Folks spearheads agreement for semiconductor program at UA
The UA is in the process of building the nation's first career and technical education program in semiconductor manufacturing.
A large crowd gathered at Sahuarita Unified School District's administrative office Sept. 10 to witness the signing of a contract with the University of Arizona to explore a new career and technical education program.
Semiconductors control computers, smartphones, TVs and cars, and industry officials say that unless something happens, half of the 120,000 semiconductor-related jobs opening up in the next six years will go unfilled.
Sahuarita Unified School District Superintendent Manny Valenzuela and Liesl Folks, the director of the University of Arizona's Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing, hope to do something about that.
The UA is in the process of building the nation's first career and technical education program in semiconductor manufacturing, and SUSD students could be participating in the program within a couple of years. Folks and Valenzuela signed an agreement to explore the possibilities during a specially scheduled meeting with school board members and Sahuarita Mayor Tom Murphy.
"Arizona has been a real winner in terms of attracting new businesses to Arizona. There's about $103 billion worth of capital investment going into Arizona and the local sector right now, but all of that is creating demand for humans that we're not producing, and you know the dismal statistics for graduation rates in Arizona from high school," Folks said. "What we're hoping is that if we build these programs, we'll be doing two things: encouraging students to stay through graduation, as well as getting ready for jobs in the semiconductor sector."