Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 16 hours ago
Thanks to a collaboration between Princeton and Mercer County Community College, we can train more workers in the techniques needed to make the next generation of computer chips.
Students at MCCC teamed up with Bert Harrop of the Princeton Materials Institute and developed a digital simulation of the chipmaking facility that Harrop leads at PMI’s Advanced Micro Assembly and Packaging Lab.
This “digital twin” simulates the state-of-the-art equipment at PMI and is a cost-effective way for technicians to build their skills. “It’s affordable. You don’t need to go into an expensive machine until you really need to,” said Prof. Shianling Wu, the students’ advisor at MCCC.
Thanks to a collaboration between Princeton and Mercer County Community College, we can train more workers in the techniques needed to make the next generation of computer chips.
Students at MCCC teamed up with Bert Harrop of the Princeton Materials Institute and developed a digital simulation of the chipmaking facility that Harrop leads at PMI’s Advanced Micro Assembly and Packaging Lab.
This “digital twin” simulates the state-of-the-art equipment at PMI and is a cost-effective way for technicians to build their skills. “It’s affordable. You don’t need to go into an expensive machine until you really need to,” said Prof. Shianling Wu, the students’ advisor at MCCC.
![Jason Aramburu: Edyn [Princeton Entrepreneurs]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xjgCSujY5Fs/mqdefault.jpg "Jason Aramburu: Edyn [Princeton Entrepreneurs]
Jason Aramburu is the founder and CEO of Edyn, which produces a “smart” sensor system for agriculture and gardening that wirelessly tracks soil moisture and fertility. The technology allows a farmer or gardener to monitor plants and crops on an iPhone and thereby manage natural resources more efficiently. Aramburu is also the founder of re:char, which specializes in technology that helps small farmers in East Africa boost their crop yield and (and simultaneously) fight climate change.
Although Edyn is an engineering-focused company, Aramburu says that the company culture is different from that of a traditional Silicon Valley startup. “We’re creating a company culture that is laid-back and focuses on innovation but it is innovation with a social and environmental benefit,” he says. “We’re not trying to create the next Facebook or Instagram. We’re trying to create something that can meaningfully impact how people grow food, and how we use our resources in the world.”
Aramburu is one of Forbes Magazines 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurs, an Ashoka Fellow, a 2009 Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellow, a 2010 Echoing Green Fellow and a grantee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is also one of Business Weeks Top 25 Social Entrepreneurs in America. After studying ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University, Aramburu worked for several years on projects in Panama’s rainforests and with farmers in Africa. He graduated from Princeton University in 2007.
For more about entrepreneurship at Princeton, visit http://kellercenter.princeton.edu/
PRINCETON ENTREPRENEURS
Executive Producers:
John Danner
Chris Kuenne ‘85
Derek Lidow ‘73
Ed Zschau ‘61
Editorial Director:
Teresa Riordan
Video Editors:
Evelyn Tu
Ben Abrams
Technical Consultant:
Delaney Granizo-Mackenzie ‘14")
