Chip design: Shaping the world of tomorrow

According to the industry association SEMI Europe, the entire European semiconductor industry could face a shortage of more than 270,000 skilled workers by 2030. This will affect all kinds of jobs – from process engineering to testing and also chip design (see commentary). Wehn sees several reasons for this. On the one hand, discussion around microchips tends to focus more on production and too little on design. Chip design is also suffering from the general decline in student numbers in the fields of electrical engineering and information technology: “Students are currently opting primarily for courses in artificial intelligence, while disciplines such as electrical engineering are attracting fewer and fewer people,” he says. Yet chip design relies on many disciplines working hand in hand. Computer science graduates and experts in artificial intelligence are certainly important, as microchips are only useful with the right software. But equally, that software is useless without the corresponding hardware.

As far as the specific tasks involved in chip design are concerned, they are as varied as the possible applications of the chips themselves. “The profession includes a wide range of very different activities,” says chip designer Andreas Brüning, who was already designing circuits 30 years ago and now works at the Fraunhofer Group for Microelectronics. System architects, for example, are responsible for modeling the chips using digital tools and their deep understanding of how the tech will need to perform. Other experts then take care of actually implementing the circuits. “There’s also a great deal of programming involved,” says Brüning. The process continues via integrators, who bring together the various individual aspects of the system before verification begins. Even after production, the chip designer’s job is not done, because the chip has to be tested before it can be installed.

These are all jobs that require large numbers of specialists, as has been recognized not only by companies but by politicians too. “There is a great deal of motivation to get young people excited about chip design and to train them in this field,” says Ralf Popp from edacentrum in Hanover. Founded to promote chip design, the association supports industry-led collaborative projects for the research and development of integrated design methods. This aim is also reflected in initiatives such as Chipdesign Germany and the nationwide flagship project “skills4chips”.

In Germany, institutions such as the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen with its “Bavarian Chip Design Center” (BCDC) are responsible for training specialists. This is where talented young people like Lakshmi Meka are trained for a career in chip design. Meka has a Master’s degree in information and communication engineering from TU Darmstadt and came to Germany specifically to train in the chip design field. “The traineeship is a more personalized approach than university education,” she says. Programs like the BCDC are important to bridge the gap between academic education and chip design work. “We find that graduates need up to a year and a half before they can work as designers themselves,” says Yevgeniy Itskovych, Deputy Group Manager Chip Design Talents at Fraunhofer IIS. Apart from scientific institutions, chip companies themselves are also training employees. Infineon Technologies is currently investing heavily to develop new specialists at its German sites. “Chip design and verification play an important role for us,” says Infineon training manager Heiko Schöfer. The company offers internships, and students are given real work to do. One example is the Development Center in Dresden, where over 220 experts and young talents are developing new and enhanced products. There are various routes into the profession. Infineon offers a dual work-study program in “embedded systems,” and electrical engineers and computer scientists also find their way into chip design, says Schöfer.

However, with even the training of university graduates insufficient to meet the large demand for new talent, edacentrum spokesperson Ralf Popp wants to start at school. He wants teachers to make their lessons as practical as possible to spark enthusiasm for hardware – even if the current curriculum makes this difficult. The school competition INVENT a CHIP, organized each year by VDE and BMFTR, is also at the interface between school and industry. This is complemented by VDE GMM’s Cosima microelectronics competition, which challenges students to find new applications for sensors and microsystems. Here, too, design is the first and decisive step.