Lam Research has launched an industry-academia-public cooperation program to train semiconductor process design specialists in South Korea.

U.S. semiconductor equipment company Lam Research said on May 11 it will work with the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) to run a training course for process integration specialists. The course will be based on the virtual process environment of its simulation platform, Semiverse Solutions.

Semiverse Solutions is software that virtually implements advanced semiconductor equipment and process environments. It enables hands-on experience across the overall process, which has been difficult to provide in university education settings due to physical constraints, and has helped narrow the gap between skills required in industry and training. The program expands cooperation that Lam Research has pursued with Sungkyunkwan University to industry, research institutions and public bodies.

The program targets job seekers and employed workers who want to work in semiconductors and have basic process capabilities. It will run at least three times a year and aims to train about 100 specialists in its first year. Participants will carry out advanced process analysis and optimisation in the virtual process design twin environment of the Semiverse Solutions software, combining theory and practice.

Junhong Park (박준홍), managing director of Lam Research Korea, said demand for advanced process design talent that can be used immediately in the field is expanding at an unprecedented pace as the semiconductor industry grows rapidly. He said the company wants to expand the cooperation model to include industry, research institutions and the public sector to build a practical foundation for talent development. He also stressed that the process design program using an AI-based digital twin will connect experience from global worksites with domestic industry demand and contribute to sustained growth and stronger competitiveness of South Korea's semiconductor industry.

Kihyun Ahn (안기현), executive director at KSIA, said it is a case that implements a talent development model that fits industry demand, with global companies and industry and public bodies participating together. He said efforts to develop talent to secure the semiconductor industry's future competitiveness will be expanded continuously.