Arizona State University’s new ISTB 12 building supports training, research and industry collaboration in advanced manufacturing.
Arizona State University (ASU) is helping fill the manufacturing skills gap. Students, faculty, manufacturers and area workforce are expected to benefit from new ASU specialty and research labs for additive manufacturing, robotics for smart manufacturing and industry automation, cyber manufacturing and operations research, semiconductor manufacturing, and manufacturing systems for the energy sector.
Binil Starly had been a North Carolina State faculty member for nine years when he heard about an opportunity at Arizona State University.
ASU was establishing a manufacturing school and constructing the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building (ISTB) 12 to expand its training and research programs in emerging manufacturing technologies.
“That excited me,” Starly said. “How many universities even think about bringing manufacturing front and center as a school, and then investing in faculty and physical infrastructure to back that up? Usually, at other universities, manufacturing is always part of either mechanical engineering or industrial engineering.
“But ASU decided to give it prominence.”
Starly became the director of the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks in July 2022. The ISTB 12 was officially opened on October 24, 2025 at ASU Polytechnic campus.
ASU president Michael Crow said the facility supports the university’s goals in innovation and research competitiveness.
“Here in Arizona, we have ways in which we have constructed whole new types of institutions, like this university, whole new ways of working, new ways to partner, new ways to come together, new ways to say, ‘Hey, I think that the United States needs the most advanced manufacturing school ever made.’
“Well, OK, why don’t we figure out how to do that? We’re going to work with the city of Mesa. We’re going to work with the leadership of the state of Arizona. We’re going to work with Honeywell and other companies. We’re going to build this thing. We’re going to attract talent from all over the world, and we’re going to bring it together.”
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said ASU has played a key role in the state’s efforts to develop its advanced manufacturing industry.
“It’s because of this world-class university and its commitment to making sure that Arizona is at the forefront of this new era,” Hobbs said. “Your efforts have contributed to research and development, workforce training and job creation. Today marks more than the opening of a building. It is a milestone in our leadership as a hub of advanced manufacturing technology and innovation.”
ISTB 12 will be located in the Polytechnic Innovation Zone, one of nine ASU zones, eight in Arizona and one in Los Angeles.
The Innovation Zones are real-estate portfolios managed by ASU or its partners, aimed at bringing together private companies, faculty, students and university research to foster collaboration, and economic growth.
Businesses, from startups to large companies, have access to university labs, shared facilities, students and applied research projects. Students gain experience through industry projects, internships and applied learning.
The Polytechnic Innovation Zone focuses on applied research and development in aviation, alternate energy, health, human-technology integration, commercial printing and design services and digital/additive manufacturing.
Morgan Olsen, ASU’s executive vice president, treasurer and chief financial officer, said about 330 acres will make up the Polytechnic Innovation Zone and be used to support partnerships, applied research and regional economic activity.
“This is a huge opportunity for all of us in the state of Arizona,” Olsen said. “Our Innovation Zones offer some great benefits to businesses who decide to co-locate. We’re talking about things like access to labs, high-tech equipment, our makerspaces and, most importantly, our faculty and students. All of that helps create an environment of supportive innovation and growth. And, of course, the companies that locate here are going to have great access to our students with all the tremendous talents they have.”
Fostering innovation
The 173,000-gross-square-foot ISTB 12 facility includes three floors and about 128,000 square feet of flexible office, meeting, instructional, research and collaboration space to support engineering education and research.
It features specialized labs for additive manufacturing, robotics, industrial automation, cyber manufacturing, operations research, semiconductor processes and energy-related manufacturing systems.
“Think for a moment about the young person in your life who loves to take things apart and put them back together,” said Nancy Gonzales, ASU’s executive vice president and university provost. “Someone who is more comfortable with their hands than a textbook. Maybe that young person watches a lot of videos about how things work, tinkers in the garage or stays after school to participate in the high school robotics class.
“They might not think college is for them, or they might not know that college can be this state-of-the-art, high-tech, deeply hands-on and connected to companies that are designing, shaping and building the future in so many areas that affect our everyday lives. … This is the place where your students’ curiosity meets the world of the possible.”
