The CHIPS & Science Act, in force since August 9, 2022, is a major piece of U.S. legislation designed to provide ambitious resources for domestic production, particularly of cutting-edge technologies, and for applied research, in order for the United States to maintain its strong international leadership. The bill’s flagship measure is a $54.2 billion subsidy, mainly for R&D in semiconductors. The aim is to revitalize a sector that is losing ground (US production accounted for 10% of the world’s semiconductors in 2020, compared with 37% in 1990) in the face of international competition – Asian competition in particular, with Taiwan and South Korea being the leading manufacturers to date, and China planning to increase its capacity to become a major market player.

Although the CHIPS & Science Act provides for a total investment of $250 billion (of which $54.2 billion is earmarked for R&D), the funding granted one year after its entry into force is below the levels expected. The main research institutions in the USA – the National Science Foundation NSF, the Department of Energy DoE and the National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST – have already received funding and begun to invest in R&D, setting up regional innovation initiatives and expanding existing partnerships for technology commercialization. The development of a skilled and diverse workforce to support the ambitious CHIPS & Science Act industrial expansion remains a major challenge. The importance of apprenticeship programs, supported by career and technical colleges, is regularly raised in US hearings.

On 16 March 2022, NSF Director Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan announced the creation of th Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) division to accelerate applied research within the agency, i.e. the transition from laboratory discoveries to markets, and encourage the creation of regional innovation hubs across the country.

One of TIP’s major initiatives is to promote regional innovation ecosystems via the Regional Innovation Engines program. The NSF Engines program has an efficient approach with an emphasis on rapid innovation and cross-sector collaboration between research institutions and universities, all while focusing on regions that have long lacked federal support for innovation.

The NSF Engines program offers funding opportunities with Type 1 awards supporting the establishment of basic infrastructure related to a specific field, and Type 2 awards providing broad funding (up to $160 million) over a 10-year period to establish the region as a national leader in its field.

Various ecosystems were given the opportunity to apply, and as part of the NSF Engines competition, 16 finalist institutions were selected for the Type 2 awards. These innovation centers were chosen taking into account various sectors supporting the CHIPS and Science Act, such as advanced manufacturing, transmission systems, quantum and materials sciences, aerospace and agriculture, to give just a few examples.

The Regional Engines program, a consequence of the CHIPS and Science Act, is of major interest to Switzerland, as it offers valuable insight into the trends and geographical regions of ascendancy, as well as helping us understand priorities in funding that will drive scientific and technological advances in the USA over the next 5 to 10 years. Based on a bottom-up approach, similar to the Swiss National Science Foundation’s SNSF National Centers of Competence in Research (NCCR), this NSF call for proposals is open to all US regions and research institutions. These orientations are particularly interesting to observe in alignment with Swiss R&D in order to continue establishing fruitful collaborations with the USA. The regions identified as “engines” of innovation highlight the universities and research centers that the USA intends to rely on in order to implement its ambitious technological development.

There is an interesting range of “match-making” and knowledge transfer opportunities here for Swiss research centers, school of applied sciences and universities with recognized expertise in the fields in question. This list presents the 16 NSF Regional Engines finalists by theme.

• Advanced Agriculture:
  North Dakota State University: NSF Engines: Type-2: Northern Plains AgTech Engine for Food
  systems Adapted for Resiliency and Maximized Security (FARMS).
• Advanced Manufacturing/Building Construction:
  Kentucky Science & Technology Corporation: NSF Engines: Type-2: Additive Manufacturing
  Forward Engine (AMFE).
• Advanced Materials:
  FUZEHUB Inc, New York.: NSF Engines: Type-2: Upstate Makes: A Materials Innovation
  Engine for Manufacturing Sustainability.
• Aerospace:
  New Mexico Trade Alliance: NSF Engines: Type 2: Space for Earth, Space for All: Space
  Valley’s Role in Securing America’s Economic and Political Future.
  The University of Texas at El Paso: NSF Engines: Type-2: Paso del Norte Innovation for
  Defense and Aerospace (IDEA) Engine.
• Bioeconomy:
  Michigan State University Foundation: NSF Engines: Type-2: The Great Lakes Sustainability
  Hub for an Alternative Packaging Ecosystem (SHAPE).
• Blue Economy/Circular Economy:
  Current Innovation, NFP Chicago: NSF Engines Type 2: Great Lakes ReNEW.
  The Industrial Commons, North Carolina: NSF Engines: Type 2: Creating a Modern, Green and
  Inclusive Textile Sector.
  University of Minnesota Twin Cities: NSF Engines: Type-2: Midwest Sustainable Plastics
  Innovation Regional Engine (M-SPIRE).
• Climate and Resilience:
  Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative Inc.: NSF Engines: Type-2: Scaling the Regional,
  Technology-Driven, Innovation Ecosystem in Climate Solutions and Community Resiliency in
  Colorado and Wyoming.
• Health & Wellness:
  Wake Forest University School of Medicine, North Carolina: NSF Engines: Type-2: Central
  Carolina Engine for Innovation in Regenerative Medicine Clinical Manufacturing.
• Microelectronics and Semiconductors:
  ICAMR Inc., Florida: NSF Engines: Type 2: NeoCity Semiconductor Technology Accelerator.
• Quantum:
  University of Chicago: NSF Engines: Type-2: Quantum Crossroads.
• Sustainable Energy:
  Binghamton University, New York: NSF Engines: Type 2: New Energy New York Storage
  Engine (NENY-SE).
  Louisiana State University: NSF Engines: Type-2: Engine for Louisiana Innovation and
  Transition of Energy (ELITE) University.
• Water Sustainability:
  Arizona State University: NSF Engines: Type-2: Sustainability Innovation Engine for the
  Southwest (SIES).