A group of 12 UCF students and faculty gained a deeper understanding of semiconductor manufacturing through the Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advancements in Modern Technology (SMART) workshop held in July.
Sponsored by Intel and hosted by UCF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, the two-week program introduced students and local educators to the field of semiconductor manufacturing through a series of comprehensive, hands-on experiences.
Semiconductor chips manipulate and store electromagnetic energy, making them essential components in computers, medical devices, smartphones and other electronic devices.
Intel supported the workshop financially and also through its Intel Scholars program at UCF, which offers undergraduate students interested in semiconductor manufacturing paid internships and the opportunity to work in UCF’s cleanrooms.
Intel scholars and faculty guided participants through four separate modules that included in-depth coverage of the history of semiconductor electronics, CHIPS and scientific law, semiconductor materials, and manufacturing processes.
Reza Abdelvand, a UCF professor, department chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and coordinator of the SMART workshop, said there is a great need to develop an emerging domestic workforce to meet growing domestic and international demand for semiconductors.
“We identified a training gap that’s not unique to UCF,” he says, “but is common to all educational institutions in the U.S., and that gap is training in semiconductor manufacturing. Educational institutions, including UCF, are trying to help the industry by creating workforce development programs that are focused on this demand.”
The SMART workshop aims to address that gap in training, and Abdelwand says it’s a testament to UCF’s willingness to do so.
“We designed and ran a SMART workshop as part of our program this summer,” he says, “with the goal of compressing a huge amount of information and conveying it to participants in two weeks, and reintroducing this training to a broader audience, including undergraduate students, K12 teachers, and university lecturers.”
The workshop covered a lot of complex topics in a short amount of time, and while it wasn’t a complete education, Abdelvand said it went a long way in whetting participants’ enthusiasm for learning more about semiconductor manufacturing.
“What I want to see is for them to be excited about the topic,” he says. “It’s not about whether they fully understand what we’re talking about, it’s about being excited and interested.”
Abdelwand said educators at UCF and other U.S. higher education institutions still have work to do to keep up with the demands of semiconductor manufacturing.
“Over the past few decades, semiconductor manufacturing has moved outside the United States,” he said, “and educational institutions have not invested enough in educating undergraduates in that field. The United States is looking to regain leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, and that’s become a top-of-mind issue for everyone these days when it comes to technology leadership.”
Will Goodman, supervisor of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology Lab at Valencia College, said the workshop was easy to understand and communicate to others.
“When you break down semiconductor manufacturing, you see how approachable some of the steps are,” he says, “and that makes it seem like, even though this is a complex subject, it’s very approachable.”
The prevalence of semiconductors in everyday life is what inspired Wekiva High School physics teacher Eric Apfel to get involved with SMART.
“Technology is growing at a scale that was unimaginable 20 or 30 years ago,” he says. “Students carry devices that use semiconductors, and it’s important that we continue to make those devices more efficient, better and smaller so that we can continue to pass that technology on to the next generation.”
Apfel said he plans to put both the knowledge and teaching techniques he learned in the workshop into practice with his students.
“We’re going to use all of this workshop to give students ideas about something they might be interested in but may not know about yet,” he says.
Intel Scholars Meliyah Ingram and Raviba Ibrahim said it was satisfying to teach others about semiconductors and enrich their own knowledge.
“The main purpose is to bring people together about semiconductors,” Ingram said. “We learned about the intricacies of semiconductors and the process. This was a chance to experience that and teach others.”
“SMART 2024 is a workshop that gives me the opportunity to learn more about chip manufacturing and gain experience in it at the undergraduate level,” Ibrahim said. “I met different people and they all had different perspectives. They asked us different questions, which also helped me reframe my perspective.”
Namisha Jagmohan (Year 24), a student in the ECE department and cleanroom co-op, said the workshop was a great way to make the complex subject of semiconductor manufacturing more accessible.
“The world of semiconductor manufacturing can look very daunting from the outside,” she says. “The more involved you get, the more you learn to keep asking questions and eventually understand how it all works. We had the opportunity to demonstrate the entire manufacturing process from start to finish.”
The participating students also developed an interest in semiconductors and had a very fulfilling experience.
“Since coming to UCF, I’ve become really interested in semiconductors because of how they relate to fields like physics and materials science,” said Christian Turner, a UCF electrical engineering major. “Going to a lab and feeling like a researcher is different than just going to class and listening to a lecture.”
The interactive portion of the SMART workshop gave UCF electrical engineering student Thomas Parker a new perspective and hands-on experience with semiconductor manufacturing, he said.
“The most interesting thing was the hands-on experience,” Parker said. “I didn’t really know much about what was involved in semiconductor manufacturing. It was a great experience to go into the clean room and see how parts are manufactured and created.”
Overall, the SMART workshop achieved its goal of empowering and inspiring students and faculty to pursue semiconductor manufacturing as part of their STEM education and curriculum, Abdolvand said.
“If, in my interactions with students, I can spark their curiosity and help them realize that this field exists and that it’s something they can explore further, then to me that’s a big win,” he says.
For more information about SMART 2024, please visit our events page. Students interested in Electrical and Computer Engineering can find available scholarships on our ECE page.
