Arm unveils alliance to address semiconductor skills shortage

“The Semiconductor Education Alliance is bringing together key stakeholders across and upskilling the existing workforce. To ensure these challenges don’t hinder industry growth at this critical time, the alliance is urging anyone with contributions to make to the semiconductor skills pipeline to get involved,” said Gary Campbell (pictured), EVP Central Engineering, Arm.

The alliance brings together several existing partnerships and workstreams from Arm and the wider industry and aims to create and build new ones. Deliverables will include competency frameworks tailored to the industry needs of specific geographies, and accelerated educational and training pathways, resources, and services that will help to build and support future talent pools.

Developed by its highly experienced team of education professionals spanning schools to university and beyond, the alliance is an evolution of our existing education model in which Arm will play a vital coordination role.

Community members will share resources, capabilities, and expertise in a flexible, federated and open model through a variety of forums. This will give teachers, researchers, aspiring or practicing engineers, and learners easier access to critical resources and unlock new opportunities to collaborate on projects such as joint bids for research grants.

Projects already in the works include:

• Arm, along with EDA partners, is working on new VLSI design educational resources using state-of-the-art EDA tools and IP
• New distance learning solutions in computer engineering and informatics are being developed from Arm and partners in industry and academia
• A global SoC design platform for academia with access to the latest semiconductor fabrication technologies from Arm and partners

To bring further diversity of talent into the industry, the alliance is committed to growing and supporting multiple routes into semiconductor careers, such as technical, vocational and self-study pathways. To achieve this, a key pillar of the alliance's approach is to allow the flexibility to engage in a variety of ways, making the industry accessible to a broad range of diverse individuals, regardless of their prior education or experience. Members of the alliance will create new opportunities for learners to gain hands-on experience through internships, apprenticeships, and co-op placements, as well as distance learning tracks on massive open online course (MOOC) platforms, where access is offered free to learners regardless of their financial means or geographic location.

“The Semiconductor Education Alliance is an exciting initiative and Anglia Ruskin University is proud to be part of it. In addition to strengthening our research partnership with Arm, we also aim to develop online courses through the Education Alliance to tackle skills gaps and increase diversity in important areas, including Artificial Intelligence,” commented Professor Laurie Butler, Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Science & Engineering at Anglia Ruskin University

Massimo Banzi, Arduino’s co-founder, chairman and CMO explained, “Arduino was founded on the belief in breaking down the barriers around the electronics landscape, so aligning the industry, leveraging shared resources and fostering communities of best practices is a natural fit for our education and engagement expertise. We are thrilled to join the outstanding leaders in the Semiconductor Education Alliance and help bridge the skills gap within the sector to ultimately accelerate individual opportunities, unlock new innovation and increase the growth of this vital industry.”

“Cadence and Arm have spent several years collaborating to fuel next-generation design through the Cadence Academic Network and Arm University Program, and both companies have a common mission to introduce intelligent system design technologies to next-generation innovators. This latest collaboration with Arm provides universities and students with easy access to industry-grade technology and has yielded multiple educational materials for professors, including cloud-based webinars, seminars and course curriculums. The recent Arm VLSI Education kit includes the full Cadence digital flow, and additionally, more than 600 professors worldwide have downloaded the kit from the Cadence Academic Network website to date. We look forward to continuing to provide students with the resources they need to gain practical knowledge and hands-on experience, so they can seamlessly embark on careers in the semiconductor industry after graduation,” said Yoon Kim, VP and Chief of Staff to the CEO, Cadence

“We’re delighted to be a partner in the Semiconductor Education Alliance,” remarked Stewart Edmondson, CEO, UK Electronics Skills Foundation. “For many years, the UKESF has worked with schools and colleges to encourage a diverse range of students into electronics careers and connect talented undergraduates with employers. We look forward to collaborating with other key organisations from around the world to tackle the skills shortages and gaps in semiconductors whilst, hopefully, improving diversity and inclusivity within the sector.”

“We are delighted to be a launch partner of this growing global alliance. The Alliance’s goals of creating a global community of practice, promoting the sharing of knowledge and developing the skills we need to build a better, more sustainable, and inclusive world are goals we share in common, and we look forward to addressing these shared challenges,” said Professor Mark Spearing, Vice-President Research & Enterprise at the University of Southampton