US Deputy Secretary of Defense Announces $238m CHIPS and Science Act Award.

September 20, 2023 - Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks announced the award today of $238 million in "Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act" funding for the establishment of eight Microelectronics Commons (Commons) regional innovation hubs.

This is the largest award to date under President Biden's CHIPS and Science Act.

"The Microelectronics Commons is focused on bridging and accelerating the lab-to-fab transition, that infamous valley of death between R&D and production," said Deputy Secretary Hicks. "President Biden's CHIPS Act will supercharge America's ability to prototype, manufacture, and produce microelectronics scale. CHIPS and Science made clear to America — and the world — that the U.S. government is committed to ensuring that our industrial and scientific powerhouses can deliver what we need to secure our future in this era of strategic competition."

CHIPS and Science Act - The eight awardees are:

1. Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) Hub Awardee (Hub Lead):

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech) Hub Lead State: Massachusetts FY23 Award: $19.7 M 90 Hub Members.

2. Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons (SCMC) Hub Awardee:

The Applied Research Institute (ARI) Hub Lead State: Indiana FY23 Award: $32.9 M 130 Hub Members

3. California Defense Ready Electronics and Microdevices Superhub (California DREAMS) Hub Awardee: The University of Southern California (USC) Hub Lead State: California FY23 Award: $26.9 M 16 Hub members.

4. Commercial Leap Ahead for Wide Bandgap Semiconductors (CLAWS) Hub Awardee:

North Carolina State University (NCSU) Hub Lead State: North Carolina FY23 Award: $39.4 M 7 Hub members.

5. Southwest Advanced Prototyping (SWAP) Hub Awardee:

Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University Hub Lead State: Arizona FY23 Award: $39.8 M 27 Hub members.

6. Midwest Microelectronics Consortium (MMEC) Hub Awardee:

MMEC Hub Lead State: Ohio FY23 Award: $24.3 M 65 Hub members.

7. Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTECH) Awardee :

The Research Foundation for the State University of New York (SUNY) Hub Lead State: New York FY23 Award: $40.0 M 51 Hub members.

8. California-Pacific-Northwest AI Hardware Hub (Northwest-AI Hub) Awardee:

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University Hub Lead State: California FY23 Award: $15.3 M 44 Hub members.

In all, over 360 organizations from over 30 states will be participating in the Commons.

With $2 billion in funding for Fiscal Years 2023 through 2027, the Microelectronics Commons program aims to leverage these Hubs to accelerate domestic hardware prototyping and "lab-to-fab" transition of semiconductor technologies. This will help mitigate supply chain risks and ultimately expedite access to the most cutting-edge microchips for our troops.

Six technology areas critical to the DoD mission were selected as focus areas for the Commons. Each Hub will be advancing U.S. technology leadership in one or more of these areas:

• Secure Edge/Internet of Things (IoT) Computing
• 5G/6G
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hardware
• Quantum Technology
• Electromagnetic Warfare
• Commercial Leap Ahead Technologies

Hubs are expected to spur economic growth across their respective regions and the economy at large. Hubs are charged with developing the physical, digital, and human infrastructure needed to support future success in microelectronics research and development. This includes building education pipelines and retraining initiatives to ensure the United States has the talent pool needed to sustain these investments. Hubs are expected to become self-sufficient by the end of their initial five-year awards.

"Consistent with our warfighter-centric approach to innovation," said Deputy Secretary Hicks, "these hubs will tackle many technical challenges relevant to DoD's missions, to get the most cutting-edge microchips into systems our troops use every day: ships, planes, tanks, long-range munitions, communications gear, sensors, and much more… including the kinds of all-domain, attritable autonomous systems that we'll be fielding through the Department's recently-announced Replicator initiative."

The Microelectronics Commons program has been spearheaded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, in conjunction with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division and the National Security Technology Accelerator. On 30 November 2022, the Request for Solutions was released, with a deadline of 28 February 2023. The DoD received over 80 submissions, with over 600 unique organizations included as prospective team members. The DoD pulled together an interagency team of technical experts, including representatives from the Commerce Department, to make selections.

The Microelectronics Commons program will soon move into the project stage, at which point organizations can work with the Hubs to tackle key challenges. This includes organizations which were not selected for Hubs today. More information on the program will be shared at the Microelectronics Commons Annual Meeting on 17-18 October 2023 in Washington DC. Learn more at https://microelectronicscommons.org/.

CHIPS and Science Act Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub 40 million federal investment in New York

Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer, Hochul announce New York receives first ever department of defence microelectronics commons hub, delivering $40 million federal investment. First major award from Schumer's CHIPS and Science Act to bolster New York's booming semiconductor industry and train next generation of New York's tech workforce t support America's national security.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Governor Kathy Hochul today announced a New York-based consortium has been awarded $40 million from the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Microelectronic Commons Program.  This funding is one of the first major CHIPS awards from Schumer’s CHIPS and Science Act and will establish the infrastructure of the hub, allowing partners to bolster workforce training programs for the semiconductor industry and add new state-of-the-art microelectronics equipment.

The consortium, known as the Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTech), led by NY CREATES, the University at Albany’s College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering (CNSE), Cornell University, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and IBM, will bring together academia, industry, and government organizations to help supercharge New York’s booming chips industry to spur innovation, attract new companies, strengthen the workforce, and bolster this industry, which is vital to America’s national security. Read more here.

IBM CEO Statement on Landmark U.S. Semiconductor Funding in New York State:

Thanks to a $40M investment by the U.S. Department of Defense - the largest of 8 such awards nationwide - New York state’s legacy of semiconductor innovation is about to take a major step forward, and IBM is proud to be playing a central role.

Our company is privileged to join a consortium including NY CREATES, industry partners, and leading research universities - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University at Albany, and Cornell University - selected to establish a DoD Microelectronics Commons Hub in the Empire State. These hubs are vital to the nation because they will strengthen the domestic chip workforce and boost R&D capabilities that will sustain U.S. leadership in semiconductor technology.

IBM is honored to do our part, and grateful to President Biden, Majority Leader Schumer, Governor Hochul, Secretary Austin, Secretary Raimondo and many other leaders committed to the future of America’s semiconductor industry.

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