South Holland builds its own cleanroom for chip education

With the launch of a new cleanroom in Delft, South Holland is stepping up its push to scale up chip talent education. The province already hosts several cleanrooms, including facilities at Delft University of Technology and Hittech, but those are geared toward research or production. The new dust-free space, housed at The Hague University of Applied Sciences’ Delft location, is purpose-built as a training ground. MBO, HBO and TU Delft students from across the region will be able to experiment freely, without risking disruption to sensitive tools or production lines.

The cleanroom is part of Beethoven South Holland, itself derived from the National Microchip Talent Reinforcement Plan (Nationaal Versterkingsplan voor Microchip-talent). That program was set up roughly two and a half years ago, after the cabinet concluded that the chip industry holds strategic importance for the Netherlands. ASML’s growth trajectory was the immediate catalyst, but the ambition has since broadened to the entire ecosystem.