‘Best time for aspiring minds to acquire knowledge in semiconductors’

Any electronic system can be broadly categorised into four different sections: system or architecture, circuits, devices and materials, if we observe it from top to bottom. Now, all these four subsections have two major components: design and fabrication or packaging or assembly. When design-based industries are primarily knowledge-based, fabrication or assembly units require both knowledge and extensive hands-on skills.

India is already renowned as a global hub for designing integrated circuits, with the presence of many global as well as national design-centric companies across the country. Primarily, these companies are interested in talents focused on the first two mentioned sections of the semiconductor ecosystems, i.e design and testing at the circuit and systems or architecture level. With the rapid evolution of electronic systems to meet emerging demands from the Internet of Things to 6G communications, quantum computing to electric vehicles, there will be continuous growth in design-skilled manpower from the fabless companies. Typically engineering undergraduate (UG) or post graduate (PG) students with electronics, electrical and computer science background get opportunities for these fabless jobs.

However, recently under the aegis of Indian Semiconductor Mission (ISM) by Govt. of India, there has been a tremendous interest, investment and initiatives for fabrication and packaging of electronic system to complete the semiconductor ecosystem in the country starting from materials and devices to circuits and systems. Several companies have already started to setup their facilities. Now in this manufacturing units of semiconductor systems, along with previously mentioned electronics engineering domain UG or PG students, there will be ample opportunities for science background students particularly from physics, chemistry as well as mechanical, chemical engineering students.

Not only UG or PG students, there will be a lot of scope for diploma and ITI candidates for these hands-on skill-oriented jobs. Considering all these factors, this is perhaps the best time for the aspiring young minds to acquire domain knowledge in semiconductors or allied areas and prepare themselves with appropriate skills.

Apart from these opportunities, there will also be a surge from research and development sections from both fabless and manufacturing units where highly skilled PG or PhD students shall have a lot of scope to contribute.

The author is the Associate Professor, Dept. of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, IIT Guwahati