Indiana

Indiana aspires to become next great tech center

Published

9 months 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

Indiana women’s basketball beats Northwestern thanks to clutch 3-pointer from Shay Ciezki

Published

3 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Indiana women’s basketball beats Northwestern thanks to clutch 3-pointer from Shay Ciezki

The Indiana women’s basketball team beat Northwestern 68-64 at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday night thanks to a go-ahead 3-pointer from Shay Ciezki with 1:05 to go.

It was the Hoosiers (11-4; 3-1 Big Ten) sixth straight win over their Big Ten rival.

Ciezki scored 13 of her game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter and scored six straight at one point with the Wildcats looking to make a comeback. She was the only IU player with a made field goal in the first five minutes of the fourth.

The Penn State transfer went 3 of 4 from the field (2 of 2 from 3-point range) and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line down the stretch. She’s made 32 straight free-throw attempts going back to the team’s Nov. 24 loss to Baylor.

Indiana struggled pulling away while shooting just 39.3% from the field. The Hoosiers led 20-11 at the start of the second quarter, but couldn’t build on the lead thanks to multiple extended scoring droughts.

Northwestern kept it a two-possession game throughout the second half while getting a big night from reserve guard Melannie Daley. She led the team in scoring with 17 points and season-high six assists off the bench.

It was her seventh straight game in double-digits.

Indiana goes back on the road for a game against No. 23 Iowa on Sunday at 3 p.m. before returning home on for a game against Illinois on Jan. 16.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

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Indiana Pacers Keep James Johnson As Contract Becomes Guaranteed

Published

11 hours ago

January 8, 2025

Press Room

Indiana Pacers Keep James Johnson As Contract Becomes Guaranteed

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – DECEMBER 27: James Johnson #16 of the Indiana Pacers runs downcourt against … [+] the Boston Celtics during the second half at TD Garden on December 27, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics defeat the Pacers 142-105. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

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INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers were facing a contract deadline on Tuesday with forward James Johnson. The veteran four man, who is in his 16th NBA season, entered the day on a partially guaranteed contract.

Johnson’s minimum deal this season had $750k guaranteed, though he has already surpassed that amount in late December in terms of accrued earnings. On January 10th, every contract in the NBA becomes guaranteed, so the full amount of Johnson’s deal would hit the books if he is still on Indiana’s roster on that date.

Technically, though, the contract guarantee date for Johnson came on Tuesday the 7th. That’s because a player has to clear the waiver process, which takes two days, by the 10th to have the non-guaranteed part of their salary removed from a team’s salary books. So if a player like Johnson — that had a contract which wasn’t fully guaranteed this season — wasn’t waived on/before Tuesday, then their contract would be fully guaranteed.

The Pacers kept Johnson through that date, meaning his $3.3 million salary is now guaranteed for the season, though Indiana is only responsible for just under $2.1 million of that. The rest is reimbursed by the NBA, so Indiana’s cap hit for Johnson for the remainder of the season is that $2.1 million number.

“He’s not going anywhere,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star this week when asked about Johnson. “We need him.”

Why did the Pacers keep James Johnson?

For the Pacers, the decision to keep Johnson or not was all about the balance of financial savings and leadership. The blue and gold are right up against the luxury tax — barely sitting under the tax threshold right now. Waiving Johnson on Tuesday would have saved the team $1.1 million and given them more distance below the tax line.

What Indiana had to determine is if there was a better use of that savings than having Johnson on the roster. He’s played in six games for the blue and gold this season, but his value comes almost entirely off the court, which has been made clear by the number of times the Pacers have re-signed Johnson.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 06: Day’Ron Sharpe #20 of the Brooklyn Nets and James Johnson #16 of … [+] the Indiana Pacers embrace during the fourth quarter at Barclays Center on January 06, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)

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He is one of the oldest players in the NBA and a key veteran for a growing Pacers team. His voice is well received, and he is one of the first players off the bench to offer encouragement or tips during in-game timeouts. His work behind the scenes is extremely important to the team, which is why he’s been around for three seasons.

As a result, Johnson was retained at the expense of some optionality. “He doesn’t let things slide,” Pacers guard T.J. McConnell said of Johnson a few years ago. “Usually, there are guys that let things go. But I feel like he feels like he owes it to us that we’re not going to create any bad habits here.”

Some flexibility could have been nice for the Pacers with the trade deadline approaching, but having more options only carries value if there are good options available. While a few more very specific trades could have opened up, they weren’t worth losing a valuable veteran.

Johnson, 37, has signed seven contracts with Indiana since September of 2022. He’s averaging 1.3 points per game this season, and guys love having him around. “He’s super valuable for the team. He’s kind of just like a glue guy,” Pacers rookie Johnny Furphy said of Johnson.

The Pacers opted for continuity in the offseason and kept Johnson. He’ll keep helping in his own way as Indiana looks to keep climbing the Eastern Conference standings.

“Those are my guys,” Johnson said of the Pacers after re-signing during the 2023-24 season. “I don’t think I would have went back [to the NBA] for any other call other than the Pacers.”

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How to watch Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers online

Published

19 hours ago

January 8, 2025

Press Room

How to watch Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers online

TL;DR: Live stream Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers in the NBA with FuboTV, Sling TV, or YouTube TV.

The Chicago Bulls head to the Gainbridge Fieldhouse to face the Indiana Pacers in an Eastern Conference matchup. The Bulls are 17-19, which puts them in 10th place. The Pacers are 19-18, which puts them in sixth place.

The Bulls have won three of their last five games, and are coming off a win over the New York Knicks. The Pacers have also won three of their last five games, and are coming off back-to-back wins over the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat.

When is Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers?

Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers in the NBA starts at 7 p.m. ET on Jan. 8. This game takes place at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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How to watch Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers

You need to choose a streaming service to watch the NBA without cable or satellite TV. We’ve found some of the best streaming services to consider for the Bulls vs. Pacers basketball game.

Best for single game: FuboTV

FuboTV offers you more than 250 channels of live TV and the option to watch on 10 screens at once. You can try FuboTV with a seven-day free trial period.

FuboTV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, FOX, FS1, FS2, Golf Network, Marquee Sports Network, Monumental Sports, NBC, NFL Network, and SEC Network.

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Most live sports: YouTube TV

YouTube TV’s base plan is $49.99 per month for two months for new subscribers ($72.99 per month regularly). The base plan includes over 100 live TV channels, including ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, Fox Sports 1, and NBA TV.

Most affordable: Sling TV

Sling TV suggests the streamer’s Orange Plan for the game, which costs $20 for the first month and $40 monthly after that.

Sling TV’s sports channels feature ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, FOX, FS1, FS2, NBA TV, NBC, NFL Network, and SEC Network.

How to watch Bulls vs. Pacers from anywhere in the world

If you’re traveling outside of the U.S. during this game, you might need to use a VPN to unblock this live stream. VPNs can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server, meaning you can unblock live streams of the NBA from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers for free by following these simple steps:

Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in the U.S.
Sign in to your favorite streaming app
Watch Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers from anywhere in the world

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to live streams of the NBA without actually spending anything. This obviously isn’t a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to live stream Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for the NBA?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:

Servers in 105 countries
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
Fast connection speeds free from throttling
Up to eight simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Live stream Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers in the NBA with ExpressVPN.

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