealth University | William & Mary |
| Allan Cheng | University of Virginia | William & Mary |
The Virginia Microelectronics Consortium (VMEC) funds annually proposals for seed and/or equipment grants from member Virginia Universities. The 2024-2025 Call for Proposals (for 2025 funding) is posted below and the submission deadline is November 8, 2024. The VMEC Industry members will evaluate the proposals. The VMEC Executive Committee at their January 2025 meeting will decide the funding level and approve proposals. Both the seed and equipment grant proposals will be combined into one evaluation pool and ranked ordered by the VMEC Industry Partners (i.e. equipment and seed grant proposals will not be separately evaluated and awarded). Approved funds will be awarded in January 2025 following the Executive Committee meeting. VMEC Equipment/Seed Grants are for a period of one year and a final report is due within one year of your project Award. The number of grants is subject to the availability of funds. PI’s may submit for a seed grant in addition to a related equipment grant. If the proposals are co-dependent (the seed grant requires the equipment grant for example) this should be clearly stated in the proposal. A PI may only submit for a maximum of one grant of each type.
Note that Seed Grants or Equipment Grants are not intended to supplement other larger proposals with the same goals, but rather should have an independent research focus. The maximum amount of the seed or equipment grant can vary from year to year at the discretion of the VMEC Executive Committee.
For more information: https://vmecteam.org/vmec-equipment-and-seed-grants/
Congratulations to the following scholars for receiving the VMEC Gold Scholar recognition at the August 12, 2024 VMEC Poster and Oral Presentation Session.
Pictured (left to right) Dave Bostedo (BAE Systems, Chair of VMEC Operations Committee), Murty Polavarapu (VMEC Managing Director), Paul Kelemen, Tyler Hayworth, Marjorie Cenese, Julia Rodrigues and Peng Cheng (Virginia State University and VMEC Summer Scholar Chair)
VMEC is pleased to announce the selection of the following students as VMEC Summer Scholars for 2024.
| Scholar | University | Will be working at |
| Matthew Jackson | Old Dominion University | BAE Systems |
| Sebastian Parker | William & Mary | BAE Systems |
| Yohannes Zena | Virginia Tech | BAE Systems |
| Michael Liang | Virginia Tech | George Mason University |
| Julia Rodrigues | William & Mary | George Mason University |
| Aaron Brookins | Virginia Commonwealth University | Micron Technology |
| Marjorie Cenese | Old Dominion University | Micron Technology |
| Zane Gunn | University of Virginia | Micron Technology |
| Tyler Hayworth | Virginia Tech | Micron Technology |
| Nathan Marchetti | Virginia Commonwealth University | Micron Technology |
| Justin Vinluan | George Mason University | Micron Technology |
| Elieen Sawyer | William & Mary | Norfolk State University |
| Phi Lu | University of Virginia | Old Dominion University |
| Connor Martin | William & Mary | University of Virginia |
| Robert Merriman | Virginia Commonwealth University | University of Virginia |
| Ksenia Avrutina | William & Mary | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Paul Kelemen | William & Mary | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Samuel Turner | William & Mary | Virginia State University |
| Arthur Hill | Old Dominion University | Virginia Tech |
| Nicolas Pollard | Virginia State University | Virginia Tech |
| Diayla Copeland | Hampton University | William & Mary |
| Justin Sumrele | Old Dominion University | William & Mary |
VMEC is pleased to announce that the following two proposals have been selected for funding this year.
VMEC is happy to announce that David Bostedo from BAE Systems, has stepped up to be the new Chair of the Operations Committee. Dave has served the VMEC most recently as the Summer Scholars Chair. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Mircea R. Stan from the University of Virginia for his leadership as the Chair of the Operations Committee over the past two years. We are also delighted to welcome Peng Cheng from Virginia State University, who has enthusiastically embraced the role of the Summer Scholars Chair.
VMEC is pleased to announce that the following two proposals have been selected for funding this year.
1) Ultralow-power straintronic switch implemented with a nanomagnet and a topological insulator for “processor in memory” architectures
Supriyo Bandyopadhyay, Virginia Commonwealth University and Avik Ghosh, University of Virginia
2) Inter- and Intra-Array Thermal Cross-Talk in Stacks of Resistive RAM Memory Cells
Marius Orlowski, Virginia Tech; Hani Elsayed-Ali, Old Dominion University; and Hannes Schniepp, William & Mary
