On July 18, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and NORDTECH will host a day-long Workforce Development Summit on the RPI campus that will bring together government, industry, nonprofits, and academic partners to address education and workforce development in chips and semiconductors critical to the prosperity and security of the nation. 

The event will feature a keynote speech on Today's Workforce Development Realities and Strategies by by Shari Liss, the Executive Director of the SEMI Foundation; a panel discussion moderated by RPI President Martin A.  Schmidt ’81, Ph.D., on Propelling the U.S. Workforce; exciting and informative presentations; breakout sessions on themes of Exposure, Education, and Experience; and a poster session featuring Emerging Technologies in Microelectronics, Educational Pathways and Curriculum Development, and Innovation in Teaching Methods.

The Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTECH) is a regional coalition of public and private sector experts in and around New York State, established as one of the eight hubs by the Department of Defense (DoD) Microelectronics Commons program. NORDTECH’s five founding members include NY CREATES, University at Albany, Cornell University, RPI, and IBM. In addition to the founding members, NORDTECH consists of members from academia, government organizations, and industry, including the defense industrial base and small/medium enterprises. NORDTECH brings distributed expertise and capabilities of the Northeast to create onshore scalability across the research, prototyping, and commercial transition of leading-edge microelectronics in support of Department of Defense (DoD) Microelectronics Commons program goals.

“When government, industry, and academia work together, goals are met and economies flourish,” said Schmidt. “Together, RPI and our fellow NORDTECH members will grow the semiconductor workforce in New York State and beyond by inspiring and engaging students and immersing them in this exciting field.” 

It is estimated that tens of thousands of jobs in the chips and semiconductor fields will go unfilled in 2030 because of the labor shortage. This comes at a time when the United States is hoping to produce more chips than ever.

“To address the workforce needs of the chips and semiconductor sector, we must reach diverse students in engaging ways and create accessible pathways that lead to fulfilling careers,” said Shekhar Garde, Ph.D., dean of RPI’s School of Engineering. “With NORDTECH, we are uniting partners from all areas of the microelectronics sector to do just that. We look forward to engaging discussions with representatives from industry, academia, and government attending the Workforce Development Summit.”

NORDTECH members and participants include large companies spanning the defense industrial base, industry across the semiconductor manufacturing pipeline with key core facility capabilities, universities and small companies with technical project expertise and prototyping facilities, and universities and community colleges as vital participants in developing the next generation of semiconductor-enabled careers.

Dave Anderson, President of NY CREATES, said, “NY CREATES is proud to play a key role in NORDTECH with our partners to grow the Microelectronics Commons network across the country. This RPI/NORDTECH-hosted engagement is a positive step forward for finding efficient and effective ways to support critical semiconductor-focused workforce development efforts in New York State and beyond. I was proud to participate in Thursday’s panel discussion and share NY CREATES’ efforts and the ways in which we can collaboratively reach students and provide up-skilling opportunities to current workers.”

The event will be conducted in the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. It is free and open to all participants. Registration is available online at https://chips.rpi.edu/nordtech-wfd-summit.