Name: 2026 HBCU CHIPS Network Conference
Start: 2026-04-01T08:00:00-04:00
End: 2026-04-02T18:40:00-04:00
Location: Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel

Monday, March 30, 2026
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Wednesday, April 1, 2026

8:00 AM Registration
Registration
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Room: Ball Room

9:00 AM Welcome and Provost Remarks
Welcome and Provost Remarks
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Room: Ball Room
9:15 AM
9:15 AM - 10:05 AM
Room: Ball Room
Contributions

9:15 AM Keynote Address + Micron Leadership Panel - Fran Dillard (Vice President Global Culture & Workforce at Micron Technology)
10:05 AM Coffee Break + Networking
Coffee Break + Networking
10:05 AM - 10:30 AM
Room: Hallway
10:30 AM
10:30 AM - 11:20 AM
Room: Ball Room
Contributions

10:30 AM Microelectronics Industry Panel - Armond Duncan (Sr. Program Manager at Micron Technology) Danielle Ferguson-Macklin (Talent Communities Program Manager at Teradyne) Robert Hoogland (Department Manager Embedded Software at ASML) Tara McCaughey (Strategic University Partnership Manager at GlobalFoundries)
11:20 AM Transition
Transition
11:20 AM - 11:30 AM
Room: Hallways
11:30 AM
11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
Room: Ball Room
Contributions

11:30 AM Government Funding Opportunities - Debbie Black-Conn (Microelectronics Commons WFD Lead, DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory) James Moore III (Assistant Director, Directorate for STEM Education at National Science Foundation) LaShauna Evans (Program Manager National Science Portal at Air Force Office of Science and Research) Michelle Williams-Vaden (Executive Director at SEMI Foundation)
12:20 PM

12:20 PM - 1:10 PM
Room: Ball Room
1:10 PM Room A: Materials & Devices
Room A: Materials & Devices
1:10 PM - 2:30 PM
Room: Room A
Contributions

1:10 PM Optics-Electronic Devices: Turn Light into Electricity Turn Electricity Into Light - Qinglong Jiang (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff)

1:30 PM Assessment of optoelectronic properties of an ambipolar polymer – photochromic dye blend in the solid state for organic photoresponsive device applications. - Ikem Uba (Hampton University)

1:50 PM IR Photodetector based on the contactless-PdSe2 integration with Few-Layered MoSe2 Field-effect Transistor - Roshan Padhan (Jackson State University)

2:10 PM A Method for Calculating PIN Alpha-voltaic Cell Operational Life from Modelling and Simulation Data. - Kishak Cinfwat (Morgan State University)
Room B: Quantum Technologies
Room B: Quantum Technologies
1:10 PM - 2:30 PM
Room: Room B
Contributions

1:10 PM Building Quantum Information Science Capabilities at HBCUs: Insights and Recommendations - Thomas Searles (University of Illinois at Chicago)

1:30 PM Implementation of Finite state logic machines via the dynamics of atomic systems - Dawit Hailu (Bowie State University)

1:50 PM Optimization of Titanium Nitride as a Material for Superconducting Josephson Junctions in Quantum Computing Applications - Ebenezer Vondee (North Carolina A&T State University) Kiran Nyaupane (North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University)

2:10 PM Investigation of Surface Acoustic Wave Dynamics at Cryogenic Temperatures for Quantum Device Applications - Felix Kimeu (Norfolk State University)
Room C: Materials & Devices (Undergraduate Session)
Room C: Materials & Devices (Undergraduate Session)
1:10 PM - 2:30 PM
Room: Room C
Contributions

1:10 PM Urea-based GQDs with PVA Integration - Aldine Willacey (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff)

1:30 PM Luminescence from Nanoscale Perovskite Semiconductor Materials - Thomas Murray (Fayetteville State University)

1:50 PM Fabrication and Characterization of the Thin Film Solid State Li-Ion Batteries - Jamar Dozier (Alabama A&M University)

2:10 PM Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of Thermoelectric Devices from Multilayer Thin Films - Cole Cooper (Alabama A&M University)
2:30 PM Break + Transition
Break + Transition
2:30 PM - 2:45 PM
Room: Ball Room
2:45 PM Room A: Materials & Devices
Room A: Materials & Devices
2:45 PM - 4:05 PM
Room: Room A
Contributions

2:45 PM Using Q-Switched Lasers for Multi-Beam Multi-Target Pulsed Laser Deposition of Photonic High-Entropy Alloy Films - David Rossmanith (Dillard University)

3:05 PM Van der Waals Integration of Semi-Metallic PdSe2 Contacts for High-Performance n-type WS2 Field Effect Transistors - Saurabh Dixit (Jackson State University)

3:25 PM Dielectric Properties of Conducting Boron-Doped Diamond - Daniel Harrison (Morgan State University)

3:45 PM Growth of Cubic Boron Nitride by Electron Cyclotron Resonance Chemical Vapor Deposition on Boron Doped Diamond Substrates - Sheikh Mahtab (Graduate research assistant)
Room B: AI in Semiconductors
Room B: AI in Semiconductors
2:45 PM - 4:05 PM
Room: Room B
Contributions

2:45 PM A Lab-to-Go Approach for AI and Semiconductor Education - Xuemin Chen (Texas Southern University)

3:05 PM Diamond Quantum Vector Magnetometer Optimization with Machine Learning Models - Hamdin Ozden (Morgan State University)

