Microcidients promote semiconductor workforce skills

In 2017, Demis john Santa focused on a staffing problem between semiconductor companies in Barbara. The region had about 28 small semiconductor companies at that time, many launched at the Nanophabibation facility, which was placed at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where John works. But as these companies expand, “they are all headed by the same 10 people, originally,” John says.

“This was actually obstructing their capacity on a scale. When you start a company, you can have five or six highly educated people,” they say. “As (companies) grow up and they go beyond research equipment, they actually require technicians to start making more chips. … that is where they had these problems often.”

Now, after the 2022 chips and Science Act and increasing investment from companies such as Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the United States is expecting a shortage of workers who can staff the new features. Over the next few years, thousands of additional skilled workers will be required in the semiconductor industry; In 2024, McKinse & Company estimates A talent difference between 59,000 and 146,000 engineers and technicians before the end of the decade. As the United States invests in rebuilding chip construction, the industry has to face a dilemma: how can a semiconductor workforce to meet the upcoming demand?

Efforts to develop a strong workforce have increased, for example, with an initiative funded by the government from the government from Microelectronics Commons, an American defense program that established eight hubs across the country to bridge research and manufacturing. (The National Semiconductor Technology Center was also established by the Chips Act for the development of the workforce. However, in the end of August, the Commerce Department canceled the funds from the non-profit body, which was established to administer the program.) Federal programs, state funding and private sector participation, American colleges and universities are working to raise talent.

To fill the gap, some universities are offering micro -circle programs separate from traditional degree programs, including UC Santa Barbara. In these cutting-shaped courses, which can be reduced as one or two weeks, future engineers and technicians can gain significant hands on the clean-room fundamental or introduce subjects such as lithography or carvation. Deploying small, standardized and skill-based courses across the country can be an essential part of the construction of a permanent American semiconductor workforce.

Microcidiatives develop

UC Santa Barbara started his clean-room training in 2021, in which the clean room of the university was nominated by students as well as people outside the university, in which community college students and people want to change their career. Many universities already have clean rooms where they teach graduates about semiconductor building, but students outside the four -year degree program usually cannot use these features to receive necessary training.

“There is a great mismatch in culture between companies and city colleges and universities. They all want to solve the same problem, but they do not really understand each other’s needs well,” John says. For that, these courses are important to align the needs of industry, students and educational institutions.

When developing UC Santa Barbara course, however, John was surprised to learn that there was no established educational standard for those wishing to enter a semiconductor work for a bachelor’s degree.

A student in UC Santa Barbara loads wafers in a machine used for plasma carvation. Ben Werner

Since then, he has collaborated with several other institutions and organizations, which have been working to implement a microcodient program developed in partnership with the University of Southern California (USC) by IEEE. California Dreams (Defense Ready Electronics and Micodevis Superhb)F funded by DOD. Other programs also offer short training courses, but standardization IEEE’s purpose is important to ensure the skills of participants that are widely recognized by employers across the country.

Initially, John addressed the shortage of companies to overcome the shortage of companies, helping companies in production. But as the courses have expanded elsewhere, it is clear that the same hand experience can be used for engineering students.

Students who take these introductory courses can join the workforce or continue to graduate or advanced degrees in their education. John says, “The entire ladder of the separate workforce is really important in the semiconductor industry.” The industry requires operators and technicians, which can seek employment after high school, as well as after PhD-level engineers. “These microcracherals get someone at the beginning of that workforce ladder.”

What does semiconductor industry need

Micro -circle employers assure that applicants have the skills required to work in their fabs. A common misunderstanding is that companies require students who have already been taught how to build their special technology. But “It really doesn’t matter which specific equipment you have created. What matters that this person has some real chip experience,” John says. He compares it to the carpentry: someone who has spent time in the woodshop may not know how to frame the house, but “all equipment are basically the same. I know they can find out.”

Therefore, in addition to specific skills, the course displays a student’s ability to learn processes – and tolerates the environment. With its loud machines, safety processes and protective suits, the clean room is not a specific workplace. Students experience that environment reduces the risk of employers hiring someone who dislikes it.

“It doesn’t matter which specific equipment you have created. What matters this person has to make some real chip.” -Demis John

Students in the course spend several days in a clean room, which will be more likely than a single clean-brief day to filter the participants that will not last. This is important for companies that invest a lot of resources in hiring and training new people, notes to the University of Washington. Darik bakerWhich serves as the acting director of Washington Nanophobication facility in Seattle.

Can Hands-on course score?

Hands-on experience semoculture is an important part of micro-circle programs, as companies want employees who are excited about the manufacture of things. But it also naturally limits how many students can enroll in one go. “If I can handle 12 students at a time, perhaps there is a route for 100 students a year. But it is not the numbers we need.”

Instead, scalability will probably come from introducing courses more often in more universities. Many universities already have a clean room and courses for university students, so John says, so the goal was that it was easy for universities to adapt programs to fit with microcidient programs already. This also requires training of instructors. For example, the USC, the “trainer trainer”, offers himself a microcidient for trainers in the model.

For 10 years, Baker has run a clean-room training courses, during which students make a diode. He got excited about the possibility of rewarding students professional micro -circle of IEEE as a way to give students a benefit in the job market.

Baker visited USC and UC Santa Barbara to inspect his programs and felt that he was already similar to him. With some small changes, he can meet his program requirements for IEEE Micro -Circle. He hopes that “a person can see that credential and say, perhaps this person doesn’t know everything about working in a fab, but he spent a week -made suit in a week’s gown. They are not going to leave in that first month because they cannot handle because they are in the laboratory.”

Currently, these programs may have importance to most local employers. But at the national level, it starts taking meaning when you have an important mass of universities that are offering these credentials, “says Baker. “The more universities we can receive on the board with it, the more it means that there is credential.”