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Oct 29, 2024

California DREAMS Offers IEEE-certified Cleanroom Microcredentials - USC Viterbi | School of Engineering

This program by USC-led hub pilots a new pathway to entering the semiconductor and microelectronics workforce Photo Credit: Jonathan Van Dyke/USC ISI In an effort to create non-traditional pathways

This program by USC-led hub pilots a new pathway to entering the semiconductor and microelectronics workforce

Photo Credit: Jonathan Van Dyke/USC ISI

In an effort to create non-traditional pathways into the semiconductor and microelectronics workforce, the California Defense Ready Electronics and Microdevices Superhub (CA DREAMS) can now award microcredentials certified by IEEE to fellows and undergraduate students who complete its Cleanroom Gateway training program.

“These microcredentials recognize a set of skills and aptitudes that are not necessarily captured in a traditional classroom curriculum,” said Andrea Belz, CA DREAMS Director of Translational Strategy and Vice Dean of Transformative Initiatives at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. “We have outlined a set of activities that can lead to a compelling career trajectory for someone who isn’t interested in sitting in a classroom, but still wants to be part of this transformative technology. It is a huge step for the country to have standards that recognize their talents.”

Led by USC Viterbi’s Information Sciences Institute (ISI), CA DREAMS is one of eight regional innovation hubs established under the Department of Defense (DoD) Microelectronics Commons Program, which is funded by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 to develop onshore microelectronics hardware prototyping, lab-to-fab transition of semiconductor technologies and extended semiconductor workforce training.

The list of microcredentials includes Introduction to Lithography, Introduction to Deposition, Introduction to Etching, Introduction to Metrology, Fundamentals of Cleanroom Safety and Fundamentals of Cleanroom Protocols. There is also a special micro-credential for Cleanroom Gateway Instructor, so that the program can expand beyond its origins at the USC John O’Brien Nanofabrication Laboratory.

“These microcredentials certify that individuals have spent time in a cleanroom, demonstrate familiarity with the types of equipment one would use there, and show these individuals are comfortable with safety and protocols,” Belz said.

To set these new national standards, CA DREAMS leaders worked closely with IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. IEEE and its members inspire a global community through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards and professional and educational activities. IEEE verified student achievement of the microcredentials, and created badges that can be displayed on résumés and LinkedIn profiles.

“We have produced hundreds of training courses that we make available to the engineering community — knowledge they need from the time they graduate to the time they retire, along with the credentials that technical professionals need to advance,” said Jennifer Fong, IEEE Director, Continuing Education Products and Business Development. “What is different here is we are talking about recognizing specific skills that individuals have demonstrated. That is very important to someone who may be going through an educational journey that is non-traditional. It is about demonstrating skills. For those without a four- or five-year degree, and even those with degrees, they will have something that says, ‘I know how to do this.’”

With more than 470,000 members worldwide, IEEE is at the forefront of the industry and has been issuing credentials to technical professionals for over 30 years. “When an individual earns a credential with the IEEE seal on it, it says to industry that this person has achieved something meaningful that has been verified and vetted by this trusted and authoritative organization,” Fong said.

To develop the credentials, CA DREAMS collaborated closely with the DoD and Hub partners from universities, particularly the University of California, Santa Barbara; as well as industry, The Cleanroom Gateway, which was designed to give individuals their first experience in a cleanroom, was developed from a model piloted at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Northrop Grumman and HRL, along with others, also weighed in on the final standards set to award the micro-credentials.

“At California DREAMS we work closely with industry at all stages,” Belz said. “They have been involved in the formulation of the microcredentials from the beginning and their hiring managers will recognize these credentials as candidates arrive with them — especially when they know candidates come from California DREAMS or our sibling Hubs.”

The microcredentials are awarded after each individual demonstrates their knowledge to an observing cleanroom instructor who uses the specific criteria developed by CA DREAMS.

“We examined the skills being taught in the cleanroom and made sure we focused on what was most important to our industry partners,” Fong said. “We don’t need every single skill you teach for everything, but if I’m someone at Intel or Qualcomm, what are the skills I want to see someone have that will influence my hiring decisions? How are we going to measure those skills?”

Because of the partnership with IEEE and the DoD, it is expected that the microcredentialing program can be quickly scaled across the country. That is important, because according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, the field is expected to add 115,000 new jobs by 2030, but roughly 67,000 of those positions are at risk of going unfilled.

Cleanroom workers at every level are needed in greater numbers to meet industry production and innovation goals. However, a lack of exposure and real-world training can turn off potential talent of all ages and stages. The Cleanroom Gateway program rectifies that by giving workers their first experiences in the cleanroom in one or two weeks.

“They will have the context which may help them be a better hire because of that,” Fong said. “We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of people who need to be trained and are not in the pipeline today. Offering these types of microcredentials is a way to tap into these worker bases that have been traditionally excluded from technical careers.”

This summer, CA DREAMS awarded the first microcredentials to the inaugural CHIPS Technician Fellows Program cohort and to the USC undergraduate students who participated in the Microelectronics (ME) Commons Scholars Program.

“Everyone is really doing their part to make this happen quickly in order to address the needs of the country,” Belz said. “It has been a very gratifying experience.”

More cohorts will follow at USC, other CA DREAMS universities and eventually across the country — all with the ability to award more microcredentials.

Published on October 25th, 2024

Last updated on October 28th, 2024