SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Rochester Institute of Technology instructor Robert E. Pearson asks students two questions.
“What are they taking semiconductors out of?” and “What are they putting semiconductors into?”
The answers – nothing and everything – are all they need to know when looking for a rewarding, well-paying career path to follow.
“Across the state, there’s such a demand for people working in this area,” said Pearson, RIT Microelectronic Program director. “I tell my students you’ve got job security for life.”
He was among more than 350 people from around the world gathered in Saratoga Springs last week for the 30th annual Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference, based at the Saratoga Hilton.
The event is the leading international technical conference for discussing solutions that improve the collective manufacturing expertise of the semiconductor industry.
It included numerous networking opportunities, panel discussions and keynote speeches by industry leaders such as Robert Czetina of Infineon Technologies Austria AG; Robert Maire, president of the New York-based Semiconductor Advisors; and Christine Dunbar, GlobalFoundries vice president, U.S. sales. She joined GlobalFoundries in 2015 when the company acquired IBM’s Microelectronics Division in Essex Junction, Vt.
The conference was hosted by California-based SEMI, a global industry association of companies that represent the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain.
Following four days of intense meetings, attendees gathered Thursday at Canfield Casino in Congress Park for a reception hosted by the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, the county’s designated economic development agency.
The reception was sponsored by Applied Materials, one of the world’s leading semiconductor equipment manufacturers, headquartered in the Silicon Valley. It also has significant operations at GlobalFoundries in Malta and SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Albany.
Ron Sampson, Global Foundries senior vice president and Fab 8 general manager, told how the semiconductor industry is transforming the Capital Region.
“We find ourselves at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” he said. “It’s not just talk about what could be. It’s now, what we are doing and how we’re beginning to use it.”
“Change is accelerating at a breathtaking pace,” Sampson said. “New York’s Tech Valley is becoming a true tech hub, with an increasingly broader array of technologies and companies. I just got done talking to someone who has a new technology that might be used for factory automation. We’re seeing a self-sustaining high-tech ecosystem woven into the fabric of our community.”
By bringing people together, the conference could lead to even more positive growth for the region, he said.
“We already have a lot resident, high-tech companies locally,” Sampson said. “Here, they’re able to make new connections. We can identify new business opportunities and technological partnerships. It’s that kind of melting pot of innovation and technology that makes this such a relevant event.”
