10/2/2024
Federal grant supercharges semiconductor training, bridges workforce gap
The semiconductor industry, crucial for powering countless electronic devices people use every day, is facing a workforce crisis. As demand skyrockets with the rise of AI and smart vehicle technology, the Semiconductor Industry Association projects a troubling gap: By 2030, 67,000 (or 58%) of an estimated 115,000 new semiconductor manufacturing jobs risk going unfilled.
To address this important challenge, The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is taking bold action. As part of new federal funding announced in September by the National Semiconductor Technology Center’s Workforce Center of Excellence (WCoE), Grainger Engineering was awarded $2 million to launch an innovative program aimed at empowering the next generation of the semiconductor workforce.
Photo Credit: Heather Coit
“At The Grainger College of Engineering, we are proud and excited to lead the new Illinois Semiconductor Workforce Network,” said Dr. Rashid Bashir, dean of Grainger Engineering. “Developing a diverse, skilled workforce for the U.S. semiconductor industry is a critical need, and this award is a vote of confidence in our ability to scale our impact. We are eager to exemplify the power of academic-industry partnerships to provide our students with the best training and opportunities. Together, we will address this national challenge and secure America’s technological future.”
The program will expand opportunities in semiconductor training in Illinois and beyond by providing experiential learning for two-year community college students, as well as growing opportunities to learn key concepts at the undergraduate level through the three other universities involved in the partnership, which include the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), Chicago State University (CSU) and the Illinois institute of Technology (IIT).
Students will be taught using industry-standard hardware and software tools.
“Illinois has a state-of-the-art research clean room, but we also have a teaching clean room that we will be leveraging for training these students,” said Shaloo Rakheja, an associate professor of Grainger Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and principal investigator for the project. “The University of Illinois Chicago is a critical core partner of this grant; they also have an excellent clean room for teaching and have already trained students from City Colleges of Chicago.”
The efforts of the Illinois Semiconductor Workforce Network (ISWN) will work from a blueprint established through Grainger Engineering’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering. In a 2024 pilot program, Associate Professor Qing Cao invited students from Champaign’s Parkland College to take part in three weeks of instruction, including one week spent learning concepts in a classroom setting and another two weeks building real semiconductors in the U. of I. teaching clean room. Students demonstrated skill in everything from lithography and etching of silicon wafers to deposition and characterization.
Cao found that the students mastered many critical unit processes in semiconductor manufacturing and succeeded in building functioning devices as part of the program. That success, along with positive initial feedback from course evaluators, gave instructors confidence that the concept could be leveraged for even greater impact.
“This grant allows us the opportunity to scale up the semiconductor technician training program we established, together with our partners, to address the microelectronics workforce problem at a national scale,” said Cao, who remains involved in ISWN as a co-principal investigator.
Diversity is at the forefront of considerations as the program begins. Rakheja and Cao both say they want to see a greater number of workers from underrepresented populations find their way in the semiconductor industry. Hispanic and Black workers together make up less than 13 percent of the total semiconductor workforce, and less than 25 percent are women.
Rakheja seems confident that the experience ISWN can offer will positively impact these statistics.
“I’ve worked with college students who were first-generation,” Rakheja said. “The things that inspired them to pursue STEM or engineering or semiconductors were more than just the basics of math or physics education; it was interacting with technologies and becoming inspired. They can see the hopeful future they have ahead of them and I think that can be really powerful.”
Shaloo Rakheja, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
“I’ve worked with college students who were first-generation,” Rakheja said. “The things that inspired them to pursue STEM or engineering or semiconductors were more than just the basics of math or physics education; it was interacting with technologies and becoming inspired. They can see the hopeful future they have ahead of them and I think that can be really powerful.”
Industry Involvement
The new program will leverage partnerships with community colleges and professionals from the semiconductor industry as it seeks to attract students. Partners include Parkland College, Heartland Community College, City Colleges of Chicago, Harper College, Illinois Eastern Community Colleges, and the Illinois Community College Board.
Students will be able to choose which college they want to attend. Over four weeks, each student will complete a training program and earn a certificate. Rakheja said the program hopes to train 60 students in the first year and about 120 the following year.
Students who pursue their certificates at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus will have access to educators from the electrical and computer engineering department and the Holonyak Micro and Nanotechnology Lab - one of the most sophisticated university research centers for nanotechnology in America - as they learn how to build semiconductors.
Fifteen semiconductor companies based in Illinois and across the U.S. already plan to accept the certificates. Research centers and economic development organizations are taking part as well, including Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, the Discovery Partners Institute, the Illinois Innovation Network, and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
Argonne and Fermilab will assist ISWN on its industry advisory board and help with oversight of curriculum plans, student internships and recruitment. DPI will help with outreach and recruitment, while DCEO plans to support employer engagement and strategize student transitions.
A direct pipeline leading graduated students to professional opportunities will be built out through those partnerships; Rakheja explained that companies will have opportunities to organize seminars and hold office hours in which students can connect with established professionals. They can ask critical questions about job hunting as they move through the training program. Internship and co-op opportunities will be provided by industry partners as well.
Samsung Austin Semiconductor is one of the companies partnering with ISWN.
“Samsung Austin Semiconductor is proud of our partnership with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and congratulate them on the funding provided for the Illinois Semiconductor Workforce Network,” said John Taylor, its corporate vice president. “Our collaboration and financial investment with Illinois will strengthen the semiconductor ecosystem to help achieve our workforce goals.”
ISWN plans to build a standardized undergraduate curriculum that can be deployed at university partners. The hands-on, industry-aligned coursework will help diverse populations of students at those schools learn about semiconductors and possible career pathways.
“Our collaboration and financial investment with Illinois will strengthen the semiconductor ecosystem to help achieve our workforce goals.”
Students at partner universities will be able to earn fellowships to attend the courses, Rakheja said, if they meet the GPA requirement. With the goal of using funding to support and improve student enrollment, ISWN will offer over $2,000 per student each semester for up to two semesters. Fellowships are open to students at the U. of I., CSU and IIT.
ISWN will draw on Grainger Engineering’s expertise in semiconductor workforce development. The College also launched a minor in semiconductor engineering degree in fall 2024 to meet growing industry demand. Students in the minor tackle semiconductor science, design and manufacturing from research and industry perspectives.
The network is made possible through the National Semiconductor Technology Center’s Workforce Center of Excellence, which was created through the CHIPS and Science Act. The WCoE program received a commitment for a $250 million investment over 10 years from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The funding will support President Joe Biden’s plan to help workers secure good-paying semiconductor jobs.
Grainger Engineering Affiliations
Shaloo Rakheja is an Illinois Grainger Engineering Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the Center for Advanced Semiconductor Chips with Accelerated Performance (ASAP). Rakheja is affiliated with the Holonyak Micro and Nanotechnology Lab and the Coordinated Science Laboratory. She holds the Intel Alumni Endowed Faculty Fellow appointment.
Qing Cao is an Illinois Grainger Engineering Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and is affiliated with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Department of Chemistry, the Materials Research Laboratory and the Holonyak Micro and Nanotechnology Lab.