Engineering faculty at The Ohio State University are taking proactive steps to address the shortage of skilled workers in the semiconductor industry as the U.S. sees record investment in the field of microelectronics.
At OSU’s Nanotech West lab facility, students are already learning what it takes to create and assess their own semiconductors.
“I like being able to look down the road, and think about how I might be solving problems that require semiconductors,” said Rachel Adams, Ph.D. candidate in engineering. “My research focuses on finding very small issues that exist in semiconductor materials, and finding out how to fix them. It’s exciting, there’s always going to be a need for the research that I’m interested in doing.”
Students like Adams could soon be in high demand at companies like Intel, which has invested $20 billion in two new semiconductor fabrication plants in New Albany, Ohio. The plants are expected to begin production in 2025, and are expected to create more than 3,000 jobs for technicians and engineers.
Intel Corp. plans to invest at least $20 billion in new chip-making capacity in Ohio, according to a person familiar with the matter, bolstering the company’s semiconductor production ambitions as greater demand for digital products and a global chip shortage have amplified the need for more manufacturing.
The facility would be built near Columbus, Ohio, according to the person. It would add to Intel’s effort to expand its chip-making business that has seen the company make more than $100 billion in investment pledges over the past year.
For Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger, the move is the latest step in his push to revive the company’s fortunes by restoring its position as a cutting edge chip designer and becoming a leading chip manufacturer, including for other companies. In 2020, graphics chip maker Nvidia Corp. overtook Intel as the U.S.’s most valuable semiconductor company. Samsung Electronics Co. last year overtook Intel as the biggest chip maker by quarterly revenue. Analysts expect the South Korean company to hold on to that position when both report earnings next week.
Last year, Intel said it planned big investments in chip-making in Arizona and New Mexico and a roughly $95 billion commitment to European manufacturing.
www.foxbusiness.com/economy/intel-invest-20-billion-ohio-chip-making-facility