Federal Announcements

A $72.5 million investment from the U.S. National Science Foundation will drive the design, discovery and development of advanced materials needed to address major societal challenges. The Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) program will fund 37 new four-year projects. DMREF projects include industrial partnerships to facilitate technology translation and train the future U.S. workforce in materials development and deployment.

The U.S. Department of Energy released a new interactive map series showcasing where clean energy investments are occurring across the United States. This new interactive tool will serve as a valuable resource for tracking the industrial revitalization happening across the country, fostered by a clean energy transition that will be built by American workers.

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced 24 research and education projects with a total investment of $45.6 million to enable rapid progress in new semiconductor technologies and manufacturing as well as workforce development. The projects are supported by the NSF Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) program through a public-private partnership spanning NSF and four companies.

The Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a program of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has published a guide to help manufacturers find workforce-related programs and services offered by MEP Centers in every state and Puerto Rico.

The U. S. National Science Foundation announced a $120 million investment over five-year to support four new Science and Technology Centers (STCs). Since program inception in 1987, the STC: Integrative Partnerships program has supported exceptionally innovative, complex research and education projects that have opened up new areas of science and engineering and developed breakthrough technologies.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced a $15.5 billion package of funding and loans primarily focused on retooling existing factories for the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) —supporting good jobs and a just transition to EVs. This includes making available $2 billion in grants and up to $10 billion in loans to support automotive manufacturing conversion projects that retain high-quality jobs in communities that currently host these manufacturing facilities.

The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) has made one cooperative agreement award to the Puerto Rico Manufacturing Extension Inc. (PRiMEX) under the NIST MEP Notice of Funding Opportunity, 2020-NIST-MEP-MDAP-01.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded more than $1.4 billion for Project NextGen to support the development of a new generation of tools and technologies to protect against COVID-19. The awards follow extensive coordination with industry partners and include support for clinical trials that will enable the rapid development of more effective and longer-lasting coronavirus vaccines, a new monoclonal antibody and transformative technologies to streamline manufacturing processes.

Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo traveled to Kenosha, WI, to celebrate the announcement of new electronics equipment production in the U.S. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires the use of Made-in-America materials and products for federally funded infrastructure projects, including high-speed Internet service deployment under the Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative.

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced 16 finalists for the first-ever NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) competition, spanning a range of key technology areas and societal and economic challenges highlighted in the "CHIPS and Science Act." The NSF Engines will link up with local and regional partners to expand innovation across the nation and create collaborative and inclusive technology-driven innovation ecosystems.