2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Semiconductor design, production, and application have gained priority as an emerging technology nationally, in the Midwest, and in Indiana. Nearly every modern industry, including automotive, medicine, aerospace, agriculture, and defense, critically relies on the production and utilization of semiconductors. Furthermore, the defense, biomanufacturing, battery production, and semiconductor industries are critical subsectors of manufacturing in Indiana; these industries all rely on the availability of semiconductors and microelectronics devices while also sharing a talent pool of skilled, high-tech workers. The significance of the growth in these sectors cannot be overstated. While the semiconductor and microelectronics industry is Indiana’s smallest manufacturing subsector today, it is one of the fastest growing and most strategically important for the future [1]. To meet the scale of need for this sector requires collaboration, innovation, and a shared commitment to construct and execute workforce solutions.
As a part of this solution at Ivy Tech Community College, the institution has created a semiconductor fabrication short-term certificate that will lead directly to high tech, technician-level jobs in the semiconductor and microelectronics industries. Ivy Tech Community College is a statewide community college with 19 campuses across Indiana and over 200,000 students; the college’s size and prominence in the state positions it well to meaningfully impact the manufacturing sector’s need for the future workforce in Indiana. In addition to developing the semiconductor fabrication certificate, related engineering and technology programs have added additional skills enabling students to enter an increasingly high-tech workforce. This effort was not accomplished in isolation; to prepare both students and faculty to meet the needs of the future workforce, Ivy Tech Community College has partnered with Purdue University to rapidly accelerate the integration of project-based microelectronics activities and applications into various curricula. This has allowed faculty, and ultimately students, to learn how semiconductors and microelectronics relate to courses within programs ranging from engineering to engineering technology to industrial maintenance to IT. Continuing the momentum from the partnership, microelectronics robot competitions in which students across several programs utilize skills learned about microelectronics in an introductory course to create a robot to achieve a specific goal have been developed.
From this work in developing a program and curriculum for an emerging industry, has led to using semiconductors as a relevant application to prepare students to enter a technical field with successful engagement across several fields. While external political and economic factors have caused industry uncertainty as to when hundreds of new high-tech jobs will come to the state, the positive impact of this work has already brought to the sector community is palpable. This paper will describe further the mechanisms that have been employed to equip faculty and students to meet Indiana’s growing semiconductor and microelectronics subsectors and highlight the results of work thus far.