ASU selected as home and partner for CHIPS and Science Act-funded national facility for semiconductor advanced packaging

Following a week where a spirited effort by the Sun Devil football team captured the nation’s attention in the Peach Bowl, it is Arizona State University’s capability as a top-tier research university that has delivered ASU a momentous national win to kick off 2025.

In a victory for the entire state and a critical step forward for America’s efforts to reclaim its place as the global leader in digital technology, the U.S. Commerce Department and Natcast — the operator of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) — today announced the selection of Arizona as the site of the co-located NSTC Prototyping and NAPMP Advanced Packaging Piloting Facility.

It is the third of three CHIPS for America research and development flagship facilities, and the one with the largest financial investment. The final terms are being negotiated and will be announced soon.

Located at ASU Research Park in Tempe, adjacent to the university’s MacroTechnology Works building, the new facility will combine semiconductor research and prototyping for front-end manufacturing and packaging capabilities, meeting a unique need for advanced packaging R&D within the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem.

The facility — part of the CHIPS for America initiative, which aims to strengthen the U.S. semiconductor supply chain and accelerate cutting-edge research and development — is expected to be operational as early as the fourth quarter of 2028, representing hundreds of new jobs and billions of dollars of investment.

ASU President Michael Crow put the state’s win in context, saying, “This is the largest of three CHIPS R&D flagship facilities being launched that together represent the greatest national laboratory investments since those that came out of the Manhattan Project."

“The CHIPS R&D project will create a national lab that will be the final piece in a semiconductor supply chain that serves the nation with research and development, manufacturing and workforce development all right here in Arizona,” Crow said. “You’ll have all three things together in the same place to help the nation; Arizona will be the hub nationally — and ASU is at the center of the hub.”

Through the past two presidential administrations, and with bipartisan congressional support, U.S. leadership has made the strategic decision to return not only research and development but also manufacturing supremacy in digital electronics to the United States, where these technologies were invented and initiated.

Crow said that ASU is proud to host this transformative initiative that “will take our state and our country to a new level in the advancement of digital technology.”

“This work is essential to U.S. economic stability, defense security, and it begins with building new expanded national hubs for advanced training, technology development, radiance research, advanced manufacturing and advanced systems integration,” Crow said. “Now, all of these are now concentrated in Arizona.”

Sally Morton, executive vice president of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise, which leads university research projects, said, “ASU is poised for this opportunity and shares in this win with many partners and other leaders in the state of Arizona. This new national lab will play a critical role for the country, and ASU is well-equipped to contribute to and enhance the long-term success of this important national asset.”

A recognized leader in semiconductor research and workforce development with a $992 million research portfolio in 2024, ASU will play a pivotal role in the success of the new facility. The university’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, the largest engineering school in the nation with more than 33,000 students and 600 faculty members, will support the facility through Core Research Facilities and state-of-the-art labs.

In recent years, under Morton’s leadership and the work of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise, ASU has emerged as a global research leader with a particular emphasis on interdisciplinary research and development. The country’s strategic focus on rebuilding the semiconductor industry end-to-end is a massive exercise in the cooperation of diverse expertise in engineering and science.  ASU is the country’s preeminent institution of this kind, designed and uniquely qualified to lead this assignment.

The university will also provide immediate access for Natcast to ASU’s cutting-edge resources, including the MacroTechnology Works — a 250,000-square-foot facility with a 49,000-square-foot clean room and specialized tools for R&D, prototyping and semiconductor manufacturing. The building’s industry-scale capabilities include a $270 million collaboration between ASU and Applied Materials, with the support of the Arizona Commerce Authority, as well as the university’s NanoFab and Advanced Electronics and Photonics lab, with tools for prototyping new technologies.

ASU’s involvement extends far beyond research capabilities. The university will serve as Natcast and NAPMP’s partner for construction, launch and ongoing operations. ASU’s commitments to the facility’s success include a variety of new investments, ranging from faculty hiring to new learning technologies for semiconductor training and education.

The CHIPS and Science Act’s focus on rebuilding America’s semiconductor capacity has frequently been described as a collaborative national effort bringing together a variety of partners. ASU’s Research Park is the ideal home for the facility co-located with MacroTechnology Works and innovative industry partners, a magnet for companies, agencies, scientists and other partners, welcoming co-collaborators to Arizona and to ASU.

Already, it is a location that attracts partners like Deca Technologies, a global leader in advanced packaging. Deca CEO Tim Olson says it is a model that works.

“This once-in-a-generation investment will boost the entire semiconductor industry with powerful capabilities to further develop and scale new technologies,” Olson said. “Deca and ASU have already established a broad-ranging cooperation centered on advanced packaging. With the new pilot facility investment in Arizona, we’ll no doubt see an influx of private-sector investments and collaborations, new partnerships and exciting new ideas that will accelerate America’s efforts to regain preeminence in the highly competitive global semiconductor industry.”

Morton said the launch of this new national lab is a vision that ASU has been pursuing for several years, putting Arizona in a position to be of service to the country while developing an asset that will serve the state’s self-interest in a strong economy and the high-paying jobs that come with the semiconductor industry.

“This strategic collaboration is a significant step toward ensuring that the United States remains a global leader in semiconductor research, development, manufacturing and workforce development,” Morton said. “We are confident that ASU’s expertise and resources, combined with the capabilities of Natcast and NAPMP, will create a powerful ecosystem to address the most pressing challenges in semiconductor technology today and for years to come.

“To say that we are excited to get started is an understatement.”