UT-Austin partnership plans semiconductor training center
A new partnership involving the University of Texas at Austin, Austin Community College District and Texas Institute for Electronics aims to transform Central Texas into a national hub for the semiconductor industry.
The institutions are launching a joint program that will prepare individuals to join the semiconductor workforce and pursue careers from becoming equipment technicians to working as semiconductor engineers, according to a news release from the University of Texas.
Students in the program will receive hands-on technical training at a new state-of-theart semiconductor training center, which will host programs designed to transition workforce talent into the semiconductor industry and advance the careers of current workers.
“America needs a skilled and sustained workforce to bolster our supply chain and mitigate disruptions,” said UT President Jay Hartzell in a statement. “Our partnership will help achieve this by bringing together our exceptional faculty, students and top-ranked programs with Austin Community College’s nationally renowned workforce training, all in the heart of Austin’s well-established innovation ecosystem.”
The initiative will use faculty members from both UT and ACC along with industry experts to “build stackable skillbased microcredentials and related education activities, with plans to develop K-12 partnerships,” a release says.
The program intends to build the pipeline of skilled workers needed to support an estimated 115,000 new semiconductor jobs expected to be add
ed to the U.S. economy by 2030. A report from the Semiconductor Industry Association and Oxford Economics found that 67,000 of those new jobs are at risk of going unfilled because of an undersized workforce and lack of training programs.
Texas leads the nation in semiconductor manufacturing and is tied among states with the second-most semiconductor workers, according to the release. Central Texas is expected to see rapid industry growth as more companies — like Samsung Austin Semiconductor, Applied Materials and Tesla — move or expand their operations in the region.
“The semiconductor industry is a critical part of our local economy, and it’s growing,” said Austin Community College Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart in a statement.
The Legislature has appropriated $552 million to the Texas Institute for Electronics, which is a partnership between the state, semiconductor and defense electronics companies, national labs and 16 Texas-based academic institutions.
As part of the partnership, the institute will commit initial funding of $3.75 million to develop the semiconductor training center and will provide research opportunities for students and educators at its state-of-theart chip fabrication facilities and semiconductor plant.
“We and our academic and industry partners understand this is a pivotal moment for America’s semiconductor industry and that we have a unique concentration of some of the world’s top talent, facilities, experience and funding to establish a sustainable workforce and establish long-term leadership,” said Texas Institute for Electronics CEO John Schreck.
Earlier this month, UT announced a new Master of Science degree launching this fall that will help meet the demand for semiconductor scientists and engineers through hands-on experience in manufacturing, circuits and systems, heterogenous integration and devices. Austin Community College has also made strides to plug the workforce gap, developing a new curriculum in the fall designed to provide incumbent workers with the foundational technical skills needed to become a manufacturing technician.
The first training programs are expected to launch through the Semiconductor Training Center as soon as January 2025. For more information, visit UT’s website.