This CUAHSI_LTAW_The_Little_Known_Tale_of_the_Thirsty_Chips_Documentary_Project_ReadMe.txt file was created on 20241010 by Ayobami Oluwadunsin Oladapo

Project Title: The Little-known Tale of the Thirsty Chips

Project Description: The Little-Known Tale of the Thirsty Chips documentary was created with the sole purpose of education, creating awareness, and starting a well-informed conversation about water usage in the semiconductor industry. It is the winning pitch of the Lets Talk About Water (LTAW) Grant 2023 and is funded by the Consortium of Universities for Advancement of Hydrologic Sciences Inc. (CUAHSI).


Project Overview 
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It all started when we, a group of three graduate students including Ayobami Oluwadunsin Oladapo, Srilani Wickramasinghe, and Shivika Aggrawal decided to apply for the CUAHSI LTAW 2023 grant in April 2023. We agreed that the chip-water story would be the most impactful nationally and globally from among the two or three water issues of interest that we had shortlisted for our LTAW proposal pitch. The informal preliminary survey we conducted with our family, friends, and colleagues confirmed an awareness gap related to this topic, which we could effectively address through a short film. Given the current atmosphere where chips and AI are making headlines every day, there is already much ongoing discussion about the challenges for resource acquisition (skilled-labor, rare earth metals, etc.) in these industries. However, as hydrogeologists and water science education enthusiasts, we noticed that although water was a critical resource for the sustenance of these high-tech industries, it rarely made it to the discussion table. Therefore, having recognized this gap we applied for the grant with the sole motivation of creating a short film that would reach a wider audience, beyond the scientific academic audience, and help educate and raise awareness about water use in the semiconductor industry. We were extremely delighted & honored to have been selected as the winning pitch of CUAHSI LTAW 2023 by the end of June 2023 and as a team, embarked on this one-year-long adventure of filmmaking to enhance water literacy. Since it was the very first film-making experience of this scale for all three of us every simple task was a new learning experience and we had to first power through the learning curve of putting a good team together, negotiating financial terms with the professionals, getting experts on board, figuring out minor logistics and the list continues. We were not full-time filmmakers, so we had to painstakingly find and work extra hours beyond our graduate school and research schedules to make this passion project a reality.

We followed a scientific approach for our documentary on the following overarching (research) questions:

1. The recent boom in the semiconductor industry, why is it important to the USA? Are people aware of the importance of chips?
2. Are people aware of water usage in the semiconductor industry/chip manufacturing?
	• How and where water play a critical role in the chip manufacturing process?
	• How do different groups (chips vs water vs public) perceive “water” in relation to chip manufacturing?
	• What are the consequences of overlooking water usage as a critical resource for chip manufacturing?
3. Is the current planning & policy framework related to the chips-water scenario sufficient? What can be done to improve? How can it be done?
4. What are the current water-related best practices within the chip industry?
5. What is the way forward & what role can research & innovation play in this regard?
6. Is it the right time to start this dialogue about water use in the semiconductor industry?

The documentary adopts an inquiry-based approach, featuring interviews with students and experts across various disciplines, including hydrogeology, semiconductor manufacturing, and water utility fields of expertise. This multidisciplinary engagement approach provided a comprehensive and nuanced view of the topic, thus encouraging critical thinking and reflection among the audience based on the evidence presented. Our interviews included current students, graduates, and a high school student, representing diverse fields of study such as chemistry, agriculture, hydrogeology, mechanical engineering, environmental and ecological engineering, and industrial engineering. The focus of the student interviews was to assess their knowledge and awareness of water use in semiconductor chip production. We also interviewed an expert in semiconductor chip manufacturing, who explained the nature of semiconductor chips and the water-intensive processes involved in their production. A hydrogeology expert provided insights into the potential impact of these processes on groundwater resources, emphasizing the importance of sustainable practices as the semiconductor industry continues to grow and expand. Additionally, a water utility expert highlighted the specific parts of the chip fabrication process where water is used, including information on sources of water used and the methods and processes for returning treated water to the environment. Each stakeholder interviewed in this documentary offered innovative practices to reduce intensive water use in the microchip industry and to promote the sustainability of groundwater resources. The resulting documentary combines student and expert perspectives, supplemented with data from the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, to raise awareness and start a well-informed conversation on water usage in the semiconductor industry. 

Our goals for this project is to encourage and inspire water-efficient chip innovation and emphasize the role of chip R&D in this regard. We also aspire to bring ‘water’, as a resource to the table where discussions about improving resource efficiency in the semiconductor industry take place.


General Information
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1. Author/Creators Information

Principal Investigators Contact Information
   Name: Ayobami Oluwadunsin Oladapo
   Institution: Purdue University
   Address: Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, HAMP 3257, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907
   Email: aoladap@purdue.edu
   

   Name: Srilani Wickmarasinghe
   Institution: Purdue University
   Address: Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, HAMP 3257, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907
   Email: swickra@purdue.edu

   Name: Shivika Aggrawal
   Institution: Purdue University
   Address: Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, 625 Agriculture Mall Dr, West Lafayette, IN 47907
   Email: saggraw@purdue.edu

Project Supervisor Contact Information
        Name: Marty D. Frisbee
        Institution: Purdue University
        Address: Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, HAMP 3243, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907
        Email: mdfrisbee@purdue.edu

2. Geographic location of project (where the documentary was?): West Lafayette, Indiana, USA 

3. Information about funding sources that supported the project: This documentary is based on grant provided by CUAHSI with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Cooperative Agreement No. EAR-1849458.


SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION
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1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the documentary and data: N/A


2. Links to publications that cite or use the documentary and data: N/A


3. Links to other publicly accessible locations of the  documentary and data: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4veZ2TAzaw


4. Was data for this documentary derived from another source? Yes, some of the data were derived from conversations with a semiconductor water utility expert, public data available from the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority and internet sources e.g. Semiconductor Digest


6. Recommended citation for the documentary and data: N/A


DATA & FILE OVERVIEW
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1. File List
   A. Filename: The Little-Known Tale of the Thirsty Chips Poster.jpg        
      Short description: Documentary Poster (cover page).
   B. Filename: The_Little-Known_Tale_of_the_Thirsty_Chips_.mp4        
      Short description: Main Documentary.
   C. Filename: The_Little-Known_Tale_of_the_Thirsty_Chips_Trailer1.mov         
      Short description: Documentary Trailer version 1.
   D. Filename: The_Little-Known_Tale_of_the_Thirsty_Chips_Trailer2.mp4        
      Short description: Documentary Trailer version 2.
   E. Filename: The Little-Known Tale of the Thirsty Chip Final Script.pdf        
      Short description: Documentary Script used for filming.
   F. Filename: Water Utility Expert Conversation Summary.pdf        
      Short description: A summary of information obtained from a conversation from a water utility expert.
   G. Filename: NM-Monthly-Report-August 2023.xlsx        
      Short description: Public data from the New Mexico Intel Facility.
   H. Filename: NM-Monthly-Report-October 2023.xlsx        
      Short description: Public data from the New Mexico Intel Facility.
   I. Filename: NM-Monthly-Report-September 2023.xlsx        
      Short description: Public data from the New Mexico Intel Facility.
   J. Foldername: StillPictures       
      Short description: Picture excerpts from the documentary filming/shoot.




END OF FILE
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