New partnership brings semiconductor manufacturing to Central Valley

A historic partnership between SEMI, a global semiconductor manufacturing association, and Fresno State, the City of Fresno, City of Clovis, Fresno County Economic Development Corporation and Silicon Farms aims to bring the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain industry to the Central Valley. 

Representatives from each entity signed a memorandum of understanding in San Francisco during the Semicon West conference held July 9 through 11. The formal partnership memorandum will leverage the strengths of partners to bring new business and career opportunities to the Fresno region.

Semiconductors are essential components of electronic devices, and are used in many everyday applications including smartphones and cars. SEMI President and CEO Ajit Manocha said the semiconductor industry is expected to nearly double in annual revenue to $1 trillion around 2030.

“Fresno State is excited to be part of an unprecedented opportunity to diversify the economy of our region. As a core partner in this public-private effort, we will leverage our 100-plus years of legacy in engineering education, R&D, high-skilled workforce development and strong partnerships to support the development and growth of the semiconductor industry in the greater Fresno region,” said Fresno State President Saúl Jimenez-Sandoval. “We will make strategic investments in the Lyles College of Engineering, support innovation and create opportunities for our students leading to the much-needed, high-skilled workforce for the industry. We are grateful to SEMI CEO Ajit Manocha for his enthusiastic interest and commitment to support our region’s efforts.”

The Lyles College of Engineering’s departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering currently offer 32 undergraduate and graduate courses in semiconductors, advanced materials, circuits and systems, digital and analog electronics, VLSI design, computer architecture, embedded systems, computer arithmetic, cryptography, cybersecurity and digital signal processing. 

Lyles College students are prepared for careers in the semiconductor industry through hands-on experiences and use various hardware and software tools, including advanced materials fabrication and characterization instrumentation in their learning, research and projects.

“Lyles College of Engineering faculty conduct research in areas such as kilocore architectures, transceivers for wireless network on chip, porous silicon films, circuits and systems for biomedical applications, cryptographic hardware and electro-active and photoactive nanomaterials and composites,” said Dr. Ram Nunna, dean of the Lyles College. “Graduates of our program have had great success working in the semiconductor industry for more than four decades, and are leaders in their professions with significant accomplishments.”  

Fresno State will coordinate with community college partners and industry to help frame curriculum requirements in order to graduate students with qualifications and skills to enter the semiconductor industry workforce. 

The university will also focus on developing a recruitment plan with the community colleges to increase the pipeline of students majoring in engineering who wish to enroll at Fresno State.

Together, partners will participate in SEMI conferences, establish relationships with related companies and encourage broad industry, government and financial community engagement.

The partnership’s long-term goals include the establishment of a new high-tech business park in the Central Valley.

“This seems like a perfect time for our region to work on developing and growing a new industry sector in the region,” Nunna said. “Success will lead to opportunities for our students, graduates, faculty and the community at large, and will help strengthen the semiconductor supply chain in the U.S.”