Lam Research partners with ISM, IISc to train 60,000 engineers in semiconductor tech

US-based semiconductor firm Lam Research has announced a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). The partnership is aimed towards the broad deployment of Semiverse Solutions, a portfolio of software solutions from Lam Research that semiconductor modeling, design automation, and integration. It is expected to develop India’s semiconductor manufacturing workforce. 

Towards this partnership, Lam Research will be donating about $29 million (₹241 crore) in software licences over the next two years to enable 2,800 students. While ISM will support the establishment of infrastructure and operational costs and IISc will “Train-the-Trainers” at the selected universities. Lam will also deploy a dedicated team of employees for expansion. 

To be sure, two of the pilot program’s participants have already been placed in a global tier-1 semiconductor manufacturing company, the joint statement said. The pilot course trained 35 engineers over a six month period. The goal is to train 60,000 Indian engineers in semiconductor fabrication technologies, over 10 years.

"As India takes bold steps to establish a semiconductor industry, a virtual-physical fabrication world made possible with Semiverse Solutions will be critical to rapidly scale a workforce to meet industry demand," stated Rangesh Raghavan, Corporate Vice President and General Manager at Lam Research India.

To be sure, Lam’s investment and the MoU are part of the joint statement issued by the governments of India and the USA in June 2023. This MoU signals the completion of the pilot in partnership with IISc and establishes a framework for expansion to multiple universities across India.