About 70% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is driven by consumer demand. What consumers are looking for is influenced by, for example, fashion trends, product innovations, environmental forces, and personal interests. Regarding personal interests: Sales of electronic components at Fry’s are poor. Radio Shack stores even vanished completely. Today’s consumers do not like to tinker; they want to buy software-enabled, user-friendly systems with over-the-air updating that serves their current and future requirements well – e.g. smartphones. System vendors followed the same transition, and so did semiconductor vendors. Instead of offering (low margin) components, they develop and manufacture big portions of, if not complete, (high value) hardware and software solutions for electronic systems, targeted at specific markets.Mid-August, two SEMI webinars outlined the Smart Mobility market and what it expects from system and semiconductor vendors.SEMI's Smart Initiative“None of us knows as much as all of us,” “Connect – Collaborate – Innovate,” and other strategic considerations have motivated SEMI to become the gateway for the $2 Trillion (= 2,000 Billion) global electronic design and manufacturing supply chain. Figure 1 shows how many companies and organizations have joined this large industry organization, to work together efficiently and serve customer demands cost-effectively. Especially in four high-growth markets/application areas – Smart Data, Smart Mobility, Smart MedTech, and Smart Manufacturing – SEMI enables highly rewarding cooperation. Figure 1: Overview of SEMI members, technology communities, and areas of focus. (Courtesy: SEMI) MEMS and Sensors for Smart Mobility Tim Brosnihan, executive director of MEMS Sensor Industry Group (MSIG), moderated the webinar on MEMS and sensors for Smart Mobility. Bettina Weiss, Chief of Staff and Global Smart Mobility Lead at SEMI, presented the overview. In addition to Figure 1 above, she showed how many companies are now supporting SEMI’s Smart Mobility efforts and have joined the Global Automotive Advisory Council (GAAC). The European GAAC was founded in 2018, based on requests from VW and Audi. Regional chapters have also been formed in the U.S., China, Taiwan, and Japan. Figure 2 shows the current members of the American GAAC – new members are welcomed in all five regions. Figure 2: Current GAAC members in the Americas. (Courtesy: SEMI) Market Trends and Technology Innovations in MEMS Sensors Andreas Breiter, Partner at McKinsey Company, addressed markets, and Armen Mkrtchyan, Associate Partner at McKinsey Company, spoke about technology. Breiter addressed both vehicle and infrastructure changes required, as well as many ongoing and planned activities to enable Smart Mobility. He outlined autonomy, connectivity, electrification, and shared mobility of vehicles as the major opportunities for MEMS sensors. Mkrtchyan showed which technologies enable Smart Mobility and which regions will invest how much in software, hardware, and services by 2030, to capture data and process it in partially/fully autonomous vehicles’ Domain Control Units (DCUs) – see Figure 3. Figure 3: Pre-COVID market estimates. (Courtesy: McKinsey Company) MEMS-based sensors are used in vehicles to monitor pressures and perform as accelerometers or gyroscopes. Non-MEMS-based sensors capture light (e.g. for time-of-flight distance measurements) or magnetic fields (e.g. for RPM measurements). Regarding the many infrastructure upgrades needed for enabling autonomous vehicles on the roads, in Figure 4, Breiter gives road planners a lot of food for thought and planning work. City planners face much more complex challenges. That’s why electronic systems will also be needed to make these large infrastructure investments earn returns. Figure 4: Smart roads are essential for autonomous driving. (Courtesy: McKinsey Company) EDA and Smart Mobility The second Smart Mobility webinar focused on how Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tool vendors, Intellectual Property (IP, System Building Blocks) vendors, and system/IC Design Services can contribute to the success of Smart Mobility. Bob Smith, executive director of Electronic System Design Alliance (ESDA), moderated the webinar, highlighting where the relatively small but essential ESDA and its members fit in the semiconductor ecosystem – see Figure 5. Figure 5: EDA, IP, and design services enable the entire electronics ecosystem. (Courtesy: ESDA) Bettina Weiss explained how SEMI and the Smart Mobility Team are working to bring together stakeholders in the semiconductor ecosystem in general and the Smart Mobility segment specifically, to jointly address topics of common interest, work on solutions and agree upon standards where and when needed. Market Trends and Technology Innovations in EDA, IP and Design Services Andreas Breiter and Armen Mkrtchyan presented McKinsey’s perspectives regarding these topics. In addition to the above-mentioned market data, Breiter emphasized that DCUs are playing an increasingly important role in capturing the data provided by smart sensors, are processing it, and initiating appropriate actions. Together with application-specific software, these DCUs perform tasks like sensor fusion, manage creature comfort, assure safe operation of the vehicle, and secure communication with the outside world (Figure 6). Figure 6: High growth for DCU; likely shift in business models. (Courtesy: McKinsey Company) Mkrtchyan addressed EDA, IP, and services for Smart Mobility from 10 different technical perspectives. Here are the highlights. Component failures can and will have severe consequences in Smart Mobility. Therefore screening, testing, and exhaustive verification are extremely important. Software content is likely to increase at 10% CAGR during this decade. To increase the productivity of software and middleware developers, he emphasized that standards need to be agreed upon. Over-the-air (OTA) updating capabilities are needed. That’s why cybersecurity is important to keep vehicles current and safe. Power train electronics need to function at up to 150°C. New materials will be needed to increase reliability, reduce cooling efforts, and lower unit costs. Last, but not least, Mkrtchyan emphasized that every city needs to design its own infrastructure, not only to enable Smart Mobility but also to monetize the large investments needed; EDA, IP and design support will help to achieve both. In summary, he stated that Design and IP as well as packaging and test will be the most impacted areas