Talk session on, Beyond the Chip: Crafting Career in Semiconductor Innovation

#career #semiconductor #industryrelations

IEEE SSCS Kerala Chapter, in collaboration with the Industry Relations Committee, Kerala Section, conducted a talk session on “Beyond the Chip: Crafting Career in Semiconductor Innovation”, the very first event organised by the new exe-com for the year ‘24-25. The discussion revolved around career opportunities within the semiconductor industry and the attractive prospects it offered. The speaker discussed various aspects of the industry, including manufacturing processes, design methodologies, functional validation, physical design, and job roles. The participants were encouraged to interrupt the speaker, jot down their notes, or utilize the chat feature, in case of doubts or queries.

The manufacturing aspect within the semiconductor industry was elaborately discussed, highlighting specialized manufacturing companies known as fabs. He mentioned some of the major fabs globally including CSMC, Other World Company, and Global Foundries, alongside Tower Semiconductor and UMC. The emergence of Indian companies like the Tata Group in IC manufacturing was noted. He emphasized the division of labour, with some companies solely focused on manufacturing, such as TSMC, while others like AMD and Qualcomm focus on chip design. He also mentioned a few companies that manage both design and manufacturing, like Intel, which sometimes utilizes TSMC foundry for production.

Furthermore, he mentioned a category of companies known as services companies, such as TCS and Infosys, which offer design, testing, and other services to semiconductor companies. He highlighted the different types of integrated circuits (ICs) found in the semiconductor industry, including analog and digital ICs, as well as mixed-signal ICs that combine both analog and digital components. The categorization of ICs based on their functionality and internal design was discussed, with a special focus on what ICs are made of. Moving forward, the discussion shifted to understanding the design process of a generic IC. Before delving into the career aspect, the speaker encouraged attendees to clarify any doubts. The speaker was highly attentive to the doubts raised by students and he consistently ensured that everyone had a clear understanding of the topics discussed.

He then highlighted the consistency in job roles across different companies, also focusing on the variations in job titles. He presented a simplified yet comprehensive overview of the design flow, acknowledging the complexity of each step. Then the topic of discussion changed to simulation and emulation, and how both are employed alongside other testing methodologies. He concluded that companies heavily invest in research and development for test infrastructure and employ a significant number of engineers in validation roles. Therefore, there are ample job opportunities in the validation space compared to design roles. Physical verification was then discussed, wherein specialized tools are employed to identify and rectify any design rule violations or inconsistencies that may compromise the functionality and integrity of the design.

In conclusion, he emphasized the need for continuous learning and networking in the semiconductor industry. He also encouraged the attendees to utilise resources like industry sessions and online platforms such as Google and LinkedIn to stay updated on industry trends and job opportunities. Towards the end, the speaker expressed gratitude to the attendees for their participation and hoped that the session had been informative and beneficial to all.