Lam Research to donate $29 million in software licences over next two years

Lam Research Corporation is donating nearly $29 million (Rs 241 crore) in software licences over the next two years to 2,800 students as, the company said, it aims to bolster India’s semiconductor manufacturing workforce.

Lam also announced the signing of a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for broad deployment of Semiverse Solutions. ISM will support the establishment of infrastructure and operational costs, Lam said in a statement on Monday.

IISc will 'train-the-trainers' at the selected universities, while Lam will deploy a team of employees to support the expansion across the country.


Semiverse Solutions includes capabilities in virtual technology, processing and simulations, to deliver a virtual learning and collaboration platform that significantly reduces cost and carbon footprint.

“With two of the pilot’s participants already placed in a global tier-1 semiconductor manufacturing company, we are confident about the broad rollout of the course and its impact,” said Srinivasan Raghavan, professor and chair of the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering at IISc.

Combined with programme management and course curriculum customisation, this programme is targeted at educating up to 60,000 Indian engineers in semiconductor fabrication technologies over a ten-year period.

"As India takes bold steps to establish a semiconductor industry, a virtual-physical fabrication world made possible with Semiverse Solutions will be critical to rapidly scale a workforce to meet industry demand," said Rangesh Raghavan, corporate vice president at Lam Research India.

"As the semiconductor ecosystem in India grows, effective skill development partnerships will be key to ensuring we can sustain the momentum," ISM chief executive Akash Tripathi said.

Closing talent gap
The semiconductor industry faces a major talent shortage to meet anticipated future demand. Educating future semiconductor engineers is even more daunting as it is cost-prohibitive for academic institutions to provide physical access to the most advanced nanotechnologies.

Simulating real-world labs virtually provides greater democratisation of engineering skills training, heightened safety, improved sustainability, and greater access to new talent pools in an increasingly computer-aided design world.