There is a time when I can’t live without a semiconductor. Semiconductors are now the water and power of society and industry. You can move and connect everything, but it can also stop and destroy everything. The semiconductor industry, which transformed our economy, which is an intensive labor-intensive and high value-added industry in the 1960s and 1970s, has now faced a new era of transition in the global technology hegemony and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Along with the launch of the new government, the strengthening of the domestic semiconductor industry and the expansion of the ecosystem have emerged as a more urgent task than ever. G-DINET Korea celebrates its 22nd anniversary for the 22nd anniversary of the series ‘Semiconductor is the Future’ series in three parts. Beyond the stomach of our export industry, we will carefully point out the current status of the Korean semiconductor industry, which is regarded as economic and security assets, and seek to seek what to prepare and how to design the future. [Editor]
Part 1: The world is a semiconductor war
Part 2: Korean semiconductor myth continues
Part 3: Listen to Experts
In order to grow the qualitative growth of the semiconductor industry, which is the basis of our export economy, the government has established an advanced semiconductor department at major universities from next year to foster talent. In order to develop long-term competitiveness in the global semiconductor industry, the goal is to promote not only investment in semiconductor facilities but also professional manpower.
However, as the semiconductor industry and academia have been steadily raising their voices in fostering talent, they are welcoming the government’s policy, but there are also concerns that there is a lack of professional professors to raise semiconductor personnel. It is pointed out that the number of semiconductor students will increase from March next year, and there is no professional professor to teach semiconductors.
The domestic semiconductor industry is currently suffering from serious semiconductor workforce. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, there are about 14,600 people in the domestic semiconductor field by 2030. The annual shortage of the semiconductor industry reached 1,621 by 2020. The Korea Semiconductor Industry Association predicted that about 30,000 people were shortened in the semiconductor field over the next 10 years.
As of this year, there are about 150 students (Sungkyunkwan University, Yonsei University, Korea University) as of this year, and next year, 360 people (Sungkyunkwan University, Yonsei University, Korea University, KAIST, Pohang University, Sogang University, and Hanyang University) are expected. This is the number of students who are not enough for the manpower necessary in the industrial field.
■ The government and the 4th largest government, the semiconductor contract department introduced from next year… 3140 people for 5 years
In the end, the government took special measures to foster core semiconductor personnel.
The Ministry of Science and Technology will cultivate 3,140 practical talents for the next five years through the system semiconductor design practical workforce (bachelor’s level) training project and artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor talent training (Main and Ph.D.) on the 30th of last month. The goal. It is significant in that the industry and the four major science and technology institutes will cooperate to promote semiconductor talent.
The four major science and units, including Daejeon Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), GIST, Daegu Gyeongbuk, DGIST, Ulsan and UNIST, will introduce the semiconductor contract department to cultivate more than 200 academic talents every year from next year. did. The Department of Contract is a degree program in which an industry contracts and operates a contract with a university to foster customized personnel.
At the same time, the company also set the goal to expand the number of doctoral emissions of 220 doctors per year to more than 500 people within five years. In order to foster the master’s class talent, KAIST and UNIST plans to strengthen the Graduate School of Industry-Academic Cooperation, and GIST and DGIST will review the installation of semiconductor graduate schools or semiconductor majors.
In addition, the Ministry of Science and Technology selected three places, Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University, and Soongsil University to foster AI semiconductor personnel. The three selected universities are supported by about 1.4 billion won per university for three years. Each university will open an AI semiconductor union major with a large number of departments, including the Department of Electronics and Information Engineering, Computer Engineering, Semiconductor System Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.
President Yoon Seok-yeol also empowered the fostering semiconductor talent. President Yoon said at the State Council held at the Yongsan President’s Office on July 7, Semiconductor is the basis of our economy, which is a national security asset and the core of our industry, and accounts for 20%of the total exports. If there is a regulation, we will boldly solve it and if the government will apply for finances, we will apply boldly.
■ There are no professors to teach to increase students. Expert faculty secured hourly wage
However, industry experts argue that the establishment of semiconductor departments cannot solve manpower shortages. It is pointed out that even if the semiconductor contract department is introduced in succession, it is less effective because there is a lack of professional professors to raise these students. Universities faced the issue of securing faculty members until only half a year left in March when the semiconductor department was established.
Ahn Ki-hyun, executive director of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said, It is a concern that the industry is greatly welcomed, but the industry is not ready to secure faculty members. If you manufacture in a factory without proper equipment, you will have to increase the quality of classes and research if you increase the student without the recruitment.
In the hiring of faculty members, it was advised to secure specialized experts in each field.
Kim Yong-seok, a professor of engineering at Sungkyunkwan University and vice chairman of the semiconductor engineering society, said, It is important to hire a university professor.
Professor Kim also said, In the field of system semiconductor, the design personnel should be fostered, the process and device design personnel should be fostered in the memory sector, and the semiconductor production line should increase the operating personnel dealing with manufacturing equipment. We will need more semiconductor manufacturing equipment personnel because it is expanding not only in Korea but also in the United States.
However, it is a common opinion of the academic community that it must be operated as a full-time professor rather than an adjunct professor in order to raise talents for semiconductor. Most of the semiconductor contracts, except for the Department of Semiconductor System Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, are composed of adjunct professors of the University of Engineering, not full-time. In the meantime, universities were burdened with hiring full-time professors to contract departments with a deadline for operating deadline.
Professor Kim Yong-seok said, To foster specialized personnel, you must choose a full-time professor. In order for universities to secure faculty, companies such as Samsung Electronics or SK Hynix must hire experts with practical experience. He also advised, There is a justification that the company needs to foster the necessary personnel, so it should be held in the direction of the student’s practical training.
Ahn said, The recruitment of professors can be done with money and will. It is grateful to our semiconductor industry that the university invests in hiring excellent professors, he added. I hope it will be a positive competition between universities.