Arizona State innovation team gifted $21.3 million for 2nd year of microelectronic work
Dec 14, 2024, 4:00 PM
Arizona State-led microelectronics group, SWAP, was awarded $23.1 million by the DoD for continued research. (Pexels photo)
(Pexels photo)
PHOENIX — A second-year innovation hub at Arizona State University was awarded $21.3 million for its continued research work in microelectronics, the public institution announced Friday.
ASU’s Southwest Advanced Prototyping (SWAP) Hub was granted the funding through President Joe Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law in August of 2022.
The school will receive $18.6 million and a SWAP partner, Sandia National Laboratories, will intake the remaining $2.7 million.
The microelectronics group was one of eight across the nation to be funded in 2023, having pocketed $39.8 million for its 27 members to utilize. All eight entities are under the umbrella of the Department of Defense’s Microelectronics Commons, whose ongoing goal is to keep the United States secure on the microelectronic front.
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“This is a vote of confidence in the work of more than 170 partners who have come together and collaborated to help build the infrastructure, connect the talent and leverage the resources to deliver results on projects that will advance the semiconductor manufacturing industry in the United States,” Jason Conrad, chief operating officer for the SWAP Hub, said in a press release.
This fall, five SWAP projects focused on national security earned $30 million in funding and national recognition from the DoD. They were among 34 projects intended to improve America’s domestic chip production and lessen the country’s reliance on “foreign sources of microelectronics.”
“We are very proud of the project awards the SWAP Hub received in year one and the significant impact each area of our work is having,” Sally C. Morton, executive vice president of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise, said in the press release. “These initiatives highlight Arizona State University’s dedication to discovery and innovation.”
The Valley-based program also leads work with universities and community colleges in New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. There has been more than $100 billion privately invested in this southwest sector of the United States.
Biden recently approved $6.6 billion to kickstart a $65 billion effort in Arizona by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), in which the large entity plans to build three plants and create thousands of semiconductor jobs.
SWAP operates out of ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, a Tempe-campus program that houses 27 undergraduate and more than 50 graduate level study tracks.
