Indiana hub gets $32.9M in CHIPS funding from DoD

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Defense issued the largest award the federal government has made under the CHIPS Act, and part of it is coming to Indiana.

The Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons Hub received $32.9 million of the $238 million in funding the DoD allocated among eight hubs.

The Applied Research Institute, a Bloomington-based organization that works with private and public sectors and academic leaders on technology projects, was awarded the funding for the hub, which has more than 130 members.

The hub includes state officials, defense contractors, researchers and businesses from Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.

“Located in America’s heartland, Silicone Crossroads, builds on the Midwest’s strengths in research and development as well as workforce training at all levels, to build a domestic semiconductor industry, a national security imperative to keep our nation ahead of our adversaries,” Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said in a statement.

Congress passed the CHIPS Act last year, which approved more than $52 billion in funding for conducting research, development, manufacturing and workforce training to bolster the semiconductor industry in the U.S.

According to the DoD, microelectronics commons have been established to create partnerships, develop a talent pipeline and increase production capacity. The commons are managed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indiana.

Holcomb said the center “plays a significant role in the DoD’s microelectronics strategy to build American dominance in microelectronics production and development.”

Other hubs receiving funding are based in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Arizona, Ohio and New York.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said the hubs will help close the “infamous valley of death between R&D and production” in the states. The microchips they help produce will help the country’s military operations.

“Consistent with our warfighter-centric approach to innovation, 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,” Hicks said.