in the transition to Smart Mobility. Personal Comments After having attended several MSIG events, I am impressed by how MEMS, NEMS (Nano…), and sensors can lend machines in many ways sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. They can replicate these human senses, often better than found in us. If you, like me, celebrated when your first modem enabled your PC to communicate with the entire world, you’ll appreciate the value MEMS and sensors can and will add to machines’ “communication skills.” Also, I can assure you that innovative engineers in this field will find many new ways to capture data in the physical, chemical, and biological domains and enable machines to keep humans safe. (I look forward to a handheld Covid-19 sensor that provides results within a few seconds!) Having worked for a small, then a large EDA vendor, many years ago, and for the ESD Alliance several years ago, I know how difficult it is to motivate innovative software developers to work together or agree upon standards. I am glad that the ESD Alliance is now working closely with SEMI. Most SEMI member companies, and their innovative employees, have learned over the years how important standards are to reduce development cost, processing, and test time, as well as time to profit. I wish Bob Smith and the ESDA members all the best for cooperating closely to define design standards, bi-directional hand-off points up and down the entire supply chain, primarily at the interface between design and manufacturing. I want to encourage EDA and IP experts to work closely with the experienced and knowledgeable people in materials, equipment, manufacturing, and test. 5G mm-wave communication, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), reliable solutions for Smart Mobility, and development/characterization of new materials offer great opportunities and challenges for design AND manufacturing. Together, these two big camps can monetize required solutions much better and faster, than on their own. Your contact at SEMI can tell you how and where you can watch the webinar recordings and/or download all the slides. P.S.: Having two eCars and one eBike in our garage encourages me to appreciate SEMI’s efforts in advance Smart Mobility! Republished with permission from 3D InCites.

Inertial sensors have continued to underpin the success of wearables in increasingly important ways. Propelled by evolutionary advancements in inertial sensors, wearables have strayed from their humble beginnings in simple activity and wellness, which defined the user experience over the past decade. What started with the simple act of telling people their daily step count has morphed to provide deeper insights into swim stroke and run cadence, all the way to mapping out a person’s off-piste ski route. Layered on top of this foundation of inertial sensors, we’ve fused optical, temperature and other sensor technology to provide clinical-grade healthcare snapshots available previously only by visiting the doctor’s office.Inertial sensors today are again leading the way in improving health and wellness. Instead of humans, however, this time the patients are machines. In fact, the health of critical assets – whether factory-based equipment, windmills, train bogies or aircraft – has been assessed through sophisticated analysis of their vibration signatures for many years. The sensors used for these applications have depended on piezoelectric technology because their vibration amplitude signals are very small and difficult to detect and because of the importance of understanding their spectral content over a wide bandwidth. When it comes to noise and bandwidth, bulk piezoceramics have had a major advantage over electrostatic MEMS technology – until recently.Using bulky expensive piezoelectric sensors for condition-based monitoring has been akin to going to the doctor’s office to have an MRI. The equipment required (sensors, receivers) is expensive and requires highly trained specialists to operate the machine and to interpret the information. For this reason, only mission-critical assets are instrumented. For nearly all other equipment, we tend to use inefficient schedule-based maintenance approaches to cover the gap of not having continuous data. Condition-based monitoring leverages real-time sensing of critical machine parameters to reduce system downtime and improve efficiency. Evolving machine healthMEMS started to democratize machine health several years ago, when suppliers began switching from piezoelectrics to capacitive MEMS. While the performance was still not on par with piezoelectric sensors, MEMS technology could already capture a wide array of faults. One example, the ADXL001, started making its way into Integrated Electronics Piezo-Electric (IEPE) and 4-20 mA sensors, which form the backbone of the vibration monitoring market. Although the bandwidth and noise of the sensor did not allow for very early detection and prescriptive monitoring, it did allow the tracking of faults as they progressed and became more imminent.Other digital accelerometers started finding their way into new wireless prototype systems with the goal to simplify and increase deployment to a greater population of assets. The thinking was that self-contained digital wireless sensor nodes could be deployed more economically and quickly, and that these digital sensors would bring the power of computing to the edge node.Unfortunately, even the lowest-noise MEMS products did not have the bandwidth needed to diagnose and predict faults early enough to influence how and when machines are maintained most economically. Instead, such devices were used to detect imminent failure to prevent irreparable harm. As we all know, however, the earlier the doctor spots a problem, the better the probable outcome. That’s because early detection increases the likelihood that the doctor will have access to the full spectrum of treatment options available to fix the problem.Inertial MEMS is blazing a new frontier with the introduction of next-generation capacitive MEMS such as the ADXL100x portfolio. Offering ultra-low noise density and high-frequency response, these newer capacitive MEMS devices fit the bill. With 3dB bandwidths up to 25 kHz and flat response curves within 0.4dB all the way to 10kHz, these accelerometers demonstrate compelling enabling characteristics such as better DC performance, improved robustness, lifetime stability, linearity, and of course, cost, making capacitive MEMS a better choice than piezoelectrics.With high-bandwidth capacitive MEMS much easier to