CHIPS for America Fact Sheet August 9, 2023

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ONE-YEAR PROGRESS REPORT:

CHIPS for America’s Research & Development Programs

The CHIPS and Science Act is a crucial component of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, 

which includes investing in semiconductor innovation for the United States to secure and extend its 

technological leadership in the 21st century. Maintaining America’s edge in science and technology is 

critical to our national security, which is why the CHIPS and Science Act dedicated more than $11 billion 

towards research, development, and workforce training programs to help unleash the next generation of 

innovation.

While a lot of great semiconductor innovation and design takes place in the U.S., the industry needs a 

robust, holistic, and inclusive research and development (R&D) ecosystem to support the growth in chip 

manufacturing that CHIPS for America is spurring. Entrepreneurs, large companies, startups, researchers, 

developers, and other stakeholders all need more access to test facilities, equipment, digital design 

tools, data sets and prototyping and testing capabilities. The investments we make in R&D will make our 

domestic manufacturers more innovative and competitive, which will drive innovation throughout the 

U.S. economy and strengthen every sector that relies on semiconductors. And nearly every sector relies 

on semiconductors.

Recognizing this, the CHIPS and Science Act funded four 

Department of Commerce programs focused on research and 

development:

• National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC)

• National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program

• CHIPS R&D Metrology Program

• CHIPS Manufacturing USA Institutes

These programs will share infrastructure, participants, and 

projects. They will coordinate with each other, with the CHIPS 

for America semiconductor incentives program, and with 

microelectronics R&D programs supported by other U.S. federal 

agencies. Each of the CHIPS R&D programs will include support 

for workforce development.

In just a year’s time, we have made tremendous progress:

• The Industrial Advisory Committee (IAC) was announced in September 2022. The committee of 

leaders from a broad range of disciplines in the microelectronics field—including academia, the 

semiconductor industry, and federal laboratories—provides advice to the Secretary of 

Commerce on the science and technology needs of the nation’s domestic microelectronics 

industry, the national strategy on microelectronics research, the research and development 

programs and other advanced microelectronics activities funded through CHIPS for America. The 

CHIPS R&D programs will be 

informed by the needs of the 

entire American semiconductor 

ecosystem, including the recipients 

of CHIPS manufacturing incentives. 

In turn, the technological and 

workforce advancements made by 

CHIPS R&D programs will benefit 

the U.S. semiconductor sector and 

supply chain—and help incentives 

recipients and others overcome 

manufacturing hurdles, compete in 

global markets, and meet the goals 

of the CHIPS and Science Act.
CHIPS for America Fact Sheet

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IAC has met three times and the members have been working tirelessly to serve CHIPS for 

America. 

• A slate of CHIPS R&D leaders was announced at the June 2023 meeting of the IAC. Lora Weiss, 

Eric Lin, Neil Alderoty, and Richard-Duane Chambers “bring exactly the depth and breadth of 

organizational, programmatic and technical leadership experience that CHIPS needs to stand up 

new, transformational R&D programs,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. 

• The National Semiconductor Technology Center, or NSTC, will be the centerpiece of CHIPS R&D 

programs, establishing America’s technological leadership and reducing the time and cost of 

moving a great idea to commercialization. Year-one milestones include:

o Publication of “A Vision and Strategy for the National Semiconductor Technology Center” 

in April 2023 to inform the community of the vision, mission, goals, programs, and 

operation of the center;

o Establishment in June 2023 of an all-star selection committee that will choose the board 

of trustees for the anticipated operator of the center;

o Jay Lewis was named the director of the of the CHIPS R&D NSTC program in July 2023;

o A joint statement by the Secretaries of Commerce, Defense, and Energy and the Director 

of the National Science Foundation to formally establish the NSTC as a public-private 

consortium.

• The National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program staff has been travelling the country 

to learn about the needs of the microelectronics community in anticipation of publishing a vision 

and strategy paper later this summer. Leadership of the packaging program, which is strongly 

linked to the NSTC, will be announced soon.

• The CHIPS R&D Metrology Program is an expansion of world-class microelectronics 

measurement science work that has been underway at the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology for decades, helping the industry with the measurement capabilities that make 

increasing miniaturization and efficient fabrication possible.

o Marla Dowell was named the director of the CHIPS R&D Metrology Program in June 

2023.

o Also in June, the program released “Metrology Gaps in the Semiconductor Ecosystem,” 

describing the highest-priority metrology gaps affecting the U.S. microelectronics 

industry focus that the program will address. The gaps fall in two categories: 

automation, virtualization, and security, and metrology for next-generation 

microelectronics.

• Up to three new Manufacturing USA institutes focused on semiconductor manufacturing will be 

established with CHIPS funding to convene businesses, academia, and other stakeholders to test 

applications of new technology, create new products, reduce cost and risk, and enable the 

manufacturing workforce with the skills of the future.

o In June 2023, CHIPS for America released a summary of public comments solicited 

through a Request for Information to inform the design, and requirements for, potential 

Manufacturing USA institute(s) that would strengthen the semiconductor and 

microelectronics innovation ecosystem in such areas as design, fabrication, advanced 

test, assembly, and packaging capabilities.

o Most responders stressed that the new institutes should be transformational by 

addressing challenges that bridge the gaps from R&D to full-scale manufacturing. 

Commentors also agreed that the activities and scopes for any new semiconductor 

Manufacturing USA institutes should be carefully coordinated with those of other CHIPS 

programs.
CHIPS for America Fact Sheet

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The goals of CHIPS for America are being realized by two 

complementary efforts: The CHIPS Incentives Program 

will return semiconductor manufacturing to the United 

States, and the CHIPS Research and Development Office 

will keep it here by further advancing our country as a 

leader in semiconductor innovation, nurturing our 

domestic manufacturing industry with advances that 

keep U.S.-made products competitive here and in global 

markets, and helping to train a workforce in nextgeneration techniques in world-leading facilities.

Visit CHIPS.gov to learn more and sign up for future updates from CHIPS for America.

“We will be the premier destination in 

the world where new leading-edge 

chip architectures can be invented in 

our research labs, designed for every 

end-use application, manufactured at 

scale and packaged with the most 

advanced technologies.”

– Secretary Gina Raimondo