High school students Angel and Ava practice programming at Ivy Tech Bloomington's summer camp on semiconductors.
(Devan Ridgway, WTIU)
Bloomington South High Schoolers Angel and Ava were star students in Ivy Tech Community College’s semiconductor summer camp in July.
They showed off their little blue robots, which could play music, flash lights and detect objects in front of their sensors. It was the beginning of their second week of camp, and the two had more to learn.
“We have to learn each round and do all the equations in order to unlock these different moves,” Angel said, pointing to different options on an app that controlled the robot.
Along with six other high schoolers, Angel and Ava went to camp from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for two weeks. They learned how to program and build robots, went on field trips and heard from semiconductor leaders. The two girls won a soldering competition, having the best-looking wires of the group.
The high schoolers got an introduction to the billion-dollar semiconductor industry.
Semiconductors are small chips that are important in day-to-day life. They power phones, cars, spaceships and just about anything with a computing system. Thanks to federal and private funding, Indiana colleges play an important role in educating and building up the workforce.
Angel and Ava's robots could be controlled using their phone or a remote. (Devan Ridgway, WTIU)
Colleges such as Ivy Tech Bloomington are building up academic programs and trying new ways to reach students — like through summer camps.
“We have been kind of taking them through the whole aspect from the semiconductor being formed, to the whole production and packaging, and out the door,” said Steven Green, Ivy Tech Department Chair for Advanced Automation, Robotics and Industrial Technology.
Brett Hamilton was a featured speaker for Ivy Tech Bloomington’s camp this summer. Hamilton is senior vice president for microelectronics and advanced technology at Applied Research Institute in Bloomington.
“One thing I tell particularly high school students and in the STEM events, is the blue-collar jobs of two or three decades ago are going away,” Hamilton said. “These are really good, high-paying jobs of the future.”
The demand for semiconductors grows as technology improves. But only about 10 percent of these chips are made in the U.S. After supply chain issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government decided to intervene.
President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act in 2022 to bring production to America and boost national security. Indiana Sen. Todd Young helped create the CHIPS Act.
According to the White House, companies have pledged $231 billion for semiconductors and microelectronics in the U.S. from 2020 to 2023.
“It's one of the most significant science and technology investments in our history,” Biden said in April.
In Indiana, eight companies have pledged investments of more than $6 billion. The facilities promise over 2,000 jobs.
On Jan. 19 U.S. Sen. Todd Young attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Nhanced semiconductor facility in Odon. (Max Rebolledo, WTIU)
“Indiana, and the Midwest, is really poised to take a more leading role in semiconductor manufacturing than they have historically,” said Hamilton. “We have a lot of the pieces in place to help drive that and particularly our universities.”
The semiconductor and microelectronic industry rely on people skilled in advanced automation and robotics. To be competitive, U.S. manufacturing has to be as automated as possible.
“The lower number of actual human people you have in the process, the more competitive we can be, because that levels the playing field,” Hamilton said.
Having just a high school diploma likely won’t be enough. Workers have to know how the machines work, how to repair them and how to program them. They have to keep the air clean. They have to know how to deal with tiny electronics. Then they have to keep learning as technology evolves.
“It’s not a one-time ‘I learned and then I'm good for the next 40 years,’” Hamilton said. “It's a continuous educational process.”
Hamilton said The Hub and other semiconductor leaders are focused on attracting talent from all levels of education.
For example, high-ranking academics might help progress technology or conduct research. Skilled workers may manage the manufacturing and packaging lines. And K-12 students could be hooked with STEM programs and summer camps.
Colleges, and particularly R1 research universities such as Purdue University and Indiana University, are developing semiconductor degree programs.
Indiana’s statewide community college system, Ivy Tech, is embracing advanced manufacturing — a major part of working with semiconductors.
At Ivy Tech Bloomington, the college is adding a new robotics lab and semiconductor certificate. The summer camp was a brand new program, and the college hosted free introductory workshops for adults.
“It is just like anything else we teach here at Ivy Tech,” Green said. “It's just automation. It wasn't a hard swing to pick this up.”
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright.
