Binil Starly had been a North Carolina State faculty member for nine years when he heard about an opportunity at Arizona State University (ASU).
ASU was creating a manufacturing school, and as part of its formation was constructing a new facility-called Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building (ISTB) 12-to make the university a leader in training students for the industries of tomorrow.
"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."
That decision convinced Starly to become the Director of the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks in July 2022, and on October 24, 2025, the grand opening of ISTB 12 was celebrated with an event at the ASU Polytechnic campus, where the building is located.
ASU President Michael Crow said ISTB 12 reflects the university's commitment to innovation and competition: "Here in Arizona, we have ways in which we have constructed entirely new types of institutions, like this university, and new ways to partner."
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs credited ASU for the state's success in leveraging the emerging advanced manufacturing industry.
"It is because of this world-class university and its commitment to making sure that Arizona is at the forefront of this new era," Hobbs said. "These efforts have contributed to research and development, workforce training and job creation. This is 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 the centerpiece of the Polytechnic Innovation Zone, one of nine such ASU zones-eight of which are in Arizona, with the ninth being the ASU Creative Economy Hub in Los Angeles.
The Innovation Zones are geographic/real-estate portfolios that ASU runs, or is a partner in, with the goal of co-locating private companies, faculty, students, and university research infrastructure in spaces that encourage collaboration, commercialization, knowledge spillover, and economic development.
Businesses-from startups to global firms-receive access to university labs, shared facilities, student talent, and opportunities for applied research and development. Students get exposure to real industry problems, internships, project-based learning, and more.
The Polytechnic Innovation Zone specializes in hands-on exploration of solutions 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 approximately 330 acres of land will make up the Polytechnic Innovation Zone and be available to foster industry collaboration, translational research, and economic development.
"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 are 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."
The 173,000-gross-sq.-ft. ISTB 12 facility consists of three floors and more than 128,000 programmable sq. ft. for office, meeting, instructional, research and collaboration spaces to prepare students to contribute to engineering solutions for societal challenges.
It includes specialty and research labs that will enable faculty and students to work on additive manufacturing, robotics for smart manufacturing and industry automation, cyber manufacturing and operations research, semiconductor manufacturing, and manufacturing systems for the energy sector.
In addition, ISTB 12 has three instructional labs, four classrooms dedicated to the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, and an additional classroom that holds 200 people and is set up to be a multipurpose classroom facility for the entire university. The Polytechnic School in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering also will be housed in the facility.
"ASU is the only university in the country that has a bachelor's degree, master's degree and a PhD in manufacturing engineering, and ISTB 12 serves as a one-stop shop for the future of manufacturing," said a spokesperson.
More about the ISTB 12 labs:
- Advanced Battery Lab: Advances next-generation energy storage technologies, including Li-ion, Na-ion, flow, and aqueous batteries. These advancements enhance performance, safety, and lifespan, directly impacting applications in electric vehicles, grid storage, and portable systems.
- Clean Energy Systems Lab: Provides a plug & play environment for developing and testing integrated energy technologies at grid scale. With partnerships across utilities and technology developers, the lab addresses the growing demand for resilient, cost-effective energy solutions, ensuring innovations transition from circuits to real-world systems.
- High Bay Collaborative Space: Also referred to as the Hybrid and Multi-Material Manufacturing Lab, the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks' involvement in this space, features industrial robots and advanced additive and subtractive manufacturing technologies. This lab integrates Al and digital twin systems to demonstrate how automation can be applied to aerospace, nuclear and medical device industries, while also serving as a hub for workforce development. The Polytechnic School will explore electric and automated vehicle research, focusing on powertrain optimization, safety control and digital twins of autonomous vehicle driving. Vehicles ranging from mini-scale platforms to a full-size Mustang Mach-E, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Tesla Model 3 support validation, testing and workforce training in on-road and off-road environments.
- Robotics and Autonomous Systems Lab: A 5,500-sq.-ft. facility dedicated to research in-ground and aerial robotic systems. Outfitted with advanced sensors, motion tracking and Al integration, the lab enables experimental hardware and software testing across sectors such as agriculture, defense and manufacturing, highlighting ASU's strengths in robotics.
- Reactive Material 3D Printing Lab: Supports additive manufacturing with metal alloys and ceramics, making it one of the largest dedicated metal 3D printing facilities in the Southwest. The lab is designed to advance aerospace and medical device applications while attracting regional industry partnerships.
- Materials Testing and Characterization Lab: Encompasses 5,865 sq. ft. of shared facilities with more than $1 million in metrology equipment. The labs provide essential support for cross-disciplinary research in biomedical, aerospace and nuclear industries, with tools for microscopy, spectroscopy, and thermal analysis.
- Class 10,000 Clean Room: Consists of 1,200 sq. ft/ of Class 10,000 cleanroom space, the only facility of its kind on the Polytechnic campus. This lab supports training for NATCAST's advanced packaging workforce/ NATCAST is the designated operator of the National Semiconductor Technology Center and enables research in micro and nanofabrication processes.
- Micro-Assembly and Packaging Automation Lab: Provides 4,000 sq. ft. of space dedicated to advanced semiconductor assembly processes such as die attach, wire bonding, and encapsulation. Equipped with high-precision measurement tools, this lab bridges the gap between wafer fabrication and functional systems in computing, sensing and communications.
For more information contact:
Arizona State University
1151 S Forest Ave.
Tempe, AZ 85281
855-278-5080
www.asu.edu