Berardi Sensale-Rodriguez
has been awarded the ExLENT and INCLUDES CHIPS awards—advancing research and enhancing student experiences in the semiconductor field. Sensale-Rodriguez and co-PI Hanseup Kim, in conjunction with A.J. Metz and Claire Son of the University of Utah Department of Educational Psychology, have secured $1 million in funding through the CHIPS ExLENT award from the NSF. The prime objective of this project is to provide students with deep hands-on learning experiences that will ultimately promote a diverse, job ready workforce and foster employee retention. As delineated by the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, building and sustaining a skilled and diverse workforce is critical to America’s leadership in semiconductors. That’s exactly what Sensale-Rodriguez plans to do with his ExLENT funding over the next three years. Through a partnership with academia and industry, this project will deploy a hands-on semiconductor training program: “Semiconductor Manufacturing.”
This cohort-based training model incorporates three key components: customized curriculum focused on semiconductor manufacturing and characterization, hands-on experiential learning, and direct interaction with industry. The project is designed to improve accessibility to manufacturing training facilities for broader communities. Engaging students in clean room Nanofab training while equipping participants with the knowledge and skills vital for semiconductor manufacturing will advance employment in the industrial sector.
With such a strong presence of semiconductor companies in the area, such as Texas Instruments and Micron, Sensale-Rodriguez is determined to provide experiential training to technicians and undergraduates to fill positions in the area, support nearby infrastructure, and pursue advanced degrees studying semiconductors. Similarly, the INCLUDES award provides $220k that aims to enable undergraduate students to research in optical technologies for semiconductors. Sensale-Rodriguez and co-PI Rajesh Menon will collaborate with the Office of Undergraduate Research in supporting a cohort of approximately ten undergraduate students working within the Utah Nanofab and/or designing semiconductor optical devices and optical processes. Sensale-Rodriguez hopes that his INCLUDES research will enable him and the student researchers to develop new technologies that can harness light to evolve new semiconductor manufacturing processes, like lithography approaches. Students engaging in INCLUDES research will ultimately travel to Washington, DC to present their results at the Emerging Researchers National Conference.
Sensale-Rodriguez looks forward to this opportunity to expand research, interest, and advanced degrees in the semiconductor industry. He hopes that through these award-funded experiences, students will discover “the beauty and magic of semiconductors” and pursue that passion into new discoveries.
Learn more about Electrical and Computer Engineering faculty research topics and discover ways to get involved in undergraduate research.
Written by Lindsay Simas.