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METIS, a Sector Skills Alliance project co-funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Program and coordinated by SEMI, recently launched an online questionnaire aimed at gauging the skills and expertise the industry needs to drive continued growth over the next five years. The survey, which will stay online until 15 October 2020, is a part of the METIS project’s efforts to involve a broad range of stakeholders in the microelectronics industry to assess workforce, future technology and economic trends influencing talent development and the skills needed most today and in the next five years. The survey aims to highlight the skill mismatches in specific job profiles that are of increasing importance to the microelectronics industry. It elaborates on the upskilling and reskilling needs for design engineers. Given that semiconductor design is becoming increasingly crucial for Europe’s competitiveness and technological sovereignty, the new skills required from design engineers are a priority area for the METIS project. Other examples are the manufacturing and maintenance technicians, two job profiles that are currently experiencing significant shifts in their skillsets, as COVID-19 has thoroughly transformed their way of work.While the microelectronics industry has been very aware of the importance of the high level of investment in R D, it is equally crucial to ensure that the workforce of the industry is equipped with knowledge and skills for the rapid technological developments. Maintaining high levels of investment in workforce including attracting talent, updating their knowledge and skills with the latest technological development, and supporting them to lead innovations, is essential for this industry. There is a growing demand for specific requirements for this sector to support innovation in many other sectors such as automotive, energy, healthcare, and government, to foster benefits from emerging digital technologies such as Cloud Services, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Digital Reality, and Blockchain.In addition to the online questionnaire, the METIS project consortium is interviewing top experts from leading microelectronics companies, education representatives from universities and training academies, and experts from government agencies and industry associations. The interview outcomes provide inputs on what kind of employee profiles are the most difficult to find, what skills this sector is looking for in a candidate, and what kind of training and policy frameworks are needed to improve employers’ skills. Those inputs are essential to develop the skill strategy and form recommendations on training modules.Furthermore, the METIS project consortium is organizing 10 focus groups. Each of the focus groups is dedicated to a key topic, such as SC design, SC materials, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, etc. For example, one of the METIS focus groups is dedicated to Edge AI, a top priority for the microelectronics industry. Strengthening the AI talent pipeline is essential to harness the potential of Edge AI in Europe and to facilitate the shift from the Cloud to the Edge when possible in order to meet specific demands (e.g. for autonomous driving), reduce energy consumption for data communications, and to increase efficiency. The EU’s White Paper “Artificial Intelligence - A European approach to excellence and trust”[1] , published this February, also emphasizes the importance of upskilling and reskilling to position Europe among the global leaders in AI. Hence, the focus group will work towards pinpointing the skills necessary for the semiconductor workforce to capture the potential of the trend.The results of the survey, interviews and focus groups will be used to form the Microelectronics Skills Strategy. Based on this strategy, the METIS project will design 43 training modules for 1,100 hours learning in four key areas of the microelectronics sector:Component designSystem designBasic of manufacturingKey competencies and innovative thinkingThe METIS project is planning to recruit 2,000 learners in companies and education and training institutes to participate in the trainings and validate the impact. The METIS project will also work with companies, education and training providers to ensure continuity of the initiative and foster cooperation.During the METIS project course (2019 – 2023), the Skills Strategy will be updated yearly to reflect the latest technology and market trends. To enable the Skills Strategy to continue serving the industry, METIS is working on forming a permanent instrument, named Observatory and Skills Council, to continue developing the skills strategy, update the training and facilitate cooperation between industry and education and training providers.Laith Altimime, president of SEMI Europe, and 50 members of the Microelectronics Training, Industry and Skills (METIS) consortium The METIS consortium invites companies and associations involved in microelectronics training and education provision, human resources and career services professionals, technology strategists and policy makers to complete the online questionnaire. Stakeholders are also welcome to subscribe to the METIS newsletter for the latest on METIS programs. For more details, please contact Yanying Li at [email protected].[1] EU’s White Paper on Artificial Intelligence available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/commission-white-paper-artificial-intelligence-feb2020_en.pdfDr. Yanying Li is senior manager of Collaborative Projects at SEMI Europe.

SEMI is excited to recognize Elizabeth Lee of X-Fab as the SEMI Spotlight on Women Honoree for Q2 2019!Spotlight on SEMI Women celebrates the many accomplished women who work in the global microelectronics industry. Nominees in the quarterly spotlight include women who are beacons of knowledge, leaders of organizations and initiatives, hidden heroes and innovators in our industry. They are volunteers, protectors, intellectual disruptors and activists. Learn how you can nominate a woman for Spotlight on SEMI Women.Elizabeth Lee has loved technology from a young age. As a child, Elizabeth once took apart a broken VHS player and managed to repair the device, armed with nothing but a few simple tools and a strong sense of curiosity. After her more than 15 years in the microelectronics industry, it’s clear that this love – along with Elizabeth’s drive, curiosity, and tenacity – has allowed her to thrive in her career and have a significant impact as a leader not only as a quality systems engineer at X-Fab but in her community.Growing up in a rural Texas town of fewer than 200 people, Elizabeth found opportunities to learn about STEM extremely limited. Although Elizabeth’s interest in technology started at a young age, her first real learning opportunity came during a high-school computer science class. Fascinated by the physics of how computers work, Elizabeth became inspired to pursue electrical engineering at Texas Tech University after graduation.Elizabeth’s transition to university life was difficult. She struggled to balance life as a young mother with her studies and became frustrated when she saw no career path to electrical engineering. During her junior year at Texas Tech, Elizabeth was ready to move into a different field and requested a transfer into civil engineering. Looking back, Elizabeth sees this moment as a crucial turning point in her life that would eventually propel her into the semiconductor industry. Her academic advisor, also a woman, denied the transfer request and pushed Elizabeth to remain in electrical engineering. The advisor also urged Elizabeth to expand her focus outside of academics and get hands-on experience through undergraduate research.Elizabeth acted on the advice and found herself performing research at the Texas Tech nanotech center. She also began volunteering with West Texas BEST – a high-school robotics program that engages students in STEM and semiconductor technologies.Elizabeth has now volunteered for BEST for more than 18 years. She has served on its computer game development board, helping to design games and create rules, and contributed as an author. Elizabeth also served on the South Plains chapter of IEEE as secretary of the board, vice chair, chair, and is now an advisor for the TTU IEEE student brand of WiE (Women in Engineering).She is also a member of the Industrial Advisory Board of the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Texas Tech University and the Faculty/Staff committee chair. More recently, Elizabeth participated in SEMI High Tech U (HTU), a STEM immersion program for high-school students, and will serve as an emcee for the third time in an upcoming HTU program. Elizabeth graduated with a master’s from Texas Tech after her research in MEMS biomedical lab-on-a-chip and quantum mechanics evaluation of AIO2 tunnel junctions. In 2004, she began her journey with X-Fab, where her responsibilities have included sustaining legacy node silicon technologies and developing yield improvement analysis techniques in the areas of silicon and silicon carbide. She was awarded the Technical Ladder distinction of Principal Engineer in 2015.Today, Elizabeth has more than 15 years of experience in quality, yield improvement, and process integration, all areas that support X-Fab foundry customers with yield and failure investigations. In addition to her technical accomplishments, she represented X-Fab as a Value Promoter, introducing new X-Fab employees to its core values. Over the course of Elizabeth’s career at X-Fab, she has continued to lead key improvement initiatives and dedicate herself to her community.Cristina Sandoval is manager of Workforce Development at SEMI.