Ajit Manocha

Across our industry-driven programs and working groups, we are exploring new ways to engage government, academia and civil society to unlock the power of quadruple helix support and propel the semiconductor industry to $1 trillion and beyond.

Over the course of my seven-year tenure as President and CEO of SEMI, we have worked to build the premier platform for global semiconductor industry collaboration to address its shared opportunities and challenges.

In the podcast, SEMI president and CEO Ajit Manocha discuses how the industry is addressing challenges to growth in the final episode of the SEMICON West podcast series featuring conversations with keynote and panel speakers, exhibitors and SEMI executives recorded before and at the event.

SEMI High Tech U (HTU) alumnus Oindree Chatterjee discusses why she created The STEM Corner podcast, available on Spotify, where she interviews professionals in the semiconductor industry.

Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI, offers his perspectives on chip and talent shortages, the global fab expansion, and the critical importance of sustainable semiconductor manufacturing.

SEMICON Europa, SEMICON West, SEMICON Japan, & SEMICON Taiwan welcome back exhibitors and visitors to show floors starting in mid-November as four of SEMI’s seven flagship events gather visionaries and industry leaders to explore the latest semiconductor trends and innovations by the end of 2021.

On March 1, the semiconductor industry lost a true legend with the passing of Bill Tobey, an exemplary leader and contributor to the semiconductor industry throughout his career. SEMI honored Bill with our Bob Graham Sales and Marketing Excellence Award in 2006 for his work on wafer steppers. Bill and his team had the foresight to recognize that competing solutions such as Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) projection, e-beam, and x-ray would not be able to keep up with Moore’s Law. More importantly, Bill had the passion and marketing prowess to convince customers of this, even though early wafer steppers were twice as expensive and considerably slower than the alternatives. He used that passion to also convince management at GCA Corporation that they needed to shift resources to advance steppers and drive alignment with customers. I remember the critical role he played when we worked with GCA steppers during my early years at AT T Bell Labs. The Chip History Center virtual museum has a wonderful video interview with Bill Tobey on his conceptualizing of the wafer stepper and on his winning of the Bob Graham Award. Dan Hutcheson, CEO and chairman of VLSIresearch, shared these kind words on Bill Tobey’s influence: “The world of semiconductors and the products they made possible would have been much smaller, as Moore's Law might have stopped at 2 microns, without Bill's contributions. His ability to see what others could not probably explains why he was able to continue making contributions into his nineties. Companies all over the world continued to call on him to his last days.” Bill’s contributions were limitless. He was a member of the organizing committee for the SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) and chaired it in its early years. After completing his term serving ISS, he joined the committee for the SEMI International Trade Partners Conference (ITPC). Bill also served as a member of the SEMI East Coast advisory committee in its early years and was responsible for industry meetings in the area. And he was involved with many other SEMI activities on behalf of the industry. Bill's obituary is posted on the funeral home website. For all of us working in the semiconductor industry, we are honoring Bill Tobey’s memory by continuing to build upon the foundation that he helped to establish. I hope you are inspired by the passion he displayed in his work throughout his career and encourage those who knew him to share stories of Bill to further inspire others to follow the example he set. Ajit Manocha is president and CEO of SEMI.

