University-Industry Partnerships in Semiconductor Engineering

Tim Dallas; Tanja Karp; Brian Steven Nutter; Yu-Chun Donald Lie; Richard O. Gale; Ron Cox; Stephen B. Bayne

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Conference: 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Publication Date: June 15, 2014
Start Date: June 15, 2014
End Date: June 18, 2014
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: College Industry Partnerships Division Technical Session 1
Tagged Division: College Industry Partnerships
Page Count: 13
Page Numbers: 24.1298.1 - 24.1298.13
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--23231
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/23231
Download Count: 882

Paper Authors

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Tim Dallas P.E. Texas Tech University

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Tim Dallas is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas Tech University. Dr. Dallas’ research includes MEMS packaging issues with an emphasis on stiction. In addition, his research group designs and tests SUMMiT processed dynamic MEMS devices. His MEMS group has strong education and outreach efforts in MEMS and has developed a MEMS chip for educational labs. His group uses commercial MEMS sensors for a project aimed at preventing falls by geriatric patients. Dr. Dallas received the B.A. degree in Physics from the University of Chicago and an MS and PhD from Texas Tech University in Physics. He worked as a Technology and Applications Engineer for ISI Lithography and was a post-doctoral research fellow in Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas, prior to his faculty appointment at TTU.

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Tanja Karp Texas Tech University

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Tanja Karp received the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering (M.S.E.E.) and the Dr.-Ing. degree (Ph.D.) from Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany. She is currently an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Texas Tech University. Since 2006 she has been the organizer of the annual Get Excited About Robotics (GEAR) competition for elementary and middle school students in Lubbock. Her research interests include engineering education and digital signal processing,

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Brian Steven Nutter

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Yu-Chun Donald Lie Texas Tech University

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Donald Y.C. Lie received his B.S.E.E. degree from the National Taiwan University in 1987, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering (minor in applied physics) from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, in 1990 and 1995, respectively. He has held technical and managerial positions at companies such as Rockwell International, Silicon-Wave (now Qualcomm), IBM, Microtune Inc., SYS Technologies, and Dynamic Research Corporation (DRC). He is currently the Keh-Shew Lu Regents Chair Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, and also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Surgery, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC). He is instrumental in bringing in multi-million dollars research funding and also designed real-world commercial communication products sold internationally. He has been a Visiting Lecturer to the ECE Department, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) since 2002 where he taught upper-division and graduate-level classes and affiliated with UCSD’s Center of Wireless Communications (CWC) and co-supervised Ph.D. students. Dr. Lie has been serving on the Executive Committee of the IEEE Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting (BCTM), IEEE SiRF, IEEE MWSCAS, IEEE TSWMCS, and also serving on various Technical Program Committees (TPCs) for IEEE RFIC Symp., IEEE VLSI-DAT, IEEE ISCAS, IEEE PAWR, IEEE-NIH LiSSA, IEEE BIOCAS, etc. Dr. Lie has been awarded with the US NAVY SPAWAR SSC San Diego “Center Team Achievement Award”, Spring 2007; won 3 DRC Silver Awards of Excellence, 2005-2007; received IBM "FIRST" chairman patent award, 2001-2002 and Rockwell International’s “FIRST” engineering awards, 1996-1998. He has delivered plenary talks, short courses, invited talks, workshops at various conferences, universities and companies. He and his students have won several Best Graduate Student Paper Awards and Best Paper Awards in international conferences in 1994, 1995, 2006, 2008 (twice), 2010 (twice), 2011, 2012, and 2013. Dr. Lie is serving as an Associate Editor of IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters (MWCL), and also on the Associate Editor-in-Chief (EiC) for the Open Journal of Applied Biosensor (OJAB) and and the Editorial Board of i-manager’s Journal on Electrical Engineering. He was a Guest Editor of IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits (JSSC) in 2009, the Special Topic Editor for IEEE MWCL in 2012, and also has served as a reviewer for many journals and funding agencies. He has consulted for several IC design companies and an international research institute, also for one of the best business trial law firms in the world. Dr. Lie has co-founded the NoiseFigure Research Inc. with his student Dr. Lopez since 2009, focusing on state-of-the-art RF-SoC technologies and the company has won several Phase I and Phase II STTR/SBIR awards and other contracts. Dr. Lie has authored/coauthored over 150 peer-reviewed technical papers and book chapters and holds six U.S. patents. Dr. Lie’s group has published three most downloaded TOP 100 papers on the IEEE Xplore™ among millions of publications in Sept, 2012, June 2012, and Sept. 2009 (ranked #80, #88, and #21, respectively). His research interests are: (1) power-efficient RF/Analog IC and System-on-a-Chip (SoC) design and test; and (2) interdisciplinary and clinical research on medical electronics, biosensors, and biosignal processing.

