SkyWater Technology (NASDAQ: SKYT) announced that its President and CEO, Thomas Sonderman, is serving as a panelist today at Purdue University’s Microelectronics and Advanced Packaging Workforce Development Workshop in West Lafayette, Indiana. Other participants in the panel represent organizations including AMD, Micron, Synopsys and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Hosted by Purdue’s College of Engineering, the workshop will address challenges and opportunities related to workforce development for microelectronics and advanced packaging in the United States. Representatives from industry, academia, state and federal government will address how to scale-up educational programs, online and hands-on training, knowledge and skills for technicians, B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. graduates, special programs for trusted and assured electronics and funding opportunities for comprehensive workforce development programs.
The workshop supports a national initiative led by Purdue and sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense to address the urgent need for engineering graduates to support development of defense technologies, especially in the area of microelectronics. The Scalable Asymmetric Lifecycle Engagement Microelectronics Workforce Development program (SCALE) is a $19.2 million multi-university public-private-academic partnership aimed at workforce development across engineering universities throughout the nation.
At Purdue, the SCALE program brings faculty from the Purdue College of Engineering together with faculty from 14 universities as well as representatives from the Department of Defense (DOD), NASA, Department of Energy NNSA labs, and the defense industry to stimulate development of this urgently needed microelectronics workforce focused on national security requirements. SCALE partners are working with students across the nation to build strong relationships with the government and the defense industrial base.
SkyWater has played an active role in presenting to university students in an effort to generate interest in semiconductor manufacturing as a career path, including to bolster the SCALE program.
“I’m excited to join the Department of Commerce and my industry colleagues to discuss the importance of workforce development opportunities in microelectronics as well as the state of the domestic industry,” said SkyWater CEO, Tom Sonderman. “The ongoing focus to address the preparation of American students for employment in the semiconductor industry will yield positive results for the domestic workforce, including for companies like SkyWater. This is encouraging news as we continue to provide leadership on U.S. government programs such as the development of radiation hardened microelectronics to enhance our national security and drive continued microelectronics innovation.”