Over the next five years the Taiwan government plans to invest NT$1.546 billion to build the workforce direly needed for future semiconductor industry research and development. The largesse is a tribute to efforts by SEMI president and CEO Ajit Manocha to enhance the competitiveness of the semiconductor industry by stressing the importance of talent development during his annual visits with the Taiwan president. He has been instrumental in bringing together Taiwan government agencies and local industry representatives – two players in developing the talent pool of the future – to discuss workforce initiatives.As the talent gaps threatens to choke the long-term growth potential of the chip industry, Manocha has emerged as a passionate champion of workforce development. In a letter to more than 2,000 semiconductor companies worldwide, he urged to executives act together to build the workforce vital to industry growth. In 2018, he met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to discuss ideas for attracting and retaining skilled workers to help ensure Taiwan remains a top investment destination for high-tech multinationals.In early 2019, SEMI Taiwan established its SEMI Taiwan Workforce Development Council to promote talent and career development. Already, the group’s work is resonating in the global semiconductor industry. In September last year, Manocha joined executives from industry heavyweights ASE, MediaTek and TSMC in a visit to President Tsai to urge the government to pursue industry sustainability through talent development. President Tsai responded by instructing her staff to review government resources available for talent development, help drive public-private dialogue and partnerships, and form talent development projects involving the government, industry, academia and research institutes.To carry out comprehensive workforce initiatives, SEMI Taiwan continues to work with the National Security Council and the Executive Yuan (the cabinet). We also launched the Semiconductor Industry Development Council in partnership with leading high-tech companies in Taiwan including ASE, TSMC, MediaTek, PSMC, VIS, MXIC, Nanya, Etron and UMC. Focused on developing semiconductor talent and technology, localizing equipment sourcing, and improving cybersecurity, the council has formed the following seven initiatives: Make existing government talent development programs more flexible to better meet the industry’s workforce needs. Recruit outstanding scholars and leading experts in scientific research, and solicit world-class scientific research teams. Extend age restrictions and other requirements for the Einstein Program (established by the Taiwan MOST, Ministry of Science and Technology) to attract outstanding foreign scholars to Taiwan. Establish a domestic semiconductor research ecosystem and provide sufficient research funding to cultivate R D talent. Strengthen female education in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) and encourage women to re-join the workforce to help meet the industry’s workforce needs. Continue to promote MOST University-Industry Collaboration Projects (Large Alliance) to connect the upstream academic and research sector with downstream industries. Encourage cooperation between science and technology universities and the chip industry to develop the talent necessary for smart manufacturing to thrive. SEMI’s advocacy efforts with the Taiwan government, the industry and academia are clearly paying off. The Executive Yuan recently announced three major talent development strategies – expanding the talent development capabilities of higher education institutions, promoting industrial-academic cooperation and encouraging businesses to strengthen recruiting efforts and increase funding for semiconductor talent development.The building momentum includes plans by the Taiwan Ministry of Education plans to establish semiconductor technology research centers at several national universities. By passing the sandbox law and loosening regulations organizational personnel, finance and education, the government is freeing up more funding to support semiconductor industry talent development. The ministry also plans to gradually expand the number of students enrolled in STEM curriculum and continues to promote talent training programs and recruiting strategies to help close the workforce gaps and reduce related industry risks. A highly skilled workforce is indispensable to the development of the semiconductor industry and among the most strategic resources in any region. It’s only through long-term partnerships between the government, industry and academia that impactful and sustainable workforce development goals and initiatives can be developed to help the chip industry realize its full potential to innovate and solve some of the world’s greatest challenges. The programs are key to the ability of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry to sharpen its competitive edge. More importantly, they are also the center of gravity in the region’s pursuit of its position as the global semiconductor hub. Jo-Ann Su is senior director and Winnie Chang is marketing and public relations specialist at SEMI Taiwan.

