ASU and Applied Materials to establish $270 million Materials-to-Fab Center, driving innovation in semiconductor manufacturing machinery

Arizona State University (ASU) and Applied Materials will create a shared research, development and prototyping facility, the Materials-to-Fab (MTF) Center, to bring Applied Materials’ semiconductor manufacturing machinery into a collaborative environment. At the new $270 million facility, they will work with other industry partners, startups, government entities and academic institutions and with students and faculty to provide hands-on learning and research on the same equipment used in production fabs.

In May, Applied Materials announced plans to build an Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization (EPIC) center in California’s Silicon Valley that includes a network of hubs at leading universities, each focused on materials and process innovation. The new MTF Center at ASU will be home to Applied’s Center of Excellence in materials deposition technology. The MTF Center will be located in the university’s MacroTechnology Works building at ASU Research Park.

“Applied Materials and Arizona State University already enjoy a close partnership and this new alliance around the Materials-to-Fab Center will take things to a new level,” said ASU President Michael Crow. “But what is more important than the partnership is what it will do for the industry and the country. This is the beginning of a reconfiguration of the way to accelerate discovery and translational research outcomes in response to real world challenges and the development of next-generational processes, materials, equipment, and workforce.”

“Applied envisions the center at ASU playing a key role in accelerating materials engineering innovations, commercializing academic research and strengthening the pipeline of future semiconductor industry talent,” said Applied Materials President and CEO Gary Dickerson.

Design of the MTF Center has already begun, and the new lab is expected to be operational within two years. The MTF Center project is supported by investments of $30 million from the Arizona Commerce Authority, $17 million from ASU and $25 million in Arizona New Economy Initiative funding and bonds. Applied Materials' contributions are anticipated to exceed $200 million including capital investments, equipment operation and maintenance, and research and scholarship funding.

In an effort to build an inclusive talent pipeline, Applied Materials also intends to launch an endowment fund that will provide scholarships to first-generation and/or underrepresented minority students in the Fulton Schools of Engineering. In addition, the Applied Materials Momentum Fund will be available to students at ASU. The Momentum Fund provides grants to women pursuing undergraduate degrees in engineering as they approach degree completion, helping to overcome potential financial barriers and accelerating access to careers in the semiconductor industry.