When Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced in January 2022 Intel’s plans to invest $20 billion in semiconductor fabs in Licking County, Ohio, locals were thrilled at the prospect that the new chip manufacturing facilities would create more than 10,000 local jobs over the long term, by Intel’s estimates. The announcement was a big deal because, while more than 30 SEMI member companies are located in Ohio, the state’s cache as a leading producer of steel, cars, and trucks overshadows its modest chip industry footprint.
Not long after the Intel announcement, Katy Crist, Senior Manager of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at TEL, contacted the SEMI Foundation for help building awareness of the Buckeye state’s chip manufacturing sector among college students, a cohort key to the industry’s efforts to overcome its talent shortage. Crist, a member of the SEMI Foundation Board of Trustees and co-chair of the Foundation’s Advisory Council, sought to work with the council to create an event modeled after the SEMI Americas Professional Development Seminar (PDS), a program in which chip industry professionals visit U.S. college campuses to educate students about career opportunities in the semiconductor ecosystem.
To help build on the initial buzz from the Intel announcement, several members of the SEMI Foundation Advisory Council began meeting with the Ohio State University corporate partnership team in October 2022 to plan a new event – Semiconductor Day – to educate college students on the vast global ecosystem of chip companies, the vital importance of chips to how people work and live, and the abundant career opportunities in the industry. The event at Ohio State, in Columbus, Ohio, would coincide with the school’s annual engineering day on April 5 to reach as many students as possible.
Over the course of six months, Semiconductor Day team members from the SEMI Foundation and Ohio State designed a four-hour program featuring presentations by industry professionals, speed mentoring, resume review, food, games, music and prizes. Part science fair, part career fair, the event would give students an opportunity to network with professionals from SEMI member companies.
Fourteen companies representing design, materials, equipment and chips signed on as sponsors: Advantest, Applied Materials, Athinia, Brewer Science, Cadence Design Systems, EMD Electronics, Intel, KLA, Momentive Technologies, Nikon Precision, Process Technology, Silfex (a Lam Research Company), TEL and Tosoh SMD. Just as importantly, the Greater Ohio Workforce Board, Ohio Manufacturers Association and One Columbus also stepped up as Semiconductor Day sponsors.
Tara Greig, a Business Informatics Intern at TEL (left), and Anndee Armstrong, Senior Manager of University Programs at Applied Materials (right), meet with students.
More than 400 students from disciplines including electrical and computer engineering, materials science, physics, and business registered for the inaugural Semiconductor Day. While Ohio State students represented the majority of attendees at the event, though students, faculty and guests also came from 14 other schools in and around Columbus. "It was great to see students participate from over 15 different schools in the region who really wanted to learn more about the industry!" said Crist.
The event was an unqualified success.
Alissa Comella, Associate Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at Ohio State delivered opening remarks and Emily Smith, Intel Ohio Public Affairs Director on the company’s Global Public Affairs and Sustainability team and an Ohio State alumna, then shared a video and overview of Intel’s plans in Ohio before industry pros presented on topics including A Day in the Life of an Engineer and Interviewing and Networking Skills.
Emily Smith of Intel presents at Semiconductor Day.
Tara Chan, a recent Georgia Institute of Technology graduate and a Semiconductor Day presenter, said she has discovered so many more reasons to pursue a career in semiconductors since starting work in mechanical design at KLA last June.
“What really excited me was the realization that this industry is constantly pushing the edge of technology,” Chan said in her talk during the Tales from a Recent Grad session. “Every single day, I’m faced with unique challenges, endless learning opportunities, and the potential to make an impact on the world.”
Jason Cole, Human Resources Manager at Momentive Technologies, said Semiconductor Day was an important opportunity for his team to connect with hundreds of students. “We were delighted to participate in this inaugural SEMI Foundation event around the development of the Silicon Heartland ecosystem,” Cole said.
Momentive Technologies team members counseled students on resume writing and during the speed mentoring sessions, while Kade McGarrity, a Product and Process Design Engineer at the company and a recent Alfred College graduate, offered tips on entering the semiconductor industry straight from college.
Nikon Precision created a scavenger hunt bingo card that encouraged students to visit all the sponsoring companies and urged them to take part in activities such as crystal growing, human calculator, metals matching and coding challenges to help open their eyes to careers in the industry. Students who completed the bingo squares were entered into a raffle to win gift cards to local eateries and an iPad donated by Advantest. With lots of company swag available, including t-shirts with event sponsor logos, no student left empty-handed.
Many students were excited to learn more about chip industry careers and network with professionals.
“Semiconductor Day was a great experience for students at Ohio State and schools across the region to see the full scope of possibility for future careers in the semiconductor industry,” Comella said. “We are grateful to the SEMI Foundation and the participating companies for partnering to launch this successful first-time event.”
Discover the benefits of SEMI Workforce Development initiatives or become involved by contacting us at semifoundation@semi.org.
Margaret Kindling is senior program manager of DEI at the SEMI Foundation.