Indiana

Indiana aspires to become next great tech center

Published

2 years ago

April 11, 2024

Indiana aspires to become next great tech center

indianapolis, indiana —

Semiconductors, or microchips, are critical to almost everything electronic used in the modern world. In 1990, the United States produced about 40% of the world’s semiconductors. As manufacturing migrated to Asia, U.S. production fell to about 12%.

“During COVID, we got a wake-up call. It was like [a] Sputnik moment,” explained Mark Lundstrom, an engineer who has worked with microchips much of his life.

The 2020 global coronavirus pandemic slowed production in Asia, creating a ripple through the global supply chain and leading to shortages of everything from phones to vehicles. Lundstrom said increasing U.S. reliance on foreign chip manufacturers exposed a major weakness.

“We know that AI is going to transform society in the next several years, it requires extremely powerful chips. The most powerful leading-edge chips.”

Today, Lundstrom is the acting dean of engineering at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, a leader in cutting-edge semiconductor development, which has new importance amid the emerging field of artificial intelligence.

“If we fall behind in AI, the consequences are enormous for the defense of our country, for our economic future,” Lundstrom told VOA.

Amid the buzz of activity in a laboratory on Purdue’s campus, visitors can get a vision of what the future might look like in microchip technology.

“The key metrics of the performance of the chips actually are the size of the transistors, the devices, which is the building block of the computer chips,” said Zhihong Chen, director of Purdue’s Birck Nanotechnology Center, where engineers work around the clock to push microchip technology into the future.

“We are talking about a few atoms in each silicon transistor these days. And this is what this whole facility is about,” Chen said. “We are trying to make the next generation transistors better devices than current technologies. More powerful and more energy-efficient computer chips of the future.”

Not just RVs anymore

Because of Purdue’s efforts, along with those on other university campuses in the state, Indiana believes it’s an attractive location for manufacturers looking to build new microchip facilities.

“Purdue University alone, a top four-ranked engineering school, offers more engineers every year than the next top three,” said Eric Holcomb, Indiana’s Republican governor. “When you have access to that kind of talent, when you have access to the cost of doing business in the state of Indiana, that’s why people are increasingly saying, Indiana.”

Holcomb is in the final year of his eight-year tenure in the state’s top position. He wants to transform Indiana beyond the recreational vehicle, or “RV capital” of the country.

“We produce about plus-80% of all the RV production in North America in one state,” he told VOA. “We are not just living up to our reputation as being the number one manufacturing state per capita in America, but we are increasingly embracing the future of mobility in America.”

Holcomb is spearheading an effort to make Indiana the next great technology center as the U.S. ramps up investment in domestic microchip development and manufacturing. “If we want to compete globally, we have to get smarter and healthier and more equipped, and we have to continue to invest in our quality of place,” Holcomb told VOA in an interview.

His vision is shared by other lawmakers, including U.S. Senator Todd Young of Indiana, who co-sponsored the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which commits more than $50 billion in federal funding for domestic microchip development.

‘We are committed’

Indiana is now home to one of 31 designated U.S. technology and innovation hubs, helping it qualify for hundreds of millions of dollars in grants designed to attract technology-driven businesses.

“The signal that it sends to the rest of the world [is] that we are in it, we are committed, and we are focused,” said Holcomb. “We understand that economic development, economic security and national security complement one another.”

Indiana’s efforts are paying off.

In April, South Korean microchip manufacturer SK Hynix announced it was planning to build a $4 billion facility near Purdue University that would produce next-generation, high-bandwidth memory, or HBM chips, critical for artificial intelligence applications.

The facility, slated to start operating in 2028, could create more than 1,000 new jobs. While U.S. chip manufacturer SkyWater also plans to invest nearly $2 billion in Indiana’s new LEAP Innovation District near Purdue, the state recently lost bidding to host chipmaker Intel, which selected Ohio for two new factories.

“Companies tend to like to go to locations where there is already that infrastructure, where that supply chain is in place,” Purdue’s Lundstrom said. “That’s a challenge for us, because this is a new industry for us. So, we have a chicken-and- egg problem that we have to address, and we are beginning to address that.”

Lundstrom said the CHIPS and Science Act and the federal money that comes with it are helping Indiana ramp up to compete with other U.S. locations already known for microchip development, such as Silicon Valley in California and Arizona.

What could help Indiana gain an edge is its natural resources — plenty of land and water, and regular weather patterns, all crucial for the sensitive processes needed to manufacture microchips at large manufacturing centers.

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Indiana

Highlights: Beech Grove at Whiteland; February 27, 2026

Published

4 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Highlights: Beech Grove at Whiteland; February 27, 2026

WHITELAND, Ind. (WISH) — “The Zone” featured highlights from eight high school boys basketball games from across central Indiana on Friday.

Watch highlights of Beech Grove at Whiteland above.

