Trump Administration Axes $45 Million Microfluidics Research Grant at Oregon State University

In another telling blow to the tech community, the Trump administration this week canceled funding of $45 million to Oregon State University that would have financed research into microfluidics.

Microfluidics is the study and application of manipulating and controlling fluids at a microscopic scale, dealing with minute volumes of fluids and involving the precise control over flow, mixing, separation, and other fluidic processes.

Researchers at the Corvallis Microfluidics Tech Hub hoped to employ the science to manufacture of advanced materials, defense applications, medical treatments, and semiconductor research.

The $45 million was authorized in 2022 as part of the federal government’s CHIPS Act. This latest funding withdrawal is one of hundreds of academic research projects that the Trump administration has canceled in the last four months.