ISTB 12 includes three instructional labs, four classrooms for the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, and a 200-seat multipurpose classroom available for university use. The Polytechnic School in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering will also occupy space in the facility.
Starly said ASU Prep Academy students use one of the weekly for robotics projects. He added that ASU Health leaders plan to assess how health and manufacturing initiatives can align.
“The future of manufacturing is going to be heavily digital, heavily automated, hardware- and software-integrated across all machines and processes,” Starly said. “ISTB 12 is a representation of the connection between the manufacturing processes, AI learning, smart automation and smart robotics that represent the future of manufacturing.”
Kyle Squires, dean of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, said ISTB 12 represents a “significant milestone in the evolution of the Fulton Schools” that began in 2003 with a gift from Ira A. Fulton.
“Today, nearly 33,000 students call Fulton home, and ISTB 12 marks that next step under our trajectory,” Squires said. “It’s the new home for our School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, which is the nation’s first engineering school dedicated to defining that future and what manufacturing will be.”
ASU is the only university in the country that offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in manufacturing engineering. ISTB 12 brings these programs together in one facility dedicated to manufacturing education and research.
“We’re not training students for any particular sector,” Starly said. “We try to pair general manufacturing knowledge with transferable skills catered to the aerospace or microelectronics industries, two big industries out here in Phoenix.
“Beyond a regional sense, there’s medical, pharmaceutical, food processing and consumer products that involve manufacturing in some shape or form, including for the nuclear energy sector. For example, can we rethink the way we design and manufacture nuclear reactor components? What we’re training students for are common core skill sets that will translate to varied manufacturing processes.
“This is why ASU is No. 1 in innovation. It’s not just language or what we put on our banners. We’re designing and actually doing things to make that happen.”
More about the ISTB 12 labs
Advanced Battery Lab: Conducts research on advanced energy storage technologies, including Li-ion, Na-ion, flow and aqueous batteries. The lab focuses on improving performance, safety and durability for use in electric vehicles, grid storage and portable systems.
Clean Energy Systems Lab: Offers a flexible environment for developing and testing integrated energy technologies at grid scale. Working with utilities and technology developers, the lab supports research on reliable and efficient energy systems and helps move new technologies from laboratory testing to practical applications.
High Bay Collaborative Space: Also known as the Hybrid and Multi-Material Manufacturing Lab, this facility includes industrial robots and additive and subtractive manufacturing equipment used by the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks. This lab uses Al and digital twin systems to support research on automation in aerospace, nuclear and medical device manufacturing and provides resources for workforce training. The Polytechnic School conducts research on electric and automated vehicles, focusing on powertrain optimization, safety systems and digital twin modeling for autonomous driving. The lab uses vehicles from small-scale platforms to full-size Mustang Mach-E, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Tesla Model 3, for validation, testing and training in both on-road and off-road settings.
Robotics and Autonomous Systems Lab: A 5,500-square-foot focused on research in ground and aerial robotic systems. Equipped with sensors, motion tracking and Al capabilities, the lab supports hardware and software testing in fields such as agriculture, defense and manufacturing.
Reactive Material 3D Printing Lab: Supports additive manufacturing with metal alloys and ceramics and includes facilities for research in aerospace and medical device applications. The lab also facilitates collaboration with regional industry partners.
Materials Testing and Characterization Lab: Includes 5,865 square feet of shared facilities with more than $1 million in metrology equipment. The labs support research across biomedical, aerospace and nuclear industries, offering tools for microscopy, spectroscopy and thermal analysis.
Class 10,000 Clean Room: Includes 1,200 square feet of Class 10,000 cleanroom space on the Polytechnic campus. This lab supports NATCAST’s training in advanced packaging and research in micro- and nanofabrication processes. NATCAST is the designated operator of the National Semiconductor Technology Center.
Micro-Assembly and Packaging Automation Lab: Includes 4,000 square feet of space for semiconductor assembly processes such as die attach, wire bonding and encapsulation. The lab contains precision measurement tools and supports work that connects wafer fabrication with system-level applications in computing, sensing and communications.
Edited by Puja Mitra, WTWH Media, for Control Engineering, from a ASU news release.
