Purdue, Ivy Tech working to advance the semiconductor workforce
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana is continuing to attract major semiconductor-related investments, most recently the planned $4 billion advanced packaging fabrication and R&D plant in West Lafayette from South Korea-based SK Hynix Inc.
But providing the workforce to fuel those investments is another challenge for the state. The industry is facing a worker shortage and the need to fill more than 100,000 jobs by the end of the decade. Based on degree completion rates, there are forecasts that suggest nearly 40% of chip technician jobs could go unfilled.
It’s a challenge that Purdue University and Ivy Tech Community College are looking to tackle with a partnership launched two years ago aimed at fueling a microelectronics pipeline.
“We try to work closely with industry to see what industries are coming on and to stand up programs so that we’re graduating students in time; when they’re ready to hire, we’ve got graduates ready to go,” said David Ely, vice chancellor of Ivy Tech’s Lafayette campus. “But we don’t want to get in so early that we’re graduating them too soon, and we certainly don’t want to be too late.”
The Purdue-Ivy Tech partnership includes corporate training programs, and associate and bachelor’s degree curricula designed to align with the industry need, whether its working in a cleanroom environment or working on equipment that supports the cleanroom operation.
“Specifically, we’re looking to stand up the electronics and computer technology program with a certificate in semiconductor fabrication [to] train students to go into operator and technician roles,” said Ely. “But a lot of these plants are also highly automated and we have a robust advanced automation robotics technology program. We’re using that program to meet those needs.”
The program includes outreach to area schools. So far, more than 100 students have participated in a Purdue-Ivy Tech effort to spark interest in the industry.
Ely said students are brought in for a semiconductor experience where they work on Ivy Tech’s campus in robotics and electronics before going to Purdue’s campus for additional work in semiconductors.
“Ivy Tech’s role is critical because we produce the students with one-year certificates or one-semester certificates, two-year associate’s degrees, to get them directly into the industry,” he said. “In some cases, you could have as much as two-thirds of the workforce [at] associate’s level and below. These are careers. Students are able to go into these technician position. They’re able to advance and to go up the ladder in these corporations.”