Connecting talents for the development of Vietnam's semiconductor industry

On the morning of September 28, 2023, in Hanoi, the University of Technology - VNU (VNU-UET) in collaboration with the Semiconductor Association of Southeast Asia (SEMI SEA) - a member of SEMI Global, the Department of Information Technology and Communications Industry - Ministry of Information and Communications and the University of Technology - Vietnam National University, Hanoi organized the forum "SEMI SEA TalentCONNECT".

The forum was attended by leaders of the Ministry of Information and Communications, leaders of the Vietnam Electronics and Telecommunications Association, leaders of SEMI SEA, VNU, and more than 100 international delegates from companies in the semiconductor industry, students of the University of Technology and students studying in majors related to semiconductor technology at major universities in Hanoi .

Potential of Vietnam's Semiconductor Industry

The semiconductor and microchip industry has developed into an important national industry in recent years, accounting for one-third of Vietnam's total export turnover. Vietnam currently ranks 9th globally in the field of electronics exports. In the first 8 months of 2022, phones and electronic components had the largest export turnover, reaching 39.6 billion USD, up 12.1% over the same period last year. Thus, it can be seen that the potential and room for development of the semiconductor microchip industry in Vietnam is extremely large.

Reality in Vietnam has proven that the microchip design and manufacturing industry is becoming a truly attractive technology industry and attracting FDI capital from some of the world's leading semiconductor technology corporations, such as: Samsung, Amkor Technology Inc, Hana Micron (Korea); Intel, Synopsys, Qorvo (USA); Renesas Electronics (Japan); USI Electronics of Taiwan (China) ...

However, Vietnam's semiconductor industry currently needs about 10,000 engineers per year, but the current human resources only meet less than 20%. This is the information of Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung at the working session with Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha with Hanoi National University, Ho Chi Minh City National University and the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Prof. Dr. Chu Duc Trinh - Principal of the University of Technology said that semiconductor is a very large industry, related to many different fields, from chemistry, materials, manufacturing, electronic design, digital design, computer science. In the world, no country has mastered its own semiconductor technology. The professor believes that in the next 2 to 5 years, Vietnam will start to form, becoming an important link in the global semiconductor chain.

Prof. Dr. Chu Duc Trinh - Principal of University of Technology delivered a welcome speech at the forum

Ms. Linda Tan, President of SEMI Southeast Asia, assessed that Vietnam's semiconductor industry is on the rise, with an estimated compound annual growth rate of 6.12% from 2022 to 2027.

Ms. Linda Tan, President of SEMI Southeast Asia, assessed that Vietnam's semiconductor industry is on the rise.

The “SEMI SEA TalentCONNECT” forum is not only an opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience, but also a motivation for students and young people to learn about the important role of the semiconductor industry in the current digital revolution and inspire them to pursue a career in this field.

SEMI SEA and the University of Engineering and Technology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi are committed to continuing their collaboration to promote the development of the semiconductor industry and create a new generation of talent for the future.

University of Technology - VNU is a pioneer in training and research in the field of semiconductor design and manufacturing.

Implementing the directives of the Party and the Government, VNU has assigned the University of Technology to implement training and scientific research plans focusing on areas related to the semiconductor/semiconductor chip industry very early. The University of Technology, with a staff of many lecturers, experts and scientists with experience in research and teaching, is one of the key member units actively participating in semiconductor design and manufacturing projects of VNU. In addition, the University has been gradually implementing many training and scientific research activities to train new generations of bachelors and engineers of the University with good qualifications and professional skills to be able to actively and effectively participate in this potential semiconductor design and manufacturing labor market.

In the production of semiconductors and microchips, the design stage plays a decisive role and accounts for more than half of the total value of the semiconductor production chain. This stage is the strength and the premise for Vietnamese engineers to participate. Therefore, to help Vietnamese engineers in general and students of the University of Technology in particular to participate well in this stage, the University has developed training programs oriented towards semiconductors and microchips from undergraduate to masters and doctoral levels. These include training programs such as: Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering Technology, Computer Engineering, Mechatronic Engineering Technology, etc. These programs of the University have been taught for many years, contributing to the training of thousands of high-quality human resources with qualifications from bachelors and engineers to masters and doctors who are capable of participating in different stages of the microchip design industry.

Some pictures of the products and the School's Laboratory on semiconductor design and manufacturing

Semiconductor materials and components manufacturing and testing laboratory

Microfluidic chip for disease testing

Prof. Dr. Chu Duc Trinh - Rector of the University of Technology introduces the University's semiconductor chip products at the Semiconductor Chip Technology Exhibition of VNU in April 2023

Along with related training programs, the research, design, chip manufacturing and semiconductor technology directions have also been deployed by the School and have initially achieved certain results, demonstrating the development potential of the School. The School has 04 research groups and 04 laboratories implementing research directions on semiconductor component manufacturing, design, manufacturing of advanced mechatronic components and systems or research on Micro-nano materials and components, design and application of electronic microcircuits, etc.

With the enhanced facilities accumulated over the years combined with a strong team of many researchers, experts with experience and good professional qualifications, the University of Technology has implemented many scientific and technological topics with scientific products and intellectual property products related to the design and manufacture of semiconductor chips/microcircuits with high scientific value and practical applications. Annual statistics show that the number of scientific works are scientific articles published in international and domestic scientific journals, inventions and useful solutions of the school up to more than 200 articles. Among them, there are many research works with scientific value related to the field of semiconductor chip design.

In fact, in recent years, student scientific research in the direction of design technology, manufacturing and application of microchips has also been one of the important priorities of the University. Every year, students of the University of Technology are encouraged and facilitated to participate in creative playgrounds organized by the University in collaboration with domestic enterprises such as: IoT challenge (co-organized by the University of Technology and FPT Software, students of the University of Technology won first prize in 2022, 2023), student scientific research at the school level, student scientific research at the National University level... In addition, competitions and exchanges with international students such as: LSI design contest held annually in Japan (student research groups of the University have won this award many times, including first prize once); Synopsys ARC design contest (in Taiwan); SEACAS Hackathon (Indonesia); Chipathon 2023 (Malaysia)... is also promoted by the School with the desire to increase awareness and create an international integration environment for the School's students.

The organic relationship between the University, especially research laboratories, with domestic and foreign enterprises in many different fields, including the field of microchip design, is always a top concern of the University of Technology. Extensive cooperation with partners who are enterprises with potential and technology in the field of semiconductor chip/microchip design, typically including: Viettel, VNPT, FPT, Samsung, LG, Toshiba, TSMC (Taiwan, China), Global Foundry (USA), CMP (France), VDEC (Japan), Synopsys (USA), Mentor Graphics (USA) ... annually creates conditions for the birth of many research projects ordered by enterprises for the laboratories and research centers of the University.

Tradition, mission and future vision will be the premise for the University of Technology to continue to expand the scale of training, orient in-depth research, and at the same time cooperate with domestic and foreign enterprises to better meet the needs of society; contribute to promoting the development of the semiconductor industry and creating a new generation of talents for the future; worthy of being the leading training institution in Vietnam in the field of Science and Technology.

Some pictures at the forum: