Building up the semiconductor workforce with $30 million partnership

According to the 2022 semiconductor gender parity study from the Global Semiconductor Alliance, women make up only 20 to 25 percent of the semiconductor workforce.

Virginia Tech is dedicated to increasing that number through the U.S.-Japan University Partnership for Workforce Advancement and Research & Development in Semiconductors, also known as UPWARDS for the Future. The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is instrumental in the overall effort.

Established in May 2023, UPWARDS is an international partnership between 11 Japanese and United States universities that is funded by a $30 million investment from Micron Technology, Tokyo Electronics, and the National Science Foundation, with a Virginia Tech share of $3.47 million.

In alignment with the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, five official pillars were recently identified with each of the universities collaborating in various task forces: 

• Women in semiconductors: Increasing access to a global network, mentors, and creating cohorts of students, researchers, and educators
• Semiconductor research: Cross-university research collaboration with UPWARDS faculty and undergraduate and graduate researchers
• Curriculum design and implementation: Developing semiconductor-specific courses focused on design, process, and development
• Experiential learning: Creating classroom seminars, conducting fabrication and factory tours and lab experiences
• Student and faculty exchanges: Supporting short- and long-term student exchange programs
  

Virginia Tech will lead the Women in Semiconductors focus area, a joint effort with Rochester Institute of Technology, Kyushu University, and Tohoku University.

Summer sun and semiconductors

As the first phase of work for the partnership, the electrical and computer engineering department is launching the UPWARDS Women in Semiconductor Camp. The camp is a collaboration between the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering and the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED). Supported by Kim Lester, director of pre-college programs, it’s modeled after C-Tech2, a computer and technology engineering camp currently run by CEED that is already a successful recruitment tool for the department and the College of Engineering.

“We’ve put in many efforts over the years to recruit women, and it’s been difficult to move the needle,” said Luke Lester, department head, Roanoke Electric Steel Professor, and co-principal investigator for the UPWARDS project. “But with C-Tech2, we have a 45 percent yield of campers who come to Virginia Tech. I’m really excited about our new camp. It could be a game changer for recruiting women students.”

Held over the last two weeks of July, campers will learn a wide variety of engineering skills, including

• How to use computer-aided design software and complete a pattern layout exercise
• Safe and effective work in a clean room, using the Micron Technology Semiconductor Processing Lab in Whittemore Hall
• Hands-on experience with semiconductor materials, processes, and equipment
• Fabrication and testing of simple microelectronic devices

Campers will also take an overnight trip to Micron Technology in Manassas, which has been in operation since 2002 and recently saw a $3 billion investment to increase memory production.

“This is a very inspiring opportunity,” said Yang "Cindy" Yi, principal investigator and inaugural faculty member at the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. “I’m looking forward to sharing how I grew up as a female student and engineer and inspire more students to consider electrical and computer engineering.”

Advancing education, research, and innovation

In addition to building the new summer camp, the Virginia Tech team will tackle developing semiconductor innovation in three areas:

• In connection with the Multifunctional Integrated Circuits and Systems Group directed by Yi, establishing a robust research program in fields such as analog, mixed-signal, and radio frequency/microwave integrated circuits, brain-mimicking computing, advanced packaging for semiconductors, and novel electronic materials and devices
• Establishment of a workshop designed for first-year students interested in semiconductor and memory fields, with seminars on integrated circuits and electronic design automation, along with clean room visits
• LICENSE and LAUNCH, along with the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation, will provide support for any inventions, commercialization or seed funding for UPWARDS innovators. Part of Virginia Tech, the LICENSE and LAUNCH teams serve as a “one stop shop” from discovery to market, creating a natural and easy pipeline for research and development of patents. Brandy Salmon and Megan Wallace lead the effort.

"We will explore educational and research prospects of the UPWARDS project within the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in the near future, leveraging MICRON technology manufactured semiconductors," said Yi. "I really hope our UPWARDS research will significantly contribute to the advancement of the semiconductor and chip-related education and research and that it will be a big benefit to the semiconductor program at Virginia Tech.”