Insights
Insights are articles for the UltraFacility network, offering perspectives about industry trends, research, challenges, and big ideas. Insights facilitate year-round collaboration outside of the annual conference and keep you up-to-date with the pulse of the industry.
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Featured insights
Semiconductor in numbers: The national semiconductor strategies funding the future of tech
Governments are deploying large-scale financial mechanisms, ranging from direct subsidies and tax credits to equity funds and infrastructure loans, to strengthen domestic semiconductor capacity. These funding models reveal sharply different strategies for advancing manufacturing, R&D, and supply chain resilience.
Rebecca Parry
Global Water Intelligence
PFAS Compliance in 2025: Key Regulatory Shifts for Semiconductor Manufacturing
As PFAS rules expand, fabs must gain clearer visibility into product use and supply chains. Arcadis engineer Johnsie Lang's insights highlight the technical steps needed to strengthen reporting, minimize risk, and stay ahead of compliance challenges.
Rebecca Parry
Global Water Intelligence
End-user insight: An Intel guide to Megaprojects
At Ultrafacility 2024, Intel’s Matt Ward showed how semiconductor megaprojects can be delivered at scale, principles that now set the stage for the 2025 conference agenda which focus on the ability to scale up quickly when industry demand increases.
Rebecca Parry
Global Water Intelligence
Revealing the Semiconductor Industry’s Next Leap: UltraFacility 2025’s Breakthrough Trends
If you want to know where the semiconductor industry is going, don’t rely on press releases – look at the technical papers.
Orla McCoy
Global Water Intelligence
Tech Talk: Short Chains, Big Challenges for Semiconductor PFAS Destruction
As liability for PFAS discharge looms over the semiconductor industry, larger and smaller players alike bid for a slice of its destruction market – but which successful solutions will surface?
Orla McCoy
Global Water Intelligence
Conserving Capital: The Rise of Water-as-a-Service in the Chip Sector
By shifting from ownership to service models, semiconductor firms are tapping into private equity partnerships to fund essential water and wastewater systems. Dr. Robert Simm explains how this evolving approach balances financial flexibility, expertise, and sustainability.
Rebecca Parry
Global Water Intelligence
Reshaping the Semiconductor Water Recovery Landscape: the Future of MLD and ZLD
As scrutiny over industrial water use intensifies, semiconductor manufacturers are turning to advanced recovery systems to reduce liquid discharge without compromising efficiency.
Steven Lam
Gradiant
Water-as-a-service: The Next Tool for Scaling Semiconductor Fabs
Talent shortages and mounting water challenges are pushing chipmakers to rethink how they keep fabs running. Eau/Zero’s Lydia Whyatt explains how Water‑as‑a‑Service is easing the pressure.
Rebecca Parry
Global Water Intelligence
Semiconductor in numbers: Global fab construction timelines, from breakthroughs to breakdowns
From US megaprojects backed by the CHIPS Act to Asia’s push below 2nm and Europe’s stalled ambitions, this snapshot of 33 new fabs shows which regions and technologies are securing investment, and which are falling behind.
Rebecca Parry
Global Water Intelligence
Redefining Resilience: Driving Transformation in the New Era
An explanation on the UltraFacility 2025 Conference theme.
Orla McCoy
Global Water Intelligence
Tech Talk: High Recovery RO in the Semiconductor Industry
MLD and ZLD are driving burgeoning demand for high recovery reverse osmosis (RO) within the semiconductor industry – and varied waste streams leave room for diverse membrane types.
Orla McCoy
Global Water Intelligence
Semiconductor in numbers: Fab water sources
Breaking down the water sources for 5 top semiconductor manufacturers
Rebecca Parry
Global Water Intelligence
Research update on particle precursor detection
Gary Van Schooneveld shares expert analysis on the latest breakthroughs in detecting and managing particle precursors in ultrapure water and chemicals.
Rebecca Parry
Global Water Intelligence
Talent Development - Texas Instruments’ Approach
How Texas Instruments is tackling the semiconductor skills gap through targeted outreach, structured career paths, and data-driven training.
Rebecca Parry
Global Water Intelligence
Expert recommendations for sustainability reporting in the semiconductor industry
Key takeaways from the panel discussion on Scope 3 emissions and the semiconductor supply chain
Georgia Bottomley
Global Water Intelligence
5-year CAPEX Forecast - Spending on water for semiconductor manufacturing
A regional breakdown of anticipated capital expenditure on water for the semiconductor industry, 2025-2030
Georgia Bottomley
Global Water Intelligence
5 Secrets to Success for Semiconductor Industry Entrants
Water Technology Innovation Webinar Summary
Orla McCoy
Global Water Intelligence
The Chemical Supply Chain – Emerging Challenges and Four Secrets to Success
As a follow up to the successful Ultrafacility 2024 conference in Arizona, this article further discusses the importance and challenges of the chemical supply chains that supply semiconductor industry IDMs.
Don Hadder
Intel