Rochester Institute of Technology has received $3 million in federal funds to advance interdisciplinary research in semiconductor technologies.
The university will provide 20 doctoral student fellowships and expects to prepare more than 170 semiconductor engineers and scientists to help close the workforce gap and strengthen the nation’s semiconductor technology leadership, officials say.
The five-year grant from the National Science Foundation grant is part of its Research Traineeship Program, a national initiative to better prepare master’s and doctoral students for the interdisciplinary talents required in semiconductor chip development, RIT says.
The institution’s expertise in microelectronic engineering and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technologies, key technologies used to build and make semiconductor chips, is an asset.
The training will target next-generation CMOS technologies to address skill gaps in advanced materials and devices, characterizations, packaging, modeling and simulation, and semiconductor manufacturing processes and fabrications, says Jing Zhang, the principal investigator and project lead.
“Our program will be one of the first to offer a transformative and dedicated graduate education training model with strong technical, professional, and DEI—diversity, equity and inclusion—components,” says Zhang, the Kate Gleason associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Microelectronic Engineering at RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering.
Zhang and others will work with students in material innovation, micro- and nanoelectronics, optoelectronics and photonics, and integrated circuits, systems, and packaging. These areas have applications of semiconductor CMOS+X technologies. X could be artificial intelligence, packaging, photonica, nanoelectronics or optoelectronics.
“This is game changing for our Ph.D. programs that have research aspects in semiconductor technology, since it will allow us to recruit top-level graduate students by offering them these fellowship opportunities,” says Seth Hubbard, one of the program’s co-principal investigators. “I believe this will provide strong growth in our programs, both in terms of students but also faculty.”
The Upstate New York region has been steadily expanding its ability to meet the growing demands of the semiconductor industry. One of them is workforce development. This project is expected to aid with training and addresses a talent shortage. Workforce development is an important aspect of NSF’s NRT program, which promotes collaboration between industry academia and government agencies.
A year ago the Semiconductor Industry Association shared results of a study with Oxford Economics, which signaled that 67,000 jobs for technicians, computer scientists and engineers in the semiconductor industry would go unfilled by 2030. A gap of 1.4 million such workers would be spread across the broader U.S. economy.
“Semiconductor workers are the driving force behind growth and innovation in the chip industry and throughout the U.S. economy,” said Matt Johnson, president and CEO of Silicon Labs and SIA board chair when the report was released in July 2023. “Effective government-industry collaboration can overcome the talent shortage facing our industry, build the strongest American tech workforce possible, and unleash the full potential of semiconductor innovation.”
Among the study’s recommendations to fill the gap is to grow the pipeline, including domestic STEM fields, for semiconductor manufacturing and advanced manufacturing sectors. The study also suggests retaining and attracting more international advanced degree students within the U.S. economy.
Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor. The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. Submissions to the Letters page should be sent to [email protected].
Other than the DEI reference this is good. (It assumes that there will be placement opportunities upon completion, and they should be robust. ) In addition to it being grant money with clear deliverables, this will afford great career opportunities for the participants. Congratulations!