A lot has happened in fifty years, particularly when it comes to the microelectronics industry. Founded in 1970 by a group of semiconductor industry pioneers who believed that co-opetition — instead of traditional competition—would produce a more vibrant emerging industry, SEMI was born as an industry association.It's fitting during this week’s 50th annual SEMICON West (July 20-23, 2020) — a virtual event for the first time — that SEMI Chief of Staff Bettina Weiss offers her perspectives on the evolution of SEMI from one of the best seats in the house: the 24 years that she has spent helping the association change and grow.Vetrano: You’ve enjoyed a long rich history with SEMI, and now serve as the association’s first chief of staff. What roles have you played at SEMI up to this point?Weiss: I cut my teeth at SEMI by joining SEMI Standards, first serving as standards coordinator at SEMI Europe from ’96-’97. Over the next 11 years, I held a variety of positions at SEMI Standards, culminating with director of international standards from 2003-2008. Given that experience, I have to admit that SEMI Standards are still near and dear to my heart.I moved on to several leadership positions in our former global photovoltaics/solar business through 2014, and toward the end of that stint, I assumed additional responsibilities, becoming vice president of business development. That’s where I dove headfirst into expanding SEMI into emerging regions, including Vietnam, India and Latin America. SEMI goes where members see (or want to better understand) new opportunities, especially in places that had ambitious plans for fabs for microelectronics, including semiconductors and MEMS.In 2018, I became SEMI chief of staff, reporting directly to our president and CEO Ajit Manocha.Vetrano: Now I hardly know where to start! Since I have to decide, what does it mean to be SEMI chief of staff?Weiss: As the first chief of staff, I’ve been able to shape the position, combining the support of critical efforts driven by Ajit with additional project management responsibilities like our Smart Mobility initiative.Working with experienced leaders in our industry, such as the Board of Industry Leaders (BIL), is one of the more rewarding parts of my role at SEMI. The BIL is a group of global executives tasked with advising SEMI on strategic planning, especially when it comes to future-looking initiatives like Smart Mobility, Smart MedTech, Smart Manufacturing, and Smart Data/AI.A lot of the other things I do are meant to support the whole SEMI organization, in partnership with other senior leaders such as Michael Ciesinski, vice president of technology communities, as we create business plans and examine new revenue models that will keep SEMI sustainable and viable for the future. This includes issues as varied as workforce development and diversity and inclusion, and the new digital platforms we use to engage with our members.Vetrano: How does SEMI Smart Mobility initiative exemplify the model of engaging end customers in vertical markets that are important to members?Weiss: When you look at the rapidly increasing number of chips and sensors in and around vehicles, Smart Mobility at its core brings together both the semiconductor/sensor and automotive/mobility supply chains for a more transparent dialogue about needs and wants along the entire supply chain. We are thrilled to count automotive OEMs Volkswagen and Audi as SEMI members. We also work with Tier 1 suppliers such as Continental and many others to promote the open exchange of ideas and foster collaboration among all stakeholders.Smart Mobility is a good example of how SEMI connects two worlds that are now interdependent for the mutual benefit of all players. Automotive companies and component suppliers want to better understand new technology capabilities that enable tomorrow’s infotainment, safety, security and communication protocols. And semiconductor, sensor and component companies see huge upside in supplying the equipment, materials, devices and subsystems that enable the future of mobility. Smart Mobility is a win-win, and the founding concept of our Global Automotive Advisory Council (GAAC).Vetrano: As we look to COVID-19, the single most important event to influence the microelectronics industry — and every other industry — why is SEMI membership more important now than ever?Weiss: Our industry is facing a triple whammy of challenges: a global pandemic, ongoing global trade tensions that impact interdependent supply chains, and a global economic crisis. All these challenges will require our members’ ingenuity, innovation and collective action to overcome them. But inherent in those challenges are tremendous opportunities, and I have no doubt that our members and the entire global electronics ecosystems will find ways to help everyone prosper and advance.COVID-19 has had a huge impact on our members. From the onset of the pandemic, we’ve provided our members with resources including best business practices, insights and data from industry experts to help them respond to a virus that has already changed so many things we took for granted before March. Additionally, SEMI has also advocated with governments around the world on behalf of the industry for essential business status and essential travel to sustain operations. Visit SEMI COVID-19 Resource page for information on industry best practices and much more.Vetrano: Before we look forward, what has changed dramatically in microelectronics since you started at SEMI?Weiss: Through my work with SEMI, I’ve witnessed dynamic, dramatic and sustained change in the microelectronics supply chain. Into the late 1990s, SEMI represented primarily semiconductor equipment and materials suppliers, and we worked with chipmakers – our members’ customers. That’s where a lot of important Standards work happened, for example, and the supplier-device maker relationship was pretty much our world. Over the years, we saw significant change in how companies partner and do business with one another. The digital transformation we’ve been witnessing for the past few years was the impetus for expanding our reach to bring companies in the extended electronics manufacturing and design supply chain together, from sand to system, so to speak. That was also when we invited associations representing flexible hybrid and printed electronics (FlexTech), MEMS and sensors (MSIG), and electronic system design (ESD Alliance) companies to join SEMI and our other technology communities for maximum cross-pollination. That’s because everything needs microelectronic devices and systems. Vetrano: Looking ahead now, what is can the microelectronics industry do to benefit humanity?Weiss: Semiconductors and sensors are often the unsung heroes of progress. Microelectronics can help bring prosperity to the billions of people now struggling on our planet. It can improve access to education for people through e-learning, it can advance agricultural production and streamline the food supply chain to help feed the world’s hungry, it can monitor the quality of the water we drink and the air we breathe, and it can get you in front of a doctor even in the most remote village in India.The beauty of microelectronics is that we are not gated by innovation. As the brilliant visionary Arthur C. Clarke once said, “The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.”As an industry association that helps technologists to venture beyond “the limits of the possible,” I invite like-minded technology adventurers to engage with SEMI, starting with registration to this week’s SEMICON West – our first virtual show.As chief of staff, Bettina Weiss reports to SEMI President and CEO Ajit Manocha and manages a broad portfolio of responsibilities. Major focus areas include advancing specific global strategic initiatives such as thought leadership (Think Tanks) and SEMI Smart Transportation vertical application platform, improving organizational efficiency, alignment and financial sustainability, acting as senior liaison to SEMI Board of Industry Leaders, leading strategic partnerships and M A activity, and supporting Manocha in creating a highly effective, agile global association.Maria Vetrano is a PR consultant at SEMI.

