Symposium Explores Explosive Semiconductor Growth and How Orange County Can Attract High-Tech Investment
From left, Xiaoxu Sean Lin, Ph.D., of the Northern Learning Center; LaMar Hill, of NYDesign; Conor Eckert of the Orange County Partnership; and Dr. Wei-Tsu Tseng of IBM
By John Jordan
A panel of economic and semiconductor industry experts detailed the massive growth taking place in that high-tech business in New York State and elsewhere and what it will take for locations, such as Orange County, to attract investment and high-paying jobs in this key sector.
Fei Tian College Middletown staged the well-attended Semiconductor Workforce Development Symposium on April 4th at its Middletown campus. The college’s Northern Learning Center hosted the panel that included: LaMar Hill, Founder and Co-Executive Director of NYDesign; Conor Eckert, Incoming President and CEO of the Orange County Partnership of Goshen and Dr. Wei-Tsu Tseng, Senior Engineer of the IBM Semiconductor Technology Research Center. The panel discussion was moderated by Xiaoxu Sean Lin, Ph.D., Program Director of the Technology Talent Development Program of the Northern Learning Center.
Eckert, who just returned to Orange County from Taipei, Taiwan as part of an Orange County business group that participated in the recent Smart Cities Summit, noted that Orange County is seeking to attract investment from national and international companies engaged in the advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, semiconductor and semiconductor supply chain.
All of the panelists agreed that educating students and workers in the design and manufacturing of semiconductors and their components will be critical for New York and Orange County to compete in this highly specialized sector.
Hill, who has significant experience in the semiconductor sector and was heavily involved with the creation and growth of the Albany NanoTech development, said the semiconductor industry’s growth is driven in large part by talent and where that educated workforce is located. He noted that the electronics industry is valued at approximately $6 trillion. Hill from 1997 to 2005 served as the Director of Marketing and Business Development at Albany NanoTech (now NY CREATES) and the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University at Albany.
“This industry moves at an incredible pace,” he said and noted that New York State has become a primary place for semiconductor research and development not only in North America, but the world.
The lack of engineering talent has led to many American semiconductor companies farming out chip design overseas. He estimated the United States is about 30,000 electrical engineering workers short of meeting demand each year. Hill later said there is also a shortage of construction workers trained in building clean room fab facilities in New York State.
NYDesign’s vision is for New York State to be a hub for talent and innovation in IC (integrated circuit) design, driving growth and opportunity for workers and companies in the state and beyond. Another sector of the semiconductor industry is the packaging and testing of integrated circuits, which is primarily performed overseas.
On a positive note, New York State is now among the top three largest states for the manufacturing of integrated circuits in the United States. In the 1980s, the region from Quebec to Rochester, NY to Fishkill, NY was the largest IC packaging and testing region in the world. “I would like to think that we can rekindle that and reclaim that and IBM is one of the entities leading that,” he said.
The Orange County Partnership’s Eckert noted that Orange County government, the Chamber of Commerce and the economic development team that also includes the Orange County Economic Development Department and Industrial Development Agency, and municipal leaders are focused on attracting advanced manufacturing to Orange County.
“We are all rowing in the same direction, which is amazing to see,” Eckert said. “We are galvanizing around this concept of the Hudson Valley being a bridge between the Capital Region and New York City.” He said that the county will be marketing itself as a location to firms involved in the entire advanced manufacturing supply chain.
He added that the Orange County Partnership is in discussions with a “handful” of high-tech equipment manufacturers, including one equipment manufacturer that does business extensively with Micron and TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) at multiple locations. Micron is beginning the development of a $100-billion investment in Clay, NY.
Eckert noted that the Hudson Valley’s location, industrial base and educated workforce can be critical for major semiconductor firms and their suppliers. He added that Orange County is also looking for large sites of 500 to 800 acres to house a major chip-fab project, but noted that would be a more long-term (five to 10-year) project.
He added that site selectors are expecting to see hundreds of opportunities from major semiconductor projects such as Intel in Ohio and Micron in New York State.