use and deploy – as well as more affordable – the market is starting to respond. Condition monitoring equipment and instrumentation is becoming more accessible to a larger base of manufacturers. In turn, a wealth of data is being created and mined to develop better and timelier predictive and prescriptive maintenance approaches that rely heavily on machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI).It’s worth paying attention to the sizable condition-based monitoring market. Estimated at $3.5 billion and growing, condition-based monitoring reduces downtime and increases equipment utilization in quantifiable ways. And it’s not just manufacturers who stand to benefit. More sustainable and efficient industrial processes, safer trains that crisscross continents at ever increasing speeds, autonomous cars and trucks that know what’s happening under the hood as well as on the road, and modern infrastructure to support our evolving lives show us that condition-based monitoring has something for everyone.Learn more about Analog Devices’ condition-based monitoring signal-chain options that help customers on the journey from sensor to solution. View ADI’s whole portfolio of condition-based monitoring solutions online or download Next-Generation Condition-Based Monitoring brochure.Tzeno Galchev is product marketing manager in the Inertial Sensor Technology Group at Analog Devices Inc. He oversees the strategic marketing and product definition of the inertial sensor component portfolio. He received B.S. degrees in both Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2004, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering in 2006 and 2010 respectively from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has over 30 publications in the area of MEMS, holds multiple patents, and is a frequent lecturer and speaker on topics related to MEMS, energy harvesting and sensors.Analog Devices is a longtime member of MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), a SEMI technology community that enables the MEMS and sensor industry to address common challenges, innovate and accelerate business results.

MEMS and image sensors are shining stars in the chip industry as technology companies worldwide accelerate innovation in the fight against COVID-19. The tiny devices are behind advances in areas of electronics ranging from thermal imaging and faster point-of-care testing to microfluidics-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tools and techniques to detect SARS-CoV-2.SEMI recently spoke with Yole Développement analysts Dimitrios Damianos and Chenmeijing Liang about MEMS and imaging sensors market trends and how microelectronics-enhanced technologies are supporting the worldwide push to contain the spread of COVID-19.For additional insights on the technologies, join the SEMI MEMS Imaging Sensors Summit, held for the first time at SEMICON Europa, 12-13 November 2020 in Munich, Germany. Registration is open.SEMI: Despite the global pandemic, the MEMS and sensors market is still growing and is one of the healthiest industries, not only in Europe, but globally. What is driving this growth?Damianos: MEMS have been continuously evolving from the first sensors that were measuring pressure and acceleration to rotation sensing and visible light management followed by light sensing beyond visible and the expansion to ultrasound and multi-spectral. Now we are heading towards an era where we want to sense every aspect of our environment, with more processing and eventually analytics bringing more quality to the data.COVID-19 has impacted various global markets in very different ways. While automotive, mobility and civil aviation have suffered, the impact on telecommunications and medical has been positive. The effects on the consumer, mobile and industrial markets have been moderate. Moreover, COVID-19 is changing the perception of the current global supply chain in manufacturing, potentially leading to more localized value chains and further regionalization in order to minimize similar risks posed by the pandemic and the first lockdown.SEMI: Who are the main MEMS players based on your research? Damianos: For MEMS players, the picture in 2019 was not the same as 10 years ago, when Texas Instruments (TI) and Hewlett-Packard (HP) were leading the scene, with Bosch and ST Microelectronics following, all at comparable revenue levels. Now, Broadcom and Bosch lead with almost $1.4 billion in revenue each, and the rest of the MEMS key stakeholders compete in the $400 million to $600 million league. Microphone players profited from the voice interface adoption trend, while players active in MEMS for mobility and smartphones suffered slightly due to weak end-system demand.SEMI: What scenarios can we expect for each market with regard to the impact of COVID-19 on MEMS for 2020? Damianos: For 2020, at Yole Développement we expect the consumer market to contract slightly by 2.6%, with the automotive market to dip by 27.5%, and defense and aerospace by 20.5%. For the defense market, no major effect is expected, as all major programs still run for the year. The market may experience some slight delays in deliveries due to supply chain and logistics problems. However, sensors integrated in commercial/civil aerospace applications will suffer due to the general paralysis of the air travel industry. On the positive side, telecommunications could increase by 4.7%, medical applications by 10.6%, and industrial by 11.5%.Due to the global pandemic, some types of MEMS have spiked in demand this year. For example, demand for thermopiles and microbolometers used in temperature guns and thermal cameras has increased because of the need for contactless monitoring of people’s temperatures. Moreover, microfluidics for DNA sequencing and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic tests for detecting COVID-19 are gaining market relevance, with the latter serving as a premier method of detecting a bacteria or virus on the molecular level with high degrees of accuracy. Furthermore, pressure and flowmeters in ventilators will grow because of huge demand by hospital intensive care units (ICUs).SEMI: What growth trends do you predict for the long haul?Damianos: In the longer term, we expect global MEMS volumes to almost double, from 24.4 billion units in 2019 to 50.8 billion units in 2025, with a 13% CAGR during the same period. The global MEMS market could reach $17.7 billion in revenue by 2025.We see a trend to more wearable devices integrating a lot of sensors but also a move to a more consumer-oriented