Purdue is the first U.S. university to launch a comprehensive set of programs - minors and concentrations for undergraduates, Masters programs, and certificates that will help address the nation’s critical need for microelectronics engineers.
A comprehensive new undergraduate semiconductor program is being launched. The undergraduate experience will begin with “Semiconductors 101”, a guarantee of internships or co-op experiences to semiconductor undergraduates, continuing to semiconductor minors and concentrations, and a 5-year BS/MS program that will give students additional semiconductor knowledge and experience. The new interdisciplinary MS degree will be the only such degree focused entirely on semiconductors and microelectronics offered at any of the top-10 ranked Engineering Colleges in the country. These credentials and degrees will be available both for on-campus and online students.
Through the Office of Professional Practice, Purdue runs one of the largest and best undergraduate industry internship and Co-Op programs in the nation. Besides the inaugural semiconductor suite of degrees, Purdue has also created a Learning While Working program, enabling students to make progress towards their degrees while working full time. A good number of companies are subscribing to this model, running in parallel with internship and Co-Op programs.
Purdue Engineering organizes the Industrial Roundtable, the nation’s leading student-led career fair, attracting over 400 companies and 12,000 students annually. For the past 40 years, the Industrial Roundtable has served as a connection between employers and prospective students, helping Purdue undergraduates and graduates find internships, Co-Ops, and full-time positions. This multi-day job fair is open to students from any major, including engineering, science, technology, and management. The Industrial Roundtable is a perfect opportunity for employers to personally network with thousands of Purdue outstanding students and graduates.
Purdue University is leading a five-year, DoD-sponsored national initiative aimed at addressing the urgent need to develop a highly skilled U.S. microelectronics workforce to bolster national security. Comprising 17 partner universities across the country, SCALE is a $19.2 million public-private-academic partnership formed to advance the technical capabilities of the domestic microelectronics workforce, and to motivate talented STEM undergraduate and graduate students to pursue federal government careers in the semiconductor field.
Purdue University provides several options to achieve a world-class education online. Online learning and hybrid degree programs give students access to outstanding faculty and top-quality curriculum in a convenient, flexible format. Purdue Engineering offers a wide range of options for semiconductors online training, ranging from individual courses and online Master’s degrees, to sophisticated simulations and virtual tools on the nanoHub.
The Master of Electrical & Computer Engineering (MSECE) is ranked the number one online electrical engineering graduate program by U.S. News & World Report, 2022. Students can specialize with courses in microelectronics and nanotechnology; automatic controls; energy sources and systems; fields and optics; and Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) and circuit design.
The online Interdisciplinary Master of Science in Engineering, with a major in Microelectronics and Semiconductors prepares professionals to become leaders in the microelectronics field and will help meet the growing demand for semiconductor engineers.
nanoHUB.org is the premier place for computational nanotechnology research, education, and collaboration. nanoHUB has been funded and supported by NSF since 1995, with the mission to lower the barrier to accessing and using sophisticated computer aided-design (CAD) tools. The nanoHUB site hosts a significant and growing collection of simulations for nanoscale phenomena that run in the cloud and are accessible through a web browser.
The nanoHUB science gateway offers millions of users a vast array of resources for semiconductors workforce development programs, including free textbooks, open source software, and immersive programs such as a virtual fab. Users can log in and run industry-strength CAD tools without the need to download, install, license, support, and maintain the software. They are accessible from web browsers and run via a distributed computing network at Purdue University. The simulation tools are available to users as both stand-alone tools and part of structured teaching and learning curricula.
