Advancing the Texas Advanced Packaging Ecosystem

April 30, 2026 • 2:00 – 6:30 pm EDT
IN-PERSON AND STREAMING FROM AUSTIN, TX AT 1:00PM CDT

Brought to you by

Renewing American Innovation

This event is co-hosted with the Texas Institute for Electronics onsite at The University of Texas System at 210 West 7th Street, Austin, TX 78701.

The CSIS Renewing American Innovation program and the Texas Institute for Electronics (TIE) at The University of Texas at Austin are hosting a half-day symposium of expert panels highlighting the region’s dynamism and how the private sector, public sector, and academia in Austin and the state of Texas more generally have made the state a world-renowned semiconductor advanced packaging hub. 

Texas is a major semiconductor technology hub, specifically in advanced packaging, which sits at the intersection of economic competition and national security. The Texas innovation ecosystem as a whole – the statewide semiconductor strategy, the depth of industry across fabs, design centers, defense organizations, and equipment firms - are supported by a state policy infrastructure that provides enabling conditions which no other state had replicated at such scale.

This event is made possible through general support to CSIS.

Texas Institute for Electronics

AGENDA (all Central Time)

Program Welcome

1:00 pm
  • Archie Holmes, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, UT System
  • Sujai Shivakumar, senior fellow and director of Renewing American Innovation, CSIS

Texas Welcome and Opening Remarks

1:10 pm
  • Adriana Cruz – Executive Director, Economic Development and Tourism, Office of Governor Greg Abbott, State of Texas

Keynote: The National Security Stakes of the Semiconductor Competition

1:25 pm
  • Sheena Chestnut Greitens – Associate Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs; Director, Asia Policy Program, The University of Texas at Austin / U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute

Panel 1: How Texas Built an Enabling Ecosystem

1:45 pm
  • Moderator: Charles Wessner, senior adviser, CSIS
    • David E. Daniel, President Emeritus, University of Texas at Dallas
    • Bob Farley, Vice President of Economic Development at Opportunity Austin
    • Steve Putna, Director of the Texas A&M Semiconductor Institute at the Texas A&M University System

Panel 2: Growing Austin’s Advanced Packaging Ecosystem

2:30 pm
  • Moderator: Sujai Shivakumar, Director and Senior Fellow, CSIS Renewing American Innovation
    • Dwayne LaBrake, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member, Texas Institute for Electronics
    • Raja Swaminathan, Corporate Vice President at AMD
    • Michael Vinson, Chief Operating Officer at Electroninks 

Break

3:15 pm

Panel 3: From Success Story to National Strategy: The Federal Role in Sustaining Semiconductor Leadership

3:30 pm
  • Moderator: Kathleen Kingscott, Senior Technical Expert, CSIS
    • Devanand Shenoy, Strategic Advisor, IBM Semiconductors
    • Jeffrey LaRoche, Engineering Fellow, Advanced Technology Programs, RTX

Panel 4: The Talent Pipeline for Advanced Packaging Demands

4:15 pm
  • Moderator: Alyssa Reinhart, Director of Workforce Development, TIE
    • Garrett Groves, Vice Chancellor of Strategic Initiatives, Austin Community College
    • Mark Derderian, Director of Manufacturing Talent Development, Applied Materials
    • Anh-Thu Tran, Senior Director of Operation and Engineering at SkyWater Texas

Final Remarks on Texas in the National Semiconductor Ecosystem — What Comes Next?

5:00 pm
  • Moderator: Sujai Shivakumar, CSIS
    • Alyssa Reinhart, Director of Workforce Development, TIE
    • Charles Wessner, Senior Adviser, CSIS
    • Kathleen Kingscott, Senior Technical Expert, CSIS

Tags

North America, American Innovation, Technology and Innovation, and Technology

Hosted By

Contact Information

5Reinhart

Alyssa Reinhart

Director of Workforce Development , Texas Institute for Electronics (TIE)
Adriana Cruz

Adriana Cruz

Executive Director of the Economic Development and Tourism (EDT), Office of the Texas Governor
Charles Wessner

Charles Wessner

Senior Adviser (Non-resident), Renewing American Innovation
Kathleen Kingscott

Kathleen Kingscott

Senior Technical Expert (Non-resident), Renewing American Innovation
5Derderian

Mark Derderian

Director, Manufacturing Talent Development, Applied Materials
5LaBrake

Dwayne LaBrake

Chief Executive Officer and Board Member, Texas Institute for Electronics
Garrett Groves

Garrett Groves

Vice Chancellor of Strategic Initiatives, Austin Community College
Dave Shenoy

Devanand Shenoy

Strategic Advisor, IBM Semiconductors; Principal Director for Microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering, OUSW(R&E)
Anh-Thu Tran

Anh-Thu Tran

Senior Director of Operation and Engineering, SkyWater Texas
Jeffrey LaRoche

Jeffrey LaRoche

Engineering Fellow, Advanced Technology Programs, RTX
Raja Swaminathan

Raja Swaminathan

Corporate Vice President, AMD
Bob Farley

Bob Farley

Vice President of Economic Development, Opportunity Austin
Steve Putna

Steve Putna

Director of the Texas A&M Semiconductor Institute at the Texas A&M University System
Mike Vinson

Michael Vinson

Chief Operating Officer, Electroninks

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