healthcare. Moreover, everything related to voice interfaces and voice/virtual-personal assistants (VPAs) will continue to see strong growth, increasing demand for MEMS mics with better quality and high-fidelity voice capture. MEMS devices are shifting to higher accuracy, ultra-low power, embedded intelligence and possibly some bio-compatibility for medical applications.MEMS players will try to escape the commoditization cycle and deliver more value by increasing the value of the data, either grouping many sensors to create sensor hubs or by adding processing, algorithms and software. Industry players are employing strategies such as adding extra processing close to the sensor (e.g. Knowles) or ameliorating the use cases of their applications of their clients (e.g. Bosch or ST). AI on the edge seems very alluring for extra value acquisition, with many startups already working on it. Some examples include always-on-sensing (Aspinity in collaboration with Infineon, Syntiant), echolocation (IMERAI) and predictive maintenance using inertial sensors (Cartesiam). This will be the next pit stop for MEMS technology for sure. SEMI: The CMOS Image Sensor (CIS) is a cornerstone technology in the development of devices powered by machine sensing and artificial intelligence (AI) for applications such as advanced driver assistance system (ADAS). CIS powers many of the ongoing revolutions in new technical products and use cases. What is the status of the image sensors industry? Liang: Last year was exceptional with a combination of high demand and high prices due to capacity limitations. Q4 2019 went way above the forecast, and, in the end, the CIS industry reached $19.3 billion for the full year. This year, we think it will return to normal, and, despite the pandemic impact, we expect significant growth in the range of 7% to 12%. Last year’s 25% year-over-year (YOY) growth was the highest we’ve seen over the past decade. Mobile still dominates the marketplace for CIS with 69% market share. Two markets, computing (8%) and consumer (5%), are adjacent to the mobile market but progressively losing ground due to the smartphone disruption.Security, at 6% market share, will probably be the second largest CIS market in the future. Although this is an area of excellence for the emerging Chinese players, unfortunately, they could be hit by the current trade war. The automotive market did very well from 2018 to 2019 because of the numerous applications recently developed for ADAS, viewing, and in-cabin applications. Lastly, the industrial camera applications benefited from large investments in automation, especially in the semiconductor and automotive industries, but here again many uncertainties remain as these markets will reshuffle in the post COVID-19 world. SEMI: Which CIS markets are most susceptible to seasonality and the impact of COVID-19?Liang: According to our quarterly CIS monitor, automotive and security were both negatively impacted by the pandemic beyond what we expected in terms of seasonality. For computing, the situation improved just prior the lockdown. Q1 got a positive impact with high sales results for laptops and tablets, but no significant impact was seen for security equipment. For automotive, the demand for cameras was very high in Q1, which is seasonally normal, despite the decrease of car shipments that followed later. The automotive CIS market in 2020 should remain relatively flat compared to 2019 due to the higher attachment rates of cameras despite the lower number of cars produced. Consumer and industrial segments dropped in Q1, which is typical early in the year.The next five years might be a bit slow, and although we forecast growth for the next year, in the future the market share will be lower in mobile. In fact, mobile CIS growth will fall below the CIS growth average, but we will see an increase of market share for the security, automotive and industrial segments. The CIS market could reach $28 billion in 2025.At first, COVID-19 had a limited impact on the production side, as factories in China are usually closed for the New Year holiday, when the pandemic started. While supply is currently recovering, we still consider the limited impact on demand. Smartphone production for 2020 will be down 6%, but camera shipments for mobile should increase about 10% this year. Another positive trend for the mobile market is optical fingerprint implementation. Currently, high-end Android phones use this kind of technology. For 2023, we estimate optical fingerprint technology revenue to be over $1 billion.The roadmap for the automotive market is driven by camera proliferation. We’ll see 10 cameras per car and more for some high-end vehicles. Increasing demand for safety and convenience will mean more cameras per car in the future. With a strong attachment rate, the market average in automotive is around 2.0 cameras per car nowadays, and we expect the market average to reach 3.5 cameras per car in 2025. In security, Charge Coupled Device (CCD)-based cameras are nearly out of the market, as CMOS-based IP cameras are most important now.SEMI: What are current key technology trends?Liang: 3D semiconductor technology is the hot topic. CIS wafer staking technology is indeed at the center of the CIS technology race. Future applications could be AI analytics or recently developed applications on new types of CIS. So far, we have seen the introduction of variants of the CIS pixel. Global shutter (GS) and indirect Time of Flight (iToF) were recently introduced, and now direct time-of-flight (dTOF) pixels are being used in high volume. 3D semiconductor technology is a bonanza for the industry, as it allows to pack more value in a single chip. While the surface of silicon is still increasing, additional silicon is added through stacking.With COVID-19 still a problem, the endpoint for smartphones in 2020 remains uncertain. The short-term impact for CIS will be slower growth with respect to the 25% YoY of last year. The downturn in car production will be mitigated by an increased attachment rate for automotive cameras. The security market will also help maintain CIS growth.For more insights, see the following reports: Status of the MEMS Industry 2020 3D Imaging and Sensing 2020 CIS Market Monitor Q2 2020 Dimitrios Damianos is a technology and market analysts at Yole Développement covering MEMS, Sensors, Photonics and Imaging. Chenmeijing Liang is a technology and market analysts at Yole Développement covering Imaging. Serena Brischetto is senior manager of Marketing and Communications at SEMI Europe.

