Research and development hub based at ASU gets nearly $40M in funding from CHIPS Act

PHOENIX – A regional innovation hub based at Arizona State University was awarded nearly $40 million in federal funding to promote technological advances, the Department of Defense announced Wednesday.

ASU’s Southwest Advanced Prototyping (SWAP) Hub and seven other research and development hubs are getting a total of $238 million in the first official allocation from the CHIPS and Science Act.

The funding is part of the Microelectronics Commons program established under the CHIPS Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law last year.

“The Microelectronics Commons is focused on bridging and accelerating the ‘lab-to-fab’ transition, that infamous valley of death between research and development and production,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said during a briefing at the Pentagon.

“While America is a world leader in the innovative research and design of microelectronics, we’ve lagged in the ability to prototype, manufacture and produce them at scale. That’s what the CHIPS Act is meant to supercharge.”

NEWS: DOD Names 8 Locations to Serve as New 'Microelectronics Commons' Hubs
https://t.co/0nMIUokMr2

— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) September 20, 2023

More than 360 semiconductor and defense sectors organizations from 30 states will participate in the Microelectronics Commons.

The SWAP Hub includes 27 members and is spearheaded by ASU’s Ira Fulton School of Engineering.

“This is the first major national security-oriented research and development laboratory ever built in the state of Arizona, and Arizona State University is extremely honored to play a key role in making this happen,” ASU President Michael Crow said in a release.

The other regional hubs receiving CHIPS Act funding are based in Massachusetts, Indiana, California (two), North Carolina, Ohio and New York.

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