You guessed it right. The scenario of the current VLSI training industry needs to be uplifted by the use of manufacturable. Current trainings use educational PDKs, which is good starter, but looking at the duration of trainings (minimum of 3-months to maximum of 1-year), engineers are getting used to these simple educational PDKs, thereby making it difficult for them to cope up with industry
projects, leading to another 2-3 months of internal company training expenditure.
Another major problem with educational PDKs is lack of problem-solving skills in students using these. Since educational PDKs have minimal information, students are never exposed to real problems with a design leading to incorrect perception of a perfect design. With commercial PDKs, real design challenges are exposed to students from day1, making them open the PDKs and debug. This action
becomes a repetitive one thereby improving their problem-solving skills
With use of commercial PDKs, there is a high chance that foundries may help taping out good student level design. This way a student gets introduced to the word “tapeout” in its real sense and (might be) do a real tapeout during training itself, making him/her more attractive to jobs
Here's where Steven plays a major role.
Steven Kosier is responsible for forming and
managing strategic technology partnerships and alliances, developing the company’s technology roadmap and IP strategy, and growing the value of the company’s technology portfolio.
His background includes 25 years of experience and
successive growth in technical, marketing and business leadership positions. A founding member of PolarFab and Polar Semiconductor wafer foundries, he has developed and transferred to volume production many generations of analog, mixed-signal, and high-voltage technologies for automotive and industrial end markets. Most recently, Kosier was president at Kanomax FMT, a nanoparticle measurement instrumentation start-up with industry-leading resolution down to 2
nm.
Kosier is an adjunct professor of electrical engineering at
Vanderbilt University, where his research interests include radiation effects on microelectronics and semiconductor device reliability physics. He holds 12 U.S. patents and has authored or co-authored more than 30 publications in the areas of radiation effects, high voltage and power devices, integrated magnetic sensors and nanoparticle measurement
solutions.
Kosier holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of
Minnesota and a Master of Science degree and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona.
Excited to know more. Here's the registration link to VSDOpen2021:
All the best and happy learning
