Nate Smith’s high-tech mission
For Nate Smith, CEO of North Star Systems in Lafayette, the path to entrepreneurship wasn’t paved in a classroom, but on the runways of Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, and a technology hub in the southeastern Netherlands.
A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Smith is now applying the adapt-and-overcome mindset of a staff sergeant as founder of this new veteran-owned technology company.
Smith’s journey began three days after his graduation from Frontier High School in 2000, when he left Greater Lafayette for active duty. Serving as a KC-10 aircraft systems mechanic and instructor, he deployed to locations including Iraq and Diego Garcia, an atoll in the British Indian Ocean territory.
After leaving the service in 2008, Smith eventually made his way to the Netherlands. For five years, he worked as a civilian field service representative for the Royal Netherlands Air Force, living in the Brainport region. Located in the southern part of the country, the Brainport is an innovation ecosystem centered on the industrial city of Eindhoven and comprised of more than 5,000 technology companies.
“I’ve had my hands in a lot of neat technology,” Smith says, reflecting on a career that has taken him to 50 countries around the world. Read more.
The Silicon Heartland: With SK hynix announcement, Greater Lafayette helps reshape the Midwest tech economy
A new era of technology is dawning in the Midwest. Top-tier semiconductor supplier SK hynix is helping to spearhead the transformation with plans to create an advanced manufacturing facility at Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette.
With an investment of nearly $4 billion, the company aims to build a state-of-the-art facility that will produce memorychips powering AI systems like ChatGPT. The project is poised to create a ripple effect of economic growth, bringing more than 1,000 direct jobs to north central Indiana and generating thousands more through supply chain partners, says David Broecker, chief innovation and collaboration officer with Purdue Research Foundation.
Combined with the upcoming openings of two Intel fabrication plants near Columbus, Ohio, the growing semiconductor supply chain could significantly reshape the Midwest’s economy and solidify its position in the global tech landscape.
“We believe this project will lay the foundation for a new Silicon Heartland, a semiconductor ecosystem centered in the Midwest Triangle,” said Kwak Noh-Jung, SK hynix CEO, at his company’s joint announcement with education and government officials in West Lafayette. “This facility will create local, high-paying jobs and produce AI memory chips with unmatched capabilities, so that America can onshore more of its critical chip supply chain.” Read more.
Green Revolution: $400M sustainable manufacturing plant coming to Greater Lafayette
A new chapter in sustainable manufacturing is set to unfold in Greater Lafayette as chemical company Sustainea prepares to invest $400 million in the construction of its first industrial facility in the United States. The plant, expected to begin production in 2028, will be a key player in the global shift toward bio-based chemicals and sustainable manufacturing.
The project is poised to boost the regional economy, create new workforce opportunities and enrich research efforts, leveraging Greater Lafayette’s educational institutions and Indiana’s growing agrobiosciences sector.
Sustainea will use advanced biotechnologies to convert plant-based dextrose into Bio-MEG (monoethylene glycol), a plant-based alternative to petroleum-based MEG used primarily in the production of polyester textiles and beverage bottles.
The planned Indiana facility marks a major step toward the company’s goal of becoming the global leader in Bio-MEG production. “Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., will be the cradle of this technology,” says Gustavo Sergi, Sustainea CEO.
Sustainea’s plant will be co-located with Primient, a leading producer of food and industrial ingredients made from plant-based, renewable sources. The two companies share visions of sustainable manufacturing and long-term innovation. Read more.
Hydrangea Studio 