The U.S. semiconductor industry could be short 157,000 skilled workers by 2030, and at least 50,000 of them should be trained engineers. That estimate, from Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, McKinsey & Company and the National Science Foundation, is the backdrop to a deal two big engineering schools signed on Friday, September 18.
Purdue University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign agreed in a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint semiconductor workforce initiative. Its job is to prepare students for an industry whose growth is being driven by the AI boom. Falling short of the numbers could hurt the competitiveness of an industry now helping power the American economy.
What the schools will do
The initiative covers fabrication plants, equipment and materials; chip design, engineering, verification and testing; and advanced packaging. A shared industry advisory board will steer it, and the two universities will act as a single point of contact for companies looking for trained graduates from both. One door instead of two.
The details are still to be worked out. The schools will explore joint program formats, including hands-on learning and expanded industry-focused graduate programs, and will jointly hold recruiting and research events in Indiana and Illinois. The advisory board will give guidance on workforce needs, and that input will become lists of recommended courses for students in each segment, set within minors and certificates. Industry will be asked to back lab funding, clean-room training, research projects and internships. The partnership begins with the two universities and is open to regional expansion.
Shaloo Rakheja, an associate professor in Grainger Engineering’s electrical and computer engineering department, and David Janes, a professor at Purdue who directs its Semiconductor Degrees Program, lead the effort. A third person with industry experience and academic ties will be named executive director.
What each side brings
Purdue offers a university-wide semiconductor certificate, online graduate degrees and experiential programs, with student manufacturing projects housed in the Birck Nanotechnology Center. It also leads the Scalable Asymmetric Lifecycle Engagement program, which it describes as the preeminent U.S. network for semiconductor workforce development in defense. Illinois has two NSF industry-university research centers, a Samsung training partnership, a collegewide semiconductor minor and the industry-funded Illinois Plasma Institute. Grainger Engineering also leads the Illinois Semiconductor Workforce Network, first funded under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.
Industry is already involved. Purdue’s Semiconductor Degrees Leadership Board draws senior executives from more than 30 semiconductor companies. Its co-chairs, Keyvan Esfarjani, a former Intel executive vice president, and Anthony Yen of the ASML Technology Development Center, said in a joint statement: “Technology innovation never stops, and without skilled talent at every level, there is no innovation.”
Mark Lundstrom, Purdue’s engineering dean and chief semiconductor officer, said it is “hard, if not impossible, to overstate the importance of semiconductor technology,” which powers everything from smartphones and GPS to healthcare, defense and the compute behind artificial intelligence. Rashid Bashir, Grainger Engineering dean, said the partnership will help meet demand for a “trained, ready-to-go semiconductor workforce,” regionally and nationally.
Rakheja put the national case plainly: it is vital that the U.S. source semiconductor expertise and its supply chain onshore, from design through manufacturing, for economic competitiveness and national security.
