Middle and high school math and science educators from across the country are learning how semiconductors are produced so they can motivate students to pursue high tech careers during a training program held at the University of Houston June 23-24.
The two-day “High Tech U, Teacher Edition” program produced by the global industry association Semiconductor Equipment and Manufacturers International (SEMI®) and sponsored by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) is offered as a mini-institute within the 28th Annual SECME Summer Institute.
“We’re excited about including SEMI’s program as part of our annual Summer Institute,” said Yvonne B. Freeman, executive director, SECME. “Reaching out to underrepresented populations is an important goal we share with SEMI, the program’s sponsor SIA, and UH.”
For the last three years, SEMI has conducted similar programs for teachers and students in other cities under its Workforce Development Institute initiative. This year’s program is hosted by UH’s Cullen College of Engineering.
During the course, middle and high school science and math teachers learn the fundamentals of semiconductor manufacturing, the economics of the industry, and career opportunities. Led by volunteer instructors from Texas Instruments, TEL, 3PUSA, and UH’s Texas Center for Superconductivity and Advanced Materials, the classes fulfill several participating school districts’ requirements for continuing professional education. The program features hands-on activities such as “The Human Calculator,” an exercise in which teachers perform the basic tasks of a calculator and, in the process, experience the essential operations of a semiconductor chip.
“SIA and its member companies are committed to industry-education partnerships that improve student interest and performance in math and science,” said SIA President George Scalise. “We are proud to be the principal sponsor of this year’s ‘High Tech U, Teacher Edition’ in Houston.”
“We’re giving teachers the tools they need to excite students about high tech careers,” explained Lisa Anderson, vice president of workforce development for SEMI. “There has been a significant decline in the number of students pursuing math and science-related courses in the U.S. This is a problem that affects the local Houston-area economy and every other high-tech community. There is ‘a troubling decline’ in the number of Americans training to be scientists, according to a recent report of the National Science Board, and such trends ‘threaten the economic welfare and security of our country.’ The United States ranks 17th among nations surveyed in the share of its 18-to-24-year-olds who earn natural science and engineering degrees, behind Taiwan and South Korea, Ireland and Italy. In 1975, it ranked third. Without interested, qualified students, global leadership in technology innovation and semiconductor manufacturing will be lost.”
All activities are at the UH Texas Center for Superconductivity and Advanced Materials.