So far the semiconductor industry is outperforming most other manufacturing sectors. Semiconductor capital equipment shipments were up 23% globally in 2Q’20 vs. 2Q’19 and semiconductor chip 3/12 growth is still in positive territory. However there are signs of slowing.

At UES, Inc., our 300 employees faced a myriad of productivity, logistics, and communication challenges as we responded to COVID-19 yet we continued our work uninterrupted to deliver scientific research and technical expertise to the Department of Defense (DoD). We focus on several disciplines including materials science, aerospace power and propulsion, bio and nanoscale technologies, surface engineering, photonic and electronic technologies, additive manufacturing, and product development.UES is also an active member of SEMI Nano-Bio Material Consortium (NBMC), a public-private partnership with Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and has been a part of the organization since its inception in 2013. Dr. Stephaney Shanks, Director of our newest division, Integrative Health and Performance Sciences (IHPS), is currently acting as the NBMC Governing Council Chairperson. IHPS is setting the standard for high-level research in the Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711th (711 Human Performance Wing) and beyond.Its areas of focus include advancing marker discovery in air and biofluids, sensor development, evaluating microbiomes for health and performance, toxicology, industrial hygiene, and high-throughput screening for genetic and chemical exposure. Most of our employees work at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which is offsite of our corporate headquarters and product development labs.Here are some examples of how our COVID-19 response efforts have not only worked, but helped us thrive during this difficult period, enabling us to continue our vital research for the Air Force and our product innovation work in our corporate labs.1. Pursuing Research Projects to Support COVID-19 SolutionsStaffed primarily by scientists and engineers, UES holds a distinct position in supporting the fight against COVID-19. Our entire organization strongly supports finding solutions to the problems brought on by the pandemic to make life safer for everyone.With our AFRL partners and in our UES labs, we pursued new proposals and began projects to combat the pandemic’s problems. We’re developing rapid devices for detection of breath biomarkers that may indicate COVID-19 infection status to provide non-invasive testing capabilities. We are also pursuing point-of-care devices for real-time assessment of COVID-19 outside of the clinical environment, and we are developing models of the protein spikes of SARS-CoV-2 that could be used to further improve detection capabilities.UES also extended active research toward COVID-19 patient transport on cargo aircraft. We have been working with the 711 HPW to develop computational models to evaluate biological agent dispersal in cargo aircraft.UES is conducting research into the biological agent dispersal patterns in cargo aircraft. 2. Enacting an Effective Work-from-Home Policy and FormatBefore the pandemic, most of our employees did not have the option to regularly work remotely. However, by the end of March 2020, UES needed to respond to both DoD and Ohio government orders to stay at home. This presented new challenges. How do we keep laboratory/bench-based staff working? How do we keep all staff mentally engaged while teleworking?As luck would have it, we moved to Office 365 in February. That technology rollout proved to be a significant advantage in our COVID-19 response. Employees maximized their use of Microsoft Teams by sharing files, collaborating, using chat functions, and hosting video meetings. UES also utilized GoToMeeting for larger group meetings and real-time group file sharing/editing.By late March, our management team provided a tracker file in Excel format for all employees to document daily technical progress. This proved to be an excellent method to track projects, monitor staff COVID-19 symptoms or exposure, and record work location as the AFRL and UES labs began to allow small teams to return. This also kept managers in touch with employees on a weekly basis about ongoing work. It not only created extra layers of accountability, but also demonstrated progress and achievements week to week.Microsoft Office 365 has proved its usefulness to UES during the pandemic. 3. Offering Support to Employees and the CommunityThe overall wellness of our employees and the Dayton region is part of our mission at UES. As we resolved logistical issues and reshaped how we collaborated and delivered results, our leadership team began to focus on how to best support employees and our local community. A few activities supported this effort: We provided masks to all employees, along with an informational visual guide for best practices in wearing and caring for a mask. Safety has been a top priority for all employees. We started offering virtual Coffee Talks and Happy Hours. These company-wide online meetings gave employees a chance to reconnect and share concerns. We also shifted our Fitness Classes to an online format. We utilized our social media channels to engage with employees and share resources. We allocated community support to vulnerable populations (food banks and a domestic violence center). UES gave corporate donations, as well as shared non-financial ways to support the community with employees. This pandemic has brought plenty of challenges, but we're impressed by everyone's innovation and resilience. Every UES team member played an active role in adapting, not just to continue their daily work, but to be a part of the solution and support the community.UES used social media to share remote working tips with employees. Dr. Nina Joshi is president and CEO of UES, an award-winning innovative science and technology company based in Dayton, Ohio that provides its government and industry customers with superior research and development expertise, world-class technical support and value-added management services. A unique philosophy emphasizes passion for advancing science, dedication to superior service and commitment to enhancing careers. Contact the company here.

