Silicon Chip Industry Awareness Training

Course Description

This learning offering will cover all you need to know about the silicon chip industry. Course topics included are silicon chips, electronic basics, the manufacturing process of semiconductors economics, current marketing overview, and the history and evolution of the industry. Together these courses walk you through a holistic learning journey whether you’re coming from a technical or non-technical background.

Introduction to the Silicon Chip

• Explain the fundamentals of silicon chips.
• Identify key industry terms and their definitions.
• Summarize the history of electronics.
• Identify the different Integrated Circuits (IC) types.

Electronic Basics

• Recognize foundational concepts of electronics.
• Describe how language is used in the field.
• Describe the components of a semiconductor.
• Identify the operation of transistors.
• Explain how logic can be digitalized.
• Identify steps of the IC design process. 

Semiconductor Manufacture

• Identify the steps of wafer production.
• Explain the components of a fab structure.
• Recognize what happens in the back-end operations.
• Summarize the steps of integrated circuit manufacturing.

Economics of IC Manufacture

• Recognize wafer fab cost trends over time.
• Explain the various process yield costs.
• Summarize past and current supply chain issues.

IC Market Overview

• Review market size and segmentation.
• Identify unique characteristics of the IC Market.

IT Revolution

• Acknowledge what influences the evolution of the industry.
• Review industry trends that will impact the future.
• Explain the cycles of the semiconductor field.

Course Duration

5 hours

Target Audience

Managers, supervisors, engineers, technicians technical and non-technical personnel, or any individual working directly with this equipment or product.

Biography

Malcolm Penn is the founder and current CEO of Future Horizons, a leading global semiconductor industry analyst organization. He has over 55 years of experience in the semiconductor and electronics industry, from advanced research to manufacturing and applications.

His list of accomplishments are as follows: 

2018 - Present, Non-Executive Director (NWF, semiconductor foundry)

2016 - Present, Advisory Board Member (ATREG, Fab and cleanroom disposition advisors)

1989 - Present, Founded Future Horizons (Industry Analyst)

1982 – 89, Founded Dataquest Europe (Market Research)

1980 – 82, System House (ITTE Component Engineering)

1969 – 80, ITT Semiconductors (Logic, DRAM, ASSP)

1966 – 69, Electronic System Design (Test & Measurement)

1962 – 66, Electronics Degree (Industry/London University)
Professional Musician (Various London R&B Bands)

Requisite Knowledge 

None