Workforce Development

Next-Gen Educated-Workforce Programs

A Semiconductor Workforce Strategy for India

A technology-ready workforce is the single most critical challenge for India’s emerging semiconductor ecosystem. While India has built strong capabilities in design, it lacks depth in semiconductor, package and systems technologies. World-class education is possible only when it is tightly integrated with world-class R&D, hence the creation of the 9 Strategic Research Areas (SRAs) and their associated research programs.

Faculty across participating institutions will develop new courses, curricula, and textbooks aligned with their SRA. Each institution will offer two categories of courses: (a) SRA-linked R&D courses, and (b) Hands-on laboratory courses, one focused on integrated package substrates and the other on assembly and test.

The overall educated-workforce strategy includes three complementary components:

1. Hands-on Courses at BTech and MTech Levels

These “Design–Build–Operate” (DBO) courses are essential to prepare students for real manufacturing environments. At minimum, they will include:

Design and fabrication of interconnect substrates, emphasizing signal and power integrity, large-area lithography, dielectric/conductor formation, and electrical test.
OSAT-focused assembly and reliability, aligned with the needs of new manufacturing units in Odisha, Gujarat and Assam. Students will gain hands-on experience in die and module design, die-attach sintering, integrated module assembly using advanced power interconnects, and reliability assessments under high-voltage and high-current conditions.

2. Professional Development Courses for Industry Engineers

Specialized upskilling programs will be offered to engineers from industry to bridge gaps in advanced power modules such as materials, processes, assembly and test, all directly relevant to India’s new manufacturing lines.

3. Education Through Research-Driven MTech and PhD Programs

Leading-edge research in the SRAs will supplement classroom teaching at the master’s and doctoral levels, ensuring that India develops deep expertise in advanced power modules.

India’s path to becoming a product nation in the power sector requires large-scale manufacturing. There are two broad categories of manufacturing:

Electromechanical (System) Manufacturing, such as assembling high-power inverters and motor controllers. This requires trained operators with vocational or undergraduate backgrounds.
Materials-intensive (Process) Manufacturing, such as fabricating high-reliability ceramic substrates (AMB/DBC) and wide-bandgap (SiC/GaN) power dies and modules. This demands advanced expertise in materials science—from metal-ceramic bonding to precision sintering—as well as highly precise thermal management and electrical process control.

Proposed Educational Framework Numbers

Student enrollment targets across all strategic research and technology areas.

🏛️Disciplines

Electrical & Electronics Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Materials Science Engineering

Chemical Engineering

Comp. Engineering

Technology Area	B.Tech	M.Tech	Ph.D.
1. Package Design & Architectures	215	45	30
2. Design for Mech. Reliability	150	70	25
3. Power Electronics and Module Design	215	45	30
4. Materials for Comp. & Pkg.	150	70	20
5. Integrated opto-electronics	150	70	20
6. Interconnecting Substrates	180	90	20
7. IC & Board assembly and reliability	150	70	20
8. Thermal Technologies	100	75	50
9. Electrical Test	40	60	20
Total	1135	550	185

While India is rapidly developing assembly capabilities, the nation urgently needs to build deep expertise in chemical and materials-based semiconductor and package manufacturing. The proposed workforce development strategy directly addresses this gap. Fig 11. presents one of the most comprehensive educational frameworks ever proposed, either in India or globally. It outlines a structured set of programs designed to produce a large, high-quality workforce of electrical, mechanical, computer, materials and chemical engineers at the BTech, MTech and PhD levels across all eight strategic technology areas.