INDUSTRY NEWS

Former college dean opens training firm

A company providing educational and training services to the microelectronics and semiconductor industries has been established by a former dean of San Jose State University's College of Engineering. Fresh from setting up similar training programs at SEMI, Jay Pinson opened the doors to his new San Jose­based company, the Pinson Institute, last November. The first courses for training new fab technicians, operators, and field engineers begin February 26.

The institute is sponsoring two separate semiconductor technology programs. A short-course program covers such areas as contamination, yield management, process technology, plasma etch, CVD, lithography, yield management, and fab trends. The classes are offered over one to five days. A semiconductor technology education program (TEP) covers six separate modules: process technology, device physics, electronic materials, metrology, controls and automation, and embedded systems. Defined as a composite of materials in a focused area of technology, each module consists of 20 hours of instruction.

The technician program starting this month is offered on a trimester basis; fees are $3000 per trimester. Pinson says that his goal is an enrollment of 100 students in the technician/operator classes by fall 1997 and 200 students by fall 1998. The course, which is taught by instructors from both academia and industry, will offer the students a certified associate degree.

All six modules in the TEP are offered over a six-week period. The program has been approved for graduate credit toward a masters degree in engineering by San Jose State University. The fee is $2900. The courses may be taken either at the institute in San Jose or at company sites on a contract basis.

Pinson was SEMI's director of technology from July 1995 to September 1996. Charged with the task of helping SEMI member companies remedy a worker shortage, the educator developed a program to train engineers from aerospace and other industries in the skills required to work in semiconductor and microelectronics manufacturing. Pinson's desire to expand these transitional education endeavors into telecommunications and software prompted him to depart SEMI last fall. Although not officially a consultant to the trade association, Pinson says he still cooperates with the organization.

"I wanted to broaden my scope into some of the areas outside the semiconductor industry," explains Pinson, who holds a doctorate in engineering from Oklahoma State University. His tenure as SEMI's technology director served almost as a continuing education program for himself, he says. "I told somebody from SEMI that I should have paid tuition to work there. I learned so much about the educational and training needs of the semiconductor industry worldwide."

Pinson's contact with the daily concerns of SEMI members has helped him tailor his course offerings accordingly. A key TEP course is metrology, which he calls "probably one of the most critical [matters] facing the semiconductor industry, especially when you get to submicron manufacturing. It's hard to improve when you can't measure and analyze your process."

Pinson says that the industry's support for the institute has been overwhelming. "We've got proposals out now to several semiconductor manufacturers. The idea has been very well received."

(Pinson may be contacted at 408/559-3100.)

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