To attract and cultivate new talent across the microelectronics industry, virtual SEMICON West 2020 offered wide-ranging career insights for engineering students seeking that vital first job and young employees embarking on their careers. They learned about overcoming challenges at work and gained a competitive edge by connecting with industry leaders for insider knowledge. These are just some examples of how the SEMI Foundation and the SEMI Workforce Development and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives serve as a springboard to careers in the industry and help close its talent gap.Following are experiences of aspiring engineers at SEMICON West and career lessons presented to help them shape the future of our semiconductor industry.Jump-Starting Careers at SEMICON West 2020More than 600 students from over 50 colleges and universities across the Unites States joined SEMICON West 2020 to jump-start their careers in the semiconductor industry. With free access to SEMI’s first virtual expo, they connected with recruiters and companies in the exhibit hall, and sponged up insights from speakers about digital internships, job opportunities, and key trends shaping the digital future.“It was almost overwhelming,” said Jason Wong, 20, a junior at San Jose State University working toward an advanced degree in mechanical engineering. “It was kind of like an engineering student’s dream for contacts and knowledge all on one platform.”Wong visited about 15 booths in the online exhibit hall to speak with company representatives about his field of interest – microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).“MEMS is a pretty niche area, so it was really surprising how many companies were there in this category alone,” Wong said.Through the expo’s chat tool, Wong made some solid contacts and has followed up with several engineers via email, LinkedIn and Zoom meetings, cultivating what he believes will be “some long-lasting and valuable connections.”“I’m not really looking for a job at the moment, but I hope to get an internship at some point,” Wong said. “With the current (COVID-19) outbreak, a lot of events with opportunities to interact are no longer available, so this was an enlightening and useful experience for me I plan to attend again.”On the other side of the country in Virginia, Devayani Pawar, 23, found it easy to network at SEMICON West. She especially appreciated the free pass for students and practical sessions in the Smart Workforce Pavilion tailored to help early-career job seekers find opportunities, build contacts, and polish resumes.She was drawn to the Smart Manufacturing Pavilion because of her skills and interests in toolmaking and wafers.“I understand manufacturing and it’s a hot field right now,” said Pawar, who recently earned her master’s degree in data science from George Mason University. “It’s interesting to me how such tiny components can do so much powerful work.”“A lot of people my age aren’t very aware of the microchip industry – they’re mostly focused on information technology and companies like Google, Amazon, or Facebook,” Pawar said.After landing an internship at Micron Technology analyzing wafers and working in clean rooms, she was wowed by the potential of nanotechnology. Pawar learned about the strong demand for data scientists in semiconductor manufacturing. After making connections at SEMICON West and absorbing information, she now has a better handle on career opportunities.“The recruiters and other contacts I made have been so responsive, and now I have a better understanding of use cases and what companies are seeking,” she said.A Day in the Life of an EngineerRight after college in 2017, Erika Gabrielle Hansen joined Applied Materials as an engineer. She told management she wanted to travel, learn about the “big picture” behind the company’s products, and work with customers.In her presentation A Day in the Life of an Engineer at the SEMICON West Smart Workforce Pavilion, she recalled a whirlwind of unforeseen opportunities, soul-searching challenges, and the rewards of personal, professional, and community growth. She also candidly shared lessons learned about pride, collaboration, and resilience.Her journey began when she had the opportunity to share her aspirations for her at career at Applied and landed a dual role as a process engineer and customer account technologist.In her job as a process engineer, Hansen puts her materials engineering degree from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo to good use analyzing data, solving technical problems, developing new processes to meet customer requirements, and working with cutting-edge technologies. At one moment she might be in a clean-room laboratory wearing a bunny suit doing hands-on work with tools. In another, she could be videoconferencing with hardware, software, and systems engineers worldwide, or preparing a report for upper management.“I was very nervous at first as a process engineer,” Hansen said. “I was the only person in my group who didn’t have a Ph.D. and tried to compensate for that by doing things on my own and not asking for help.”After making a few mistakes, she began to turn to her team for their expertise and sharing the results of her work – both good and bad – with them.“Having humility to ask for help and not let pride get in the way was a huge learning point for me,” she said.As a customer account technologist, she has made a dozen trips to customer sites in four countries to implement new processes or resolve technical issues. By seeing tools in action, she now has what she calls a “whole picture” perspective on their effectiveness, while enjoying the camaraderie of colleagues and sampling local cuisines, sites, and scenes around the world.At one point, she was assigned to lead an international team to resolve an issue with a major customer – her greatest challenge yet and her first time in such a role. She struggled to overcome language barriers and eventually told her boss she might not be the best person to lead the project. He promised to provide more support, and her team went on to resolve the customer’s problem.