Celebrating Completion of the Micron Cleanroom Simulation Lab

Onondaga Community College celebrated the completion of its Micron Cleanroom Simulation Lab during a ceremony held on campus October 1. Remarks were delivered outside, and a ceremonial "wire cutting" was held inside.

The Micron Cleanroom Simulation Lab was constructed in the Whitney Applied Technology Center, along with new training centers for Welding, CNC Machining, and Diesel/Heavy Equipment Repair. The renovated space in the south wing of Whitney also includes a Machine Tools lab, and an Automotive Technology lab.

Micron Cleanroom Simulation Lab Fact File

• The 3,000 square foot space will be used to train students for careers in the semiconductor and microelectronic industries.
• All of the machines, or "tools" students will learn on, came from Micron chip fabrication plants in Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Idaho, and Virginia.
• The tools, which weigh several thousand pounds, were brought up to the second floor on a new freight elevator, which has a capacity of 12,000 pounds.
• Because this is a simulation lab, community members and young learners under the age of 18 can experience hands-on learning opportunities, as they did at the Micron-sponsored Chip Camp in the summer of 2025.
• The Micron Cleanroom Simulation Lab was funded by a $5 million gift from Micron Technology, which was matched by Onondaga County and New York State.
• The cleanroom and related renovations to the Whitney Applied Technology Center were designed by Ashley McGraw Architects. The general contractor was PAC Associates of Oswego. 

OCC & Micron Technology Timeline

• October 2022 - The President of the United States came to Onondaga Community College to celebrate Micron's decision to invest $100 billion in the region by building a microchip-making plant in the Onondaga County Town of Clay.
• August 2023 - OCC welcomed the first group of students into the new Micron-related Electromechanical Technology degree program.
• October 2023 - OCC unveiled what the Micron Cleanroom Simulation Lab would look like along with related renovations to the Whitney Applied Technology Center.
• May 2025 - OCC graduated its first group of students in the Electromechanical Technology degree program. Several either went to work for Micron or opted to continue their education at four-year schools.
• This is the third academic year OCC's Micron-related Electromechanical Technology courses are being taught in are high schools. In the 2024-25 academic year, more than 400 unique students enrolled in at least one Electromechanical Technology course - a 78% increase over the number of unique students in the pilot year (2023-2024). The number of school districts offering Electromechanical Technology courses and the number of credentialed teachers doubled year-to-year. Those school districts include Chittenango, Cicero-North Syracuse, CiTi BOCES, Jamesville-Dewitt, Jordan-Elbridge, Marcellus, Tully, and West Genesee.