Throughout the United States, students with Penn State training are suiting up in face masks, shoe covers, and sterile full-body kits before starting their hands-on professional development. They enter a room kept so clean that even dust particles are unacceptable. They use the latest scientific knowledge and state-of-the-art equipment to prepare to join one of the most important economic sectors of the twenty-first century.
No, they are not neurosurgery residents; they are students in the Microelectronics and Nanomanufacturing Certificate Program, delivered by Penn State’s Center for Nanotechnology, Education and Utilization (CNEU). The program trains military veterans for careers in a growing microelectronics and semiconductor industry essential for national security. Post-training, these veterans are poised for economic advancement through stable, meaningful work.
“CNEU is primarily a workforce development center,” said Osama Awadelkarim, director of Penn State’s CNEU. “The veteran training program is designed to help meet the needs of America’s growing semiconductor industry.”
Penn State is a global leader in nanomanufacturing workforce development and materials science research, positioning it to support the CHIPS and Science Act’s goals of boosting U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. Interdisciplinary research teams at Penn State are already contributing to national semiconductor needs. Through CNEU, Penn State is looking even further ahead to equip the future semiconductor workforce with necessary skills. CNEU faculty and staff members are building a sustainable training framework at scale—preparing community colleges to independently adapt and manage their local training programs. The program, which has graduated three cohorts so far, has grown from eight institutions in four locations to fourteen institutions in seven locations nationally.
Osama Awadelkarim, professor of engineering science and mechanics, UNESCO chair, and director of Penn State’s Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization
Zachary Gray, assistant research professor and managing director of Penn State’s Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization
Penn State's Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization (CNEU)
is a workforce development center focused on broadening the pool of professionals to support the chips industry in the United States.
“When veterans come into this program, they already have a substantial portion of the skills that industry needs. After we provide them with some foundational knowledge related to semiconductors and connect them with our industry partners, they are the gold standard to industry.”
-Zachary Gray
Training Veterans Under the CHIPS Act
2:58Powerhouse for Today and Tomorrow
Semiconductors–also known as integrated circuits, microchips, or, simply, chips–are the small electrical devices that power almost all of today’s electronics and facilitate technological advances like artificial intelligence. From microwaves and cell phones to vehicles and computers, semiconductors help the average person’s day run smoothly.
Even though global demand for semiconductors has significantly increased, the U.S. share of the international chip supply has dropped from 37 percent in the early 1990s to 12 percent in 2022, making the U.S. reliant on other countries for technology that is crucial to national and economic security. As demand grows, so does the need for advanced research and increased chip production, and, subsequently, a skilled workforce. This is where Penn State’s CNEU comes in.
Since its inception in 1998, CNEU has focused on workforce development. Their Microelectronics and Nanomanufacturing Certificate Program is uniquely tailored for military veterans. Veterans are ideal candidates for nanomanufacturing roles due to their technical skills, quick learning, problem-solving, and commitment to protocols. They also tend to be disciplined and efficient, possessing strong work ethics—all qualities that the American military and chip makers value.
In order to train at scale to meet high demand, CNEU partners with community colleges and research universities in proximity to military bases nationwide to deliver the twelve-week training program. Students attend live-streamed Penn State lectures five days a week at their local community college where they learn the microelectronics and nanomanufacturing fundamentals, equipment and processing skills, materials characterization, and more. They then apply this knowledge with hands-on cleanroom training at an affiliated research university twice a week. This distribution system allows veterans to complete the course near their homes while gaining practical experience.
“When veterans come into this program, through their technical background that they gain in the service, they already have a substantial portion of the skills that industry needs,” said Zachary Gray, managing director of Penn State’s CNEU. “After we provide them with some foundational knowledge related to semiconductors and connect them with our industry partners, they are the gold standard to industry.”
“The veteran training program is designed to help meet the needs of America’s growing semiconductor industry.” – Osama Awadelkarim
Changing the Professional Trajectory for Veterans
Outside of the network of educational institutions, the program partners with over fifteen major chip manufacturing companies, according to Awadelkarim. This partnership is mutually beneficial as the companies help shape the curriculum to ensure students learn industry-relevant skills. They also recruit through the program, with many students securing jobs before earning their certificates. With twelve new semiconductor fabrication facilities currently under construction in the country and a semiconductor industry expected to hit $1 trillion in revenue by 2030, the jobs are stable and in high demand.
Rico Park, a veteran and former hazmat specialist who completed Penn State’s program through Tidewater Community College in conjunction with Norfolk State University in southeast Virginia, works as a process technician for Wolfspeed, an American semiconductor developer and manufacturer.
“I started applying for jobs during week six, and by week eight, I was already hired. I would have never gotten this job without the program.” – Rico Park
The program is accessible and gaining popularity within the veteran community and federal entities, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Commerce, said Awadelkarim. Based on Penn State’s successful workforce development blueprint that’s been replicated at a national level, this veteran-specific training program is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). As a result, the program is free for veterans and their dependents across the country, and like Rico, many are directly benefiting from the training program.
“Not knowing what I wanted to do [for employment] was one of the worst experiences,” said Park, who explored careers in entertainment and information technology after the military. “But this program spoke to me from the start and laid out a bright future.”