Albany

What remains of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's highly touted, billion-dollar Global 450mm Consortium is headed for the auction block.

Back in the fall of 2011, Cuomo stunned the high-tech world by announcing he had convinced the world's largest computer chip companies to research next-generation chip manufacturing at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Albany as part of a five-year, $4.8 billion program.

The centerpiece of the deal was the $1 billion, Global 450mm Consortium, or G450C, an unprecedented collaboration between competitors Intel, GlobalFoundries, Samsung, IBM and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to figure out how to make the chips using 450 millimeter — 18-inch — silicon wafers instead of the current standard of using 300 mm, or 12-inch, wafers.

But the G450C never attained its lofty goals. The industry postponed the move to 450mm manufacturing in favor of getting more efficiencies out of 12-inch wafers.

The Research Foundation for SUNY, which manages grant money for SUNY schools, disclosed in recently released audited financial statements that it is looking to repurpose the G450C's equipment — known in the industry as tools — or sell them to the highest bidder.

The Research Foundation says the remaining G450C equipment has a "book value" of nearly $115 million.

"Management expects to utilize the G450C's equipment to the extent it can be deployed in other existing programs," the foundation disclosed. "However it is expected that a portion of the equipment will be sold to third parties during fiscal 2017."

State officials previously hoped the program would make the Capital Region the epicenter for next-generation chips. They also predicted that when the industry was ready to build the first 450 millimeter chip factories, they would be built in upstate New York to be close to research and development. New York state promised $200 million to the G450C, with the industry promising another $800 million, including $75 million from each of the five participants.

SUNY Poly also built a special building for the G450C, the $365 million NanoFab X building that once hosted President Barack Obama and was designed to house the massive multi-million dollar machinery, or tools, that would be needed to process 18-inch silicon wafers.

When funding for the G450C officially ended in December, the consortium quietly disbanded amid the high-profile bid-rigging scandal that had engulfed SUNY Poly earlier in the year.

Now the state is doing the best that it can to recoup its original investment.

Paul Kelly, SUNY Poly's associate vice president for consortia and initiatives, said the process of selling equipment would begin soon.

"With the wind down of the G450C as a result of industry consensus pushing reliance on 450mm wafers to the future, SUNY Poly is working with companies to maximize our return on investment in the equipment and tools that were purchased to run the program," Kelly said. "We are still exploring all of our options and expect the process to begin in a few weeks."

lrulison@timesunion.com • 518-454-5504 • @larryrulison