“I need to inform you that you simply don’t should be only one factor,” stated Katie Eckermann ’03, MEng ’04, director of enterprise improvement at Superior Micro Gadgets (AMD) at a networking occasion for college kids contemplating careers in arduous applied sciences. “There’s a big wealth of various jobs and roles throughout the semiconductor business.”
Eckermann was one in all two keynote audio system on the Design the Answer convention, offered by the International Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) Ladies’s Management Initiative, and co-sponsored by MIT.nano. Following the talking portion of the occasion, attendees had been invited to fulfill with representatives from AMD, Analog Gadgets, Utilized Supplies, Arm, Cadence Design Techniques, Cisco Techniques, Intel, Marvell, Micron Expertise, Samsung, Synopsys, and TSMC. This annual February occasion was one in a sequence organized by the GSA Ladies’s Management Initiative and hosted at universities throughout the nation to focus on the worldwide impression of a profession in semiconductors and recruit extra girls into the hard-tech ecosystem.
Eckermann was joined by John Wuu ’96, MEng ’97, senior fellow design engineer at AMD. Collectively, the 2 highlighted a few of the key traits and most vital challenges of the semiconductor business, in addition to shared their profession paths and recommendation.
Wuu highlighted the super enhance in computing efficiency in recent times, illustrated in 2022 by Hewlett Packard’s Frontier pc — calculating complicated issues a lot sooner than a number of different supercomputers mixed. Whereas supercomputer efficiency has doubled each 1.2 years during the last 30 years, energy effectivity has doubled solely each 2.2 years — thus underscoring a transparent have to proceed the tempo of efficiency sustainably and responsibly.
“These efficiency enhancements will not be about making an attempt to interrupt data only for the sake of breaking data,” stated Wuu. “The demand for computing may be very excessive and insatiable, and the enhancements in efficiency that we’re getting are getting used to unravel a few of humanity’s most difficult and vital issues — from house exploration to local weather change, and extra.”
Each Wuu and Eckermann inspired college students pursuing careers in semiconductors to deal with studying and stretching themselves, taking dangers, and rising their community. In addition they emphasised the various completely different ability units wanted within the semiconductor business and the frequent issues that usually exist throughout completely different market segments.
“Probably the most beneficial issues about MIT is that it doesn’t train you the right way to recite formulation or to memorize information, it teaches you a framework on the right way to suppose,” stated Eckermann. “And when it comes right down to engineering, it’s all about fixing complicated issues.”
Following the keynote, Deb Dyson, senior workers engineering supervisor at Marvell, moderated a panel dialogue that includes Rose Castanares, senior vice chairman for enterprise administration at TSMC North America; Kate Shamberger, area technical director for the Americas at Analog Gadgets; and Thy Tran, vice chairman of worldwide frontend procurement at Micron Expertise.
The panelists described their very own particular person and various profession journeys, additionally emphasizing the super quantity and number of alternatives presently accessible in semiconductors.
“All over the place you look [in the semiconductor industry], it’s the epicenter of all of the intersectionality of the disciplines,” stated Tran. “It’s the pure sciences, the mathematics, the engineering, application-based, theory-based — I can’t consider I acquired so fortunate to be on this enviornment.”
Some key themes of the panel dialogue included the significance of teamwork and understanding the folks you’re working with, the event of management kinds, and making an attempt out several types of roles throughout the business. All audio system inspired college students to establish what they love to do most and suppose broadly and flexibly about how they will apply their abilities and pursuits — and, above all, to all the time be studying and gaining a breadth of information.
“It’s vital to be frequently studying — not simply in your area, but additionally adjunct to your area,” stated Castanares. “It’s not about making an attempt to show that you simply’re the neatest particular person within the room, however essentially the most curious particular person within the room — after which apply and share that data.”