SEMI President and CEO Ajit Manocha has voiced his support for amendments the United States House of Representatives and Senate included in the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would authorize important programs to support semiconductor manufacturing and research in the U.S.“SEMI is very pleased the House and Senate included in the NDAA provisions to support semiconductor manufacturing and research in the United States,” Manocha said. “The U.S. has not kept pace with the growth of semiconductor manufacturing abroad. The U.S. share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity has been cut in half to just 12 percent over the past 20 years and is forecast to fall to 10 percent by 2023. We applaud the sponsors for their support, leadership and hard work to win House and Senate approval to increase federal government support for the industry. However, this is just the start of what needs to be done to reverse this 20-year decline. The CHIPS for America Act’s investment tax credit for new and expanded semiconductor manufacturing facilities is essential to provide a robust, transparent and reliable federal incentive that will be the foundation of renewed growth of U.S. fabs.”In addition to authorizing a new grant program, the House and Senate amendments would direct the Defense Department to create programs with the private sector to: Direct the Defense Department to create programs with the private sector to encourage the development of advanced, measurably secure microelectronics, Establish a Multilateral Microelectronics Security Fund the U.S., its allies and partners will use to reach agreements promoting consistency in their policies related to microelectronics, Direct the President to establish a subcommittee on semiconductor technology and innovation within the National Science and Technology Council, and Direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a national semiconductor technology center and other important new programs. The House amendment would authorize an additional $1.2 billion for semiconductor research. Both the House and Senate are expected to complete debate and pass the NDAA bills this week.SEMI members operate semiconductor supply chain facilities across the U.S. Of the 25 states with at least one major facility, 18 boast large semiconductor manufacturing fabs and other facilities while seven offer semiconductor equipment and materials production. Operating for decades, many of these facilities are key pillars of local economies and underpin hundreds of small businesses that supply components and materials. The U.S. semiconductor supply chain accounts for about 240,000 high-skill and high-wage jobs nationwide.Joe Pasetti is Vice President of Global Public Policy and Advocacy at SEMI.