“I picked myself up, reached out to people with international experience, and changed my communication style,” Hansen said. “I learned it’s okay to be uncomfortable, to flex my leadership style, and be resilient, which is a learned skill.”Building a Better Network: Crucial ConnectionsAndrew Carnegie, one of history’s richest industrialists and most generous philanthropists, said 85 percent of a person’s success is based on “interpersonal relationships” and “abilities to be a human being.” Professional skills account for just 15 percent of success.While advancing to her current role as Chief Marketing Officer for FormFactor, Amy Leong found this advice critical to her career trajectory. Just like the challenge of raising a strong family, building a successful career “takes a village… you can’t do it alone,” she said in her Smart Workforce Pavilion presentation Building a Better Network: Crucial Connections.Outperforming expectations might be essential early in one’s career to get promotions, raises, and the attention, but that mindset goes only so far.“As seniority levels increase, people already know you’re a phenomenal performer and expect nothing less,” Leong said. “So, the higher you go the more vital it is to spend almost a disproportionate amount of effort on building relationships.”Building your network isn’t about the quantity of one’s business cards or LinkedIn connections; it’s about building quality relationships with mutual benefits over the long run.“We need to be smart about return on investment when building our professional network,” she said. “You help me, and I help you. It’s win-win horse trading.”And the most important factor in career success? For Leong, a strong family foundation has mattered most.“Family comes first,” said Leong, who has twin teenagers. “Take care of the ones you love. Check in with your family whenever you can. Family relationships are bound by blood. Thanks to my retired parents and a helpful husband, we tough it through.”She reemphasized the importance of mutually beneficial relationships, noting “A rising tide will lift all boats.”Fostering Talent for the Industry’s FutureDeveloping young talent and future leaders in microelectronics stands as a persistent and growing need – and a critical challenge to realizing expected growth. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and augmented/virtual reality are expected to impact a huge range of markets, leading to projections that the semiconductor industry will double in size in the next 10 to 15 years.The opportunities for growth and technologies that promise to improve the quality of human life worldwide are breathtaking. The industry’s talent pool will need to scale accordingly, magnifying the importance of expanding industry-wide programs such as the Workforce Development and DEI initiatives that the SEMI Foundation are building. Learn more about how you and your company can get involved with these initiatives on the SEMI Foundation website.Shari Liss is executive director of the SEMI Foundation. She oversees SEMI Workforce Development programs from K-12 through re-skilling for veterans.

Internships provide a wealth of benefits for students and corporate managers as they work side-by-side in a real-world environment. Students gain practical, hands-on experience and employers get an infusion of fresh energy, diverse ideas and eager talent.The full value of an on-site internship – the ultimate job interview – flowers when it leads to full-time employment.That was before “everything went crazy,” said Tina Revels, university relations manager at KLA, during her Smart Workforce Pavilion presentation The New Reality: Digital Internships at the virtual SEMICON West 2020. Today, amid COVID-19 restrictions, everyone must adjust to a new reality – a virtual reality. Part of this substantial shift has led to internships going digital.“Internships are more important than ever as we shift to a virtual reality,” Revels said, explaining how today’s job seekers and companies alike can make sure digital internships sustain the same mutual benefits as traditional ones.At companies turning to digital internships, managers need to do more upfront planning to re-create real-world experiences that make interns “feel engaged and connected with one another,” Revels said. For prospective interns, digital internships require greater independence, self-management discipline, and responsibility than traditional internships – all critical skills that can lead to permanent employment.Watch Revels’ full presentation below to learn how to get the most out of digital internships. Register for virtual SEMICON West 2020 to access the additional Smart Workforce and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion sessions, which covered dynamic topics such as job searches during uncertain times, creating a culture of inclusivity, supplier diversity, and hiring military veterans. The content is available until September 20, 2020.Learn more about the SEMI Foundation and how its Workforce Development and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives are helping build the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain’s talent pipeline.Bryson Gauff is program manager for SEMI High Tech U.

Japan’s semiconductor industry has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic to post robust growth. Far from a temporary setback, COVID-19 will lead to enduring change in how we work and live. And just as automation has been a bulwark against the devastating business impacts of the virus outbreak, increasing digitization will lead to new efficiencies in our industry.These were some of the key takeaways from three SEMI Japan Members Day webinars in June and July that offered the latest updates on COVID-19 impacts to the semiconductor industry and restart strategies for SEMI members. More than 2,000 SEMI members across Japan’s islands attended the webinars featuring the following five speakers: Hideki Kanewaka, Marketing Director, Consulting Lead, Japan, Accenture Japan Ltd. Takayuki Komori, Manager, Marketing Engineering Dept, SUMCO Corporation Taketoshi Hamaguchi, Director, Manufacturing Industry, Microsoft Corporation Akira Minamikawa, Senior Consulting Director, OMDIA (Informa Intelligence LCC) Yuichi Koshiba, Managing Director Partner, Boston Consulting Group COVID-19 Impact on Japan Semiconductor Industry is ModestThe consensus view of the five speakers from various quarters of the industry – consultant, IT service provider, materials supplier, market analyst – was that the Japan semiconductor industry withstood the heavy blows COVID-19 dealt to other industries thanks to strong demand for chips. Shelter-in-place policies and lockdowns spawned by COVID-19 has accelerated the digital transformation rippling around the world as electronics sales have soared to support everything from remote work and education to healthcare and home entertainment including gaming.The rapid growth of cloud usage for video streaming, gaming and remote work is taxing communications network capacity and placing more bandwidth demands on servers, said Akira Minamikawa of OMDIA. According to a recent report by Nokia, communications