Advanced Technology & Manufacturing

The Advanced Technology and Manufacturing cluster is made up of three sub-clusters: nanotechnology, semiconductors, and automotive manufacturing. Texas' world-class universities and research facilities, highly trained workforce, strong government and private business support, and a thriving business climate make Texas a national and global leader in all three sub-clusters.

1. Texas is the birthplace of the integrated circuit, invented by Texas Instruments' Jack Kilby in 1958.
2. Over 835,000 manufacturing employees live in Texas.
3. The Texas motor vehicle industry exported $8.5 billion dollars in goods to Mexico in 2010.
4. Toyota and General Motors are the two largest automotive manufacturing employers in Texas.
5. Samsung invested $3.5 billion to expand its 300mm NAND flash memory wafer plant in Austin, which opened in 2007.
6. The buckyball was discovered at Rice University's Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, and resulted in 3 professors receiving the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.