Solutions are core to what we do, who we are, and what we strive to deliver.
ASU's Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions (LEAPS), a unit of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, celebrates its tenth anniversary in November 2025. The lab is led by Nathan Johnson, professor and senior global futures scientist.
According to their website, LEAPS takes energy innovations from concept to construction with a focus on energy access, microgrids, grid modernization, resilient infrastructure, and workforce development. Dr. Nathan Johnson manages the research team with a one-acre microgrid test bed and computational laboratory that combines simulation-based design with hands-on fabrication to create next-generation solutions to current market needs. The team creates functional prototypes for laboratory testing and field deployment, with technology transferred to the private sector for scaling. The entire LEAPS team is also active in workforce development programs to support Veterans and civilians in the rapidly changing energy economy.
Highlights of the past ten years include:
- LEAPS extension services have been applied in more than 200 locations to unlock $332M in public and private financing.
- This is enabling the deployment of 161 MW of clean, reliable energy to benefit 100,000 people and their local economies.
- LEAPS approaches have secured $59M in sponsored projects to ASU with support from 28 sponsoring entities.
- LEAPS has created collaborations with 84 external partners, 15 partnering ASU units, and 27 partnering ASU faculty and staff.
- The lab has proudly employed over 300 student changemakers.
"At LEAPS, we extend the mission of the university into communities, into businesses, and into government using approaches that allow a university to interface with society in new ways," Johnson says, adding, "Thank you to partners and sponsors as we create new ways for universities to generate impact at scale."