9APRIL 2022Gerbers, traces and vias for a pocket tape and a surveyor's wheel. Two weeks...down the drain, at least for me.So, what is the problem? This is the million-dollar question, and it is an important one ­ quite possibly the future of packaging is at stake! Without advanced package engineers who are experts at connecting the silicon to the outside world, a piece of silicon is just a beautiful piece of art that mesmerizes the onlooker with its radiating iridescence. So, it's time to go in search for the catalyst of the problem. Can we find all the answers within the scope of this article? Probably not. But let's see if we can isolate at least one of the root causes.For Daniella Olson, now a Senior Design Engineer at Amkor Technology, her path from undergraduate student to professional engineer highlighted the challenges that many novice engineers face."Having spent the better part of the past decade working in advanced packaging design, I am proud of my technical skill set and industry knowledge. However, that was not the case when I was the prospective candidate sitting across the interview table from the hiring managers, hoping that they would deem me to be the `right' candidate," she says,"I was in my final year of university studies, just months away from earning my Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and excited at the prospect of beginning my career."In preparing for her first interview, she realized that while she had taken numerous classes on circuits, signals and design, the importance of semiconductor packaging design had been omitted from her studies."I could speak confidently to logic gates, signals and CMOS, but not so much to GD&T(geometric dimensioning and tolerancing) or substrate package assembly,"she said. She vividly recalled attempting to discretely jot down unfamiliar acronyms and topics during her first interview, vowing to rush home to research them in the hopes that she would have a second interview. Fortunately for our team, we, the hiring managers, saw potential in her and brought her into the world of packaging design.Olson continued, "As an EE undergrad, I felt privileged to be under the tutelage of professors who were experts in their fields. Yet as a first-year practicing Packaging Design Engineer, I found myself asking a lot of questions ­ the most frequent one being `why didn't I learn about this in school?'" Is that because there were deficiencies in the electrical engineering curriculum? Or, perhaps, because there is no one undergraduate degree that can adequately prepare a new engineer for the semiconductor package industry? For example, electrical engineering students are taught the behaviors of electrical signals while mechanical engineering students spend hours learning the ins and outs of CAD [computer-aided design] software. Both topics are important to package design but both topics are not taught to the same engineering discipline.Ultimately, it is up to the hiring manager to determine which skills their ideal candidate must have versus what can be taught through on-the-job training.Even the most comprehensive university education cannot keep up with the fast-paced advancement of technology in the semiconductor industry. However, the opportunities for partnerships between colleges and universities with leaders in the semiconductor packaging design industry cannot be understated. It is up to those parties with a vested interest to determine whether those partnerships are through inviting guest speakers into the classrooms, internships, developing industry-focused curriculum or, ideally, all of the above.Of course, these partnerships would benefit students looking to gain exposure to the "real world." But they would benefit semiconductor companies as well by offering insight into the emerging applicant pool. It also benefits the university whose students have a job waiting for them when they graduate, perhaps the highest compliment that a university can receive. As one's career progresses within their chosen industry, certain skills and concepts become second nature, and it can be easy to forget what it was like when just starting out in a career. Connecting industry experts and leaders with inexperienced, but driven students, can provide a cycle of constant improvement in which everyone benefits. Daniella Olson
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