ECE students show their work at Winter Design Day
Interdisciplinary Capstone Team 25511’s compact lithography tool boosts workforce training in semiconductor manufacturing.
Students from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering showcased their yearlong capstone projects at the Winter Craig M. Berge Design Day on Dec. 5.
Team 25511’s SEMILITHO won top prize – the Craig M. Berge Dean’s Award for Most Outstanding Project – and took home $2,500.
The photolithography prototype was a portable microscopic wafer patterning system designed for educational outreach events at the university.
Photolithography – a process that uses light to etch patterns on silicon wafers – is a key step in semiconductor manufacturing. The patterns shape intricate circuits on chips that power smart devices.
Materials science and engineering assistant professor Zafer Mutlu tasked the team with downsizing this crucial process to help build a pipeline into Arizona’s semiconductor workforce.
“A project like this is important because semiconductor processing has been a growing industry in the U.S., especially in the Phoenix area,” said Travis Reyna, an ECE student. “We want to give high school students exposure to this industry and create outreach events to engage them.”