3:25 PM Design of a High-Performance 1024-bit Arithmetic Logic Unit for Cryptographic Acceleration - Daniel Vrinceanu (Texas Southern University)

3:40 PM Maximizing HBCU University Websites to Highlight Contributions to AI‑Enabled Semiconductors: Research, Workforce Development, Academic Programs, and Institutional Initiatives - Myah Webb (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff)
Room C: Education and Workforce Development
Room C: Education and Workforce Development
2:45 PM - 4:05 PM
Room: Room C
Contributions

2:45 PM Bridging the Talent Gap: A New Approach to Accelerating Workforce Solutions for Semiconductors - Michelle Williams-Vaden (SEMI Foundation)

3:05 PM Collaborative Research: Advancing Semiconductor Education through Expansion and Diversification (ASEED) - Suxia Cui (Prairie View A&M University)

3:25 PM Development of a Multiuser Collaborative Virtual Training Environment for Photolithography Cleanroom Processes - Emmanuel Osei-Kwame (Norfolk State University)

3:30 PM On the Feasibility of Solving the Time Independent Schrödinger Equation using Neural Network and Block Form with Rayleigh Quotient Loss Function - T.L. Wallace (Meharry Medical College)
4:05 PM Poster Session
Poster Session
4:05 PM - 5:00 PM
Room: Hallways

5:00 PM

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Room: Ball Room
Thursday, April 2, 2026

8:30 AM Registration + Breakfast
Registration + Breakfast
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Room: Ball Room
9:00 AM State of the HBCU CHIPS Network
State of the HBCU CHIPS Network
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Room: Ball Room
Contributions

9:00 AM Conference Technical Committee Co-chairs - Daniel Vrinceanu (Texas Southern University) Mohammadreza Hadizadeh (Central State University)

9:10 AM HBCU CHIPS Network Initiating Commitee
9:30 AM
9:30 AM - 10:20 AM
Room: Ball Room
Contributions

9:30 AM Fireside Chat with CEO - Greg Smith (CEO of Teradyne)
10:20 AM Coffee Break
Coffee Break
10:20 AM - 10:35 AM
Room: Ball Room
10:35 AM
10:35 AM - 11:25 AM
Room: Ball Room
Contributions

10:35 AM Role of AI in Semiconductors and Microelectronics Panel - Dina Tandabany (Professor of Chemistry at Clark Atlanta University) Jeremy Muldavin (Director Sales Development A&D at Cadence) Konstantin Cvetanov (Global AI Factory Tech Lead at Nvidia) Li Song (Memory CAD Engineering & AI/ML at Micron Technology) Ron Duncan (Head of Corporate Innovation Programs at Synopsys)
11:30 AM

11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
Room: Ball Room
12:25 PM Room A: Materials & Devices
Room A: Materials & Devices
12:25 PM - 1:45 PM
Room: Room A
Contributions

12:25 PM Interface-Engineered van der Waals Heterostructures for Next-Generation Microelectronic Contacts - Mohamed Noufal (Hampton University)

12:45 PM Growth of Scandium Diboride Semimetallic Single Crystals by Laser Floating Zone Method - Ahamed Raihan (Morgan State University)

1:05 PM Abstract: Broadband Surface Acoustic Wave Generation via Chirped IDTs for Programmable Spin Control - Andre Saffore II (Norfolk State University)

1:25 PM Engineering Semiconductor Thin Films with ALD and Integrated Metrology - Swapnil Nalawade (North Carolina A & T State University)
Room B: Power Electronics
Room B: Power Electronics
12:25 PM - 1:45 PM
Room: Room B
Contributions

12:25 PM Titanium Oxynitride Thin Film and Nanowires for Ultrahigh Capacitance Supercapacitors - Sheilah Cherono (North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University,)

12:45 PM Modeling the Effects of Surface Potential on Gallium Nitride Betavoltaic Cell Collection Efficiency - Monté Hendrix (Morgan State University)

1:05 PM Multi-layered Porous PVDF 2D Heterostructure Nanofillers as High-Density Capacitive Energy Storage - William Gladney (Jackson State University)

1:25 PM SLA-Printed Architected Polymer Thermal Interface Materials with BN/Microfiber Fillers for High-Power Semiconductor Cooling - Tahseen Al-wattar (Central State University)
Room C: Advanced Packaging
Room C: Advanced Packaging
12:25 PM - 1:45 PM
Room: Room C
Contributions

12:25 PM Materials development and biophotonic sensor fabrication employing lead-free halide perovskites - Demetris Geddis (Hampton University)

12:45 PM From GaN to Sapphire: How Substrate Influences MoSe2/MoS2 Heterostructure Properties - M. K. Indika Senevirathna (Clark Atlanta University)

1:05 PM Experimental Investigation of 3D-Printed Polymer Lattice Composite Thermal Interface Materials for Semiconductor Packages - Camron Nesbitt (Central State University)

1:25 PM Experimental Evaluation of BNNT-based Thin Films for Mitigating Single Event Effects in SRAM via Proton Beams - Alexander Roque (Norfolk State University)
2:10 PM Technical Session Sprints
Technical Session Sprints
2:10 PM - 3:00 PM
Room: Ball Room
Contributions

2:10 PM Recap and Highlights from Technical Sessions
3:00 PM Special Announcement: HBCU CHIPS Network Initiation Committee
Special Announcement: HBCU CHIPS Network Initiation Committee
3:00 PM - 3:20 PM
Room: Ball Room

3:20 PM

3:20 PM - 3:30 PM
Room: Ball Room