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Abstract

University-Industry Partnership in Semiconductor EngineeringA critical component of the US industrial base is the development, production, and deploymentof semiconductor devices. This industry relies on a high number of specially trained engineers toaccomplish these missions. As semiconductor technologies have continued to advance, severedemands have been placed on educational institutions to properly prepare students for the rigorsof employment. To maintain exceptional student development, strong partnerships betweenindustry and academia are a necessity.We describe a long-standing and successful university-industry partnership in semiconductordevice engineering with a primary focus on product and test engineering. The partnership, nowin its 15th year, relies on a symbiotic relationship that has evolved over the years to reflectindustrial trends and advancing university capabilities. The success of the partnership is due to amultifaceted approach with an emphasis on frequent communication between the company andthe university. Bi-directional on-site visits by all participants (faculty, students, alumni, and otherindustry engineers) strengthen the initiative and clearly communicate the nature of the industrialenvironment and work expectations to the students. Mentoring of students by working engineersprovides the necessary one-on-one guidance as critical employment path decisions are made.Visits by industry representatives to the university for recruitment and technical talks providepositive visibility to the company. This interaction feeds the core component of the program,student internships. These internships, for which students can obtain course credit, are done atboth the undergraduate and graduate level and provide a nearly seamless pathway from school tofull-time employment. For graduate students, the industrial internship provides the material forthe graduate thesis.Corporate and federal funding of these initiatives has been a driving force to expedite studentprogress and strengthen educational tools. The semiconductor device engineering program,initiated by visionary alumni, is currently supported by both industry sponsored scholarships andfellowships, as well as a four-year award from the National Science Foundations’ Scholarships inSTEM program. These scholarships have allowed many students to stay in school and morequickly finish their degrees. Corporate support of university research and educational labfacilities has provided a tool set that replicates many of the systems that a student will see oncethey begin their careers at the company. Prior experience reduces the need for on the job trainingand gives these students a competitive advantage in the internship and hiring process.The full paper will provide a detailed description of the key success factors of the long-standingindustry university collaboration. It will provide insights into benefits of the collaboration asexperienced by students, university faculty, industry project managers, and human resources.

Citation
Format

Dallas, T., & Karp, T., & Nutter, B. S., & Lie, Y. D., & Gale, R. O., & Cox, R., & Bayne, S. B. (2014, June), University-Industry Partnerships in Semiconductor Engineering Paper presented at 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--23231

TY - CPAPER
AB - University-Industry Partnership in Semiconductor EngineeringA critical component of the US industrial base is the development, production, and deploymentof semiconductor devices. This industry relies on a high number of specially trained engineers toaccomplish these missions. As semiconductor technologies have continued to advance, severedemands have been placed on educational institutions to properly prepare students for the rigorsof employment. To maintain exceptional student development, strong partnerships betweenindustry and academia are a necessity.We describe a long-standing and successful university-industry partnership in semiconductordevice engineering with a primary focus on product and test engineering. The partnership, nowin its 15th year, relies on a symbiotic relationship that has evolved over the years to reflectindustrial trends and advancing university capabilities. The success of the partnership is due to amultifaceted approach with an emphasis on frequent communication between the company andthe university. Bi-directional on-site visits by all participants (faculty, students, alumni, and otherindustry engineers) strengthen the initiative and clearly communicate the nature of the industrialenvironment and work expectations to the students. Mentoring of students by working engineersprovides the necessary one-on-one guidance as critical employment path decisions are made.Visits by industry representatives to the university for recruitment and technical talks providepositive visibility to the company. This interaction feeds the core component of the program,student internships. These internships, for which students can obtain course credit, are done atboth the undergraduate and graduate level and provide a nearly seamless pathway from school tofull-time employment. For graduate students, the industrial internship provides the material forthe graduate thesis.Corporate and federal funding of these initiatives has been a driving force to expedite studentprogress and strengthen educational tools. The semiconductor device engineering program,initiated by visionary alumni, is currently supported by both industry sponsored scholarships andfellowships, as well as a four-year award from the National Science Foundations’ Scholarships inSTEM program. These scholarships have allowed many students to stay in school and morequickly finish their degrees. Corporate support of university research and educational labfacilities has provided a tool set that replicates many of the systems that a student will see oncethey begin their careers at the company. Prior experience reduces the need for on the job trainingand gives these students a competitive advantage in the internship and hiring process.The full paper will provide a detailed description of the key success factors of the long-standingindustry university collaboration. It will provide insights into benefits of the collaboration asexperienced by students, university faculty, industry project managers, and human resources.
AU - Tim Dallas P.E.
AU - Tanja Karp
AU - Brian Steven Nutter
AU - Yu-Chun Donald Lie
AU - Richard O. Gale
AU - Ron Cox
AU - Stephen B. Bayne
CY - Indianapolis, Indiana
DA - 2014/06/15
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - University-Industry Partnerships in Semiconductor Engineering
UR - https://peer.asee.org/23231
DO - 10.18260/1-2--23231
ER -