The MMEC accelerates technology innovation and collaboration by uniting government, industry, and academia through a powerful ecosystem. By integrating digital design tools, advanced infrastructure, expert talent, and investment pathways, MMEC moves ideas from lab-to-fab-to-mission and market with speed and precision—strengthening U.S. microelectronics leadership and delivering real-world impact.
Advances high-speed, secure, and resilient wireless communications critical for next-generation defense and commercial systems.
Develops specialized processors and architectures that enable faster, more efficient AI and machine learning at the edge.
Accelerates groundbreaking commercial innovations that can rapidly transition into defense and dual-use applications.
Enhances capabilities to sense, protect, and dominate the electromagnetic spectrum against emerging threats.
Enables trusted, low-latency computing at the network edge for secure device connectivity and data processing.
Harnesses quantum science for breakthroughs in sensing, communication, and secure information processing.
Advances imaging and sensing technologies for superior situational awareness and targeting.
Integrates multiple chips and materials into compact, high-performance systems that improve efficiency and reliability.
Delivers resilient, precise, and assured positioning and timing solutions to maintain operational superiority in contested and GPS-denied environments.
Develops microelectronics and materials engineered to perform reliably under extreme conditions of temperature, radiation, vibration, and pressure for mission-critical defense and space applications.
The MMEC empowers members to actively shape its direction and priorities through specialized working groups. These groups bring together experts from across the ecosystem to identify challenges, define opportunities, and guide collaborative solutions by ensuring member voices directly influence MMEC programs, investments, and technology focus areas.
Program Execution Built for the Commons Mission
MMEC executes its Commons project portfolio through an established Program Management Office (PMO) built specifically for advanced microelectronics initiatives. Projects selected through MMEC’s competitive review process are managed with proven program management practices, secure CMMC-compliant infrastructure, and rigorous trust and assurance, keeping programs on schedule, reducing risk, and driving technology from lab to fab to program of record.
MMEC supports selected projects through:
Capabilities
MMEC uses program dashboards and key performance indicators to provide real-time visibility into project health, technology progress, financial performance, and overall program success.
MMEC maintains secure, CMMC-compliant infrastructure and processes that protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), meet ITAR requirements, and align with NIST security standards. Secure collaboration environments and guidance help project teams protect intellectual property and sensitive information.
MMEC incorporates trust, assurance, and cyber resiliency practices throughout project execution. Data-driven approaches support program protection, technology assurance, and alignment with emerging defense and commercial security requirements.
MMEC accelerates dual-use commercialization by supporting technology transition, intellectual property strategy, and pathways to market, increasing return on investment while creating long-term economic impact.
Every project MMEC commits to advances through a competitive review process that weighs technical merit, readiness, transition realism, and cost. This disciplined front end ensures PMO resources are directed where they deliver the greatest mission and transition impact.
The PMO draws on MMEC’s network of more than 550 member organizations across 42 states, spanning industry, academia, and government, connecting project teams to additional expertise, facilities, and partners to reduce risk and accelerate success.
Featured Programs
MMEC’s Program Management Office manages a portfolio of projects selected through the hub’s competitive review process, spanning secure processing, electronic warfare, communications, and infrared sensing. Each program is executed using standardized project controls, secure collaboration tools, performance metrics, and technology transition planning to move innovations from concept to operational capability.
Explore the project fact sheets below to learn more about each initiative.
The Microelectronics Commons is a CHIPS and Science Act-funded national network for onshore, microelectronics hardware-focused prototyping, laboratory to fabrication (lab-to fab) transition of semiconductor technologies and semiconductor workforce training. In 2023, the Department of Defense (DoD) established the Microelectronics Commons – a network of eight regional Hubs to evolve laboratory prototypes to fabrication prototypes and to strengthen the semiconductor workforce.
MMEC is building a rapid, sustainable, and nationally impactful microelectronics innovation pipeline that reduces reliance on foreign supply chains. Our “No-Excuses” approach ensures technologies transition efficiently from research to manufacturing to mission deployment.
Learn moreOur Approach:
The MMEC Steering Committee provides strategic guidance and oversight, ensuring alignment between member needs, national priorities, and program objectives. Composed of representatives from government, industry, and academia, the committee helps shape MMEC’s roadmap, evaluate initiatives, and drive coordinated action across the microelectronics ecosystem and manage Working Group formation and oversight.
When it’s time to move from prototype to production, MMEC members can connect with ScaleBridge Labs, MMEC’s incubator / accelerator platform. ScaleBridge provides hands-on support for the development of dual-use technologies, offering access to investors, mentorship, and commercialization pathways that complement MMEC’s non-dilutive funding resources.
Together, MMEC and ScaleBridge Labs deliver a complete capital ecosystem helping innovators secure early-stage funding, attract private investment, and scale breakthrough technologies into real-world solutions for defense and commercial markets.
