Semiconductor-focused summer camp enrollment fills in less than two days
Chips and Wafers, a popular summer camp, is the latest in a series of collaborations and initiatives designed to increase semiconductor career training access.
Liesl Folks, vice president of semiconductor strategy and professor of electrical and computer engineering.
The semiconductor-focused Chips and Wafers Camp opened for registration with 40 slots available to Chandler, Arizona, high school students between their freshman and sophomore years.
“Stop, stop!” Liesl Folks, the University of Arizona vice president of semiconductor strategy, was soon saying, as reported in an East Valley Tribune article. “We got 96 applicants in about the first 36 hours.”
Chips and Wafers is a partnership between the UA, Chandler Unified School District and several private companies. This team came together to train students to fill the labor shortage of specialists who work with semiconductors, building blocks of the computer chips that control everything from cellphones to satellites.
“Nothing inspires students as much as being able to actually talk to people who work in the field, see the cool equipment, and do hands-on experiments,” said Folks, director of the university’s Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing and professor of ECE. “Kids have to see it. And they have to meet people in the field, and hear about their careers, in order to make a decision that this is what they want to do.”
Learn more about the Chips and Wafers summer camp here.