Final Score: Whiteland 89 Beech Grove 61

“The Zone” airs each Friday at 11:08 p.m. Click here to watch ‘The Zone’ for basketball highlights on February 27, 2026.

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Indiana

Is Darryn Peterson Trying to Avoid Indiana?

Published

16 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Is Darryn Peterson Trying to Avoid Indiana?

The Indiana Pacers are hoping to retain their 2026 first-round pick, which is protected 1-4 and 10-30. If the selection lands between 5 and 9, it conveys to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the Ivica Zubac–Bennedict Mathurin trade.

At the top of the 2026 NBA Draft class, three names are consistently labeled as generational talents: AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer and Darryn Peterson.

Indiana would welcome any of the three. The bigger question is whether that feeling would be mutual.

On a recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons was joined by draft analysts Tate Frazier and J. Kyle Mann. During the discussion, Mann shared an interesting note about Peterson.

“I’ve gotten the impression from talking to people close to Darryn,” Mann said, “that Darryn is more likely to say, I’m interested in being the full on brain of this team. I don’t really want to play with another superstar, I want to be the center of the universe.”
J. Kyle Mann on The Bill Simmons Podcast
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If that perception holds weight, it creates an intriguing dynamic.

The Pacers were one game away from an NBA championship last season and already feature two established stars in Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam. Indiana is not a franchise searching for a singular identity, it already has one.

To be clear, Mann’s comments reflect conversations and impressions, not a public statement from Peterson himself. Still, the fit is worth examining. Indiana’s backcourt rotation already includes Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith and T.J. McConnell. If Peterson were the pick, the Pacers would find ways to get him on the floor. He is that talented. But Indiana could not offer him an immediate “face of the franchise” role the way a Brooklyn, Sacramento or Washington might.

Mann also offered insight into how Dybantsa may view a situation like Indiana’s.

“AJ, people that know them both have told me that AJ is probably more likely to fit in with an Indiana,” Mann said. “Which is interesting because AJ likes to have the ball. Is he willing to be quick off of the ball with Haliburton? I just think that’s an interesting wrinkle in this.”
J. Kyle Mann on The Bill Simmons Podcast

The contrast is fascinating.

Hearing that Dybantsa would fit in more than Peterson is intriguing. Play style wise, I would lean more towards Peterson’s fitting how Indiana likes to play, especially with how Dybantsa has been utilized at BYU.

Jan 24, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson (22) looks to pass against BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) during the first half at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

If we’re talking locker room fit, I think Dybantsa would embody what a Pacer is all about. Comes from a small market. Wants to win and doesn’t need the big city to do it in. He’s confident but won’t let his ego interfere with the success of the team. Just a levelheaded kid with a desire to be great, and would have one of the best playmaking point guards alongside him to help maximize his talent.

These two are the most polarizing and often mentioned names amongst NBA draft circles when looking at the top two in the class. If the comments made by Mann come to be true, the Pacers would be better off drafting the uber talented 6-9 forward, Dybantsa, than drafting a 6-6 elite shooting guard who would rather be “the guy” than a guy.

You can follow me on X @AlexGoldenNBA and listen to my daily podcast, Setting The Pace, wherever you get your podcasts.

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Mother demands justice after woman killed in wrong-way crash on I-65 in Northwest Indiana

Published

1 day ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Mother demands justice after woman killed in wrong-way crash on I-65 in Northwest Indiana

HOBART, Ind. (WLS) — A wrong-way crash left one woman dead and two others seriously injured in Northwest Indiana earlier this week, police said.

The mother of the 20-year-old who was killed spoke exclusively with ABC7 Chicago as she is demanding justice.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Just before 2 a.m. Saturday, the Hobart Fire Department responded to the horrific crash on Interstate 65 involving two vehicles, north of 61st Avenue near Merrillville, Indiana.

Rylee Hanson, 20, was killed in what investigators says was a head-on collision with a wrong-way vehicle in the northbound lanes.

“I had Rylee when I was 20 and she made me who I am,” mother Karen Hanson said. “She made me want to be a better person and she made me strive, to reach goals, so I could set examples for kids… She was half of my life. I don’t know how to be me without her.”

Her family says Rylee was a ray of light who graduated from Kankakee Valley High School in Demotte, Indiana where she earned her EMT certification from Ivy Tech Community College. She was headed to criminology studies at Indiana University.

Her parents are appalled nobody has been charged in the crash.

“We want to see change with how drinking is handled,” Karen Hanson said. “There’s gotta be a better way for how people drink or get served or more punishment for impaired drivers out on the road where they’re not getting so many chances.”

Troopers said they believed that the driver of the car going the wrong way was impaired at the time.

“We are going to make her as proud as she made us,” Karen Hanson said. “Because she did… there are no words to tell you about the pain. It is indescribable.”

The investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with footage of the crash, or of the vehicles prior to the crash, has been asked to contact Indiana State Police.

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