network traffic has skyrocketed 300 percent for online meetings and 400 percent for gaming, bringing the networks closer to their capacity limits. Minamikawa sees server shipments increasing at 8 percent CAGR through 2024. For the broader chip market, he expects demand for notebooks, solid state and hard disk drives, and gaming to remain strong in 2020. He also predicts rapid 5G penetration for smartphones will boost semiconductor chip industry growth.Still, not all semiconductor segments are expanding, said Yuichi Koshiba of Boston Consulting Group. Chip shipments for end products in markets such as automotive, industrial equipment and aircrafts are on the decline. Slowing demand for chips that power automotive applications in particular could pare sales for some chip companies and distributors since the segment accounts for a high proportion of their overall revenue.State of the Semiconductor IndustryFrom SUMCO’s vantagepoint as a major silicon wafer supplier, the company’s Takayuki Komori sees a number of changes unfolding in the semiconductor industry: Smartphones are driving growing demand for process technology (smaller nodes) and 300mm wafers. Komori estimates the typical high-end smartphone sports 1,700 square millimeters of silicon. 300mm wafers account for 80 percent of that total while more than 50 percent of the devices use leading edge multi-patterning technologies. Smartphones will need more RF chips to support 5G’s high-speed communications and added frequency ranges. Substrates for RF switches and tuners have been shifting from gallium arsenide (GaAs) and other compound semiconductors to silicon. 5G smartphone penetration will accelerate as the cost of integrating CPUs and modem functions into a single chip sees a swift decline. While the sensitivity and resolution of CMOS image sensors have evolved to incorporate innovative backside illumination and stacking technologies, future advances will focus more on products for machine vision applications capable of sensing invisible light bands. Rising adoption of electric vehicles and robotics applications will drive growing demand for power semiconductors that control their motors such as IGBTs and MOSFETs as the production capacity for the devices expands and shifts to 300mm wafer lines. For memory fabs, Minamikawa said utilization remains high as a result of a spending slowdown by major chip manufacturers and will stay elevated even once additional capacity ramps to support robust demand. Foundry fab utilization also remains high despite the pandemic-driven cancellation of smartphone chip orders in March. Minamikawa also sees the utilization rate of micro rising with the surge in demand for notebooks, PCs and servers in the second half of 2020.Transition to New NormalAs people around the world start to settle into new ways of living and working, there’s a growing acceptance that the transformation will be long-lasting. And no area of people’s lives is changing more than their work. Boosted by government subsidies, many small and midsize companies in Japan have started to implement work-from-home policies, an area where major electronics and IT businesses had already instituted reforms, said Hideki Kanewaka of Accenture. A few examples: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) announced that half of its employees will continue to work from home in the future. A five-year plan Toshiba launched in 2019 to allow all employees to work from home will likely accelerate. Hitachi plans to allow all employees to work from home starting in April 2021. dwango, a major internet-based entertainment company in Japan, announced it will allow in principle any employees to work remotely. In the critical area of remote sales, Kanewaka pointed to the importance of going beyond online business meetings, paperless transactions and virtual events to devise new ways to attract customers and close deals. Creating online communities and providing rich digital content are also important measures to consider, he said.Manufacturing's Digital TransformationTravel restrictions by most countries to curb the COVID-19 outbreak have also raised barriers to chip companies sending engineers overseas sites to service state-of-art equipment and provide other technical support. Microsoft’s remote assist system deployed by ASML is one tool semiconductor makers can use to overcome this challenge, said Taketoshi Hamaguchi of Microsoft.The system connects a remote equipment service expert with an onsite worker through the internet, allowing the technical expert to provide support through a goggle display with a camera worn by the worker. Guided by the expert, the worker can perform complex services. A Natural User Interface (NUI) helps give the factory worker a clear understanding of the often highly technical instructions.Using artificial intelligence (AI) to increase automation will also help reduce the reliance of semiconductor factories on onsite workers. For example, AI deep learning can be deployed to calibrate equipment autonomously and reduce downtime after scheduled maintenances, Hamaguchi said.Corporate Restart Strategies Beyond factory considerations tied to COVID-19, semiconductor companies will need to adapt their business strategies to new ways of operating. For example, global supply chains will shift to domestic sources and increase redundancy to ensure a steady supply, a change leading to higher overall costs, Koshiba said. Trade routes among regions will also be redrawn as the trade rift between the United States and China and other geopolitical tensions intensify. The total value of those routes is expected to recover by 2023.Koshiba advised companies to evaluate the supply chain trade-offs between stability and cost and factor in potential risks to improve their short-term resilience and drive mid- to long-term supply chain restructuring.After past recessions, 14 percent of companies restored sales growth, Koshiba said. He recommended investing aggressively in growth and seizing M A opportunities during the downturn. Chip companies must also adapt to supply chain changes faster than competitors.Become a SEMI MemberWebinars like the recent SEMI Japan Members Day series have become increasingly important in the mix of programs and services SEMI offers members to help them connect, collaborate and innovate in the microelectronics community. To become a SEMI member, please visit the SEMI website or contact your nearest SEMI office.Jim Hamajima is president of SEMI Japan.

COVID-19 has forced all the players in the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain to reassess how much inventory they need to hold.