With the enactment of the CHIPS Act in late 2022, a pivotal moment emerged for the revitalization of the US semiconductor industry. Yet, a critical hurdle looms large: the shortage of skilled workers necessary to bridge the gap in local chip production. Across the nation, universities are mobilizing to confront this challenge head-on, endeavoring to cultivate a robust semiconductor processing workforce in record time.

 

This presentation draws upon the presenter's tenure as the first Process Scientist at Purdue University's BirckNanotechnology Center, highlighting fruitful research collaborations that yielded remarkable outcomes. These partnerships yielded advancements in microsystems and characterization capabilities, unlocking possibilities for groundbreaking applications. Notable achievements include the development of implantable sensors for monitoring sympathetic nervous activity, application-specific microfluidic devices, and cutting-edge temperature sensors enabling in-situ measurements.

 

Against the backdrop of heightened emphasis on US-based semiconductor technologies, the discussion culminates with an exploration of the presenter's forward-looking vision for nurturing a dynamic semiconductor processing workforce.

 

Bio

Dr. AamerMahmood is the Director of the West Virginia University Shared Research Facilities (WVU SRF). Working with the WVU Research Office and researchers from various entities and departments in the University, he is responsible for operations as well as the strategic growth of the SRF.

 

Dr. Mahmood has a BS, an MS and a PhD in electrical engineering. His graduate research at the University of Texas at Arlington was on the development of device-level vacuum-packaged infrared sensors on flexible substrates. After graduation in 2006, he worked as a post-doctoral researcher on the development of large deflection MEMS actuators at the school of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University before joining the BirckNanaotechnologyCenter as a Research Engineer. He rose to the rank of a Scientist and then Senior Process Scientist at Birckbefore proceeding to Doha, Qatar, as a Senior Scientist in the Qatar Foundation in 2015.

 

Upon returning to the US in 2020, he had a short stint with Microsoft Station Q Purdue as a nanofabrication engineer before taking up his current position at West Virginia University. His professional experience spans microsystems design and development, semiconductor processing/nanofabrication and associated metrology, planning, commissioning and operation of inter-disciplinary research facilities as well as technical and operational leadership of such facilities.