Powering
Arizona’s growth
as America’s next high-tech hub
through science & technology, education and partnerships
Play video
Impact Arizona
40k
New high wage
jobs by 2041
$6.9B
Economic output
by 2032
6k
6k new engineers graduated annually by 2025
100+
industry partners
Sustained prosperity for Arizona
Arizona State University is a catalyst, convener and connector of private and public partners committed to putting Arizona at the forefront in high-growth industries that create jobs and drive prosperity—including advanced manufacturing and materials, advanced communication technologies, cybersecurity, augmented intelligence, automation and robotics, digital media, virtual and augmented reality, big data, sustainability and more.
innovative research that helps to attract, grow and retain high-tech enterprises. ASU leverages forward-thinking state investments, as well as its role as a trusted partner to dozens of leading companies, to train workers for today’s opportunities and to ensure a future of high employment and economic growth.
This work builds on a series of bipartisan higher education investments by state leaders, initiated in 2020, to position Arizona for future economic prosperity. The state’s assignment to ASU is to build the workforce and deliver the innovative partnerships to secure Arizona’s place as a major economic hub. Working together with dozens of industry, community and government partners, we are succeeding.
Science & Technology Centers
Powering industries of the future through research, development and innovation.
Read moreWorkforce Development
Producing skilled workers through top-tier education and training programs for in-demand careers.
Read moreEducation
Working with leading enterprises to connect education and innovation with market needs.
Read moreIndustry Partnerships
Partnering with companies to strengthen Arizona’s economic competitiveness .
Read moreASU's efforts to drive Arizona’s economic transformation are supported by ongoing investment from the state, numerous industry partners and over 40 local chambers of commerce and economic development organizations.
Featured partners
View all partners
Arizona is leading the revival of American semiconductor manufacturing
ASU is strengthening Arizona’s responsiveness to the needs of the microelectronics industry and national efforts to drive the onshoring of American microelectronics manufacturing and supply chains. By providing the research, infrastructure and human capital necessary for a robust microelectronics ecosystem, ASU is helping Arizona to capitalize on emerging opportunities like the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act and attract industry leaders to the state. Global microelectronics enterprises are making huge moves in Arizona: Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation have invested a combined $60 billion in three new facilities in Arizona, and Apple announced plans to buy Arizona-made chips.
The combination of ASU’s nationally unique materials fabrication infrastructure and access to the world’s leading semiconductor companies is also drawing small and mid-sized microelectronics firms, like Atomera—a publicly listed, California-based company that produces a quantum-engineered film to enhance semiconductor performance and reduce manufacturing costs. Scott Bibaud, CEO of Atomera, credits ASU for helping to make Arizona a destination for semiconductor innovators: “Phoenix is becoming a really important player in the industry… When you have all the players come together to make a region successful like this, it will ultimately become very, very attractive investment in the future of semiconductors. ASU has definitely played a big role in helping this to come about.”
Higherwire: sustainable solutions for battery reuse
From consumer electronics to e-bikes and electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous — and when they inevitably run out of power, they are sent to recyclers and destroyed, or end up in landfills. Trevor Warren, an alumnus of ASU and ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, discovered that up to two-thirds of these batteries are still usable for low-and medium-power applications, and founded Higherwire to find ways of giving them a second life. In partnership with researchers at ASU’s Advanced Materials, Processes, and Energy Devices Science and Technology Center (AMPED STC), Higherwire is advancing new commercial applications for repurposed batteries.
The impact of Higherwire’s technology could be enormous: by 2035, leftover batteries from electric vehicles are projected to produce enough energy storage to power 38 million homes in the U.S. Higherwire aims to launch a green energy revolution starting here in Arizona, partnering with cities in Metro Phoenix to source batteries and exploring a project to build and deploy power converter systems for disadvantaged, off-grid communities in the Navajo nations in northern Arizona.
For Warren, ASU’s combination of technical and business expertise is proving critical to success:
“We chose to work with ASU because they’re a global organization. They’re leaders in research as well as working with small businesses like ours. We are able to minimize our cost because of the research ASU performs, and that allows me to hire on more people and make a greater impact, not just in the state of Arizona, but in the nation as a whole.”
