램리서치가 경기도 용인시 반도체 메가클러스터에 글로벌 반도체 장비 기업으로 첫 번째로 입주하며, 국내 반도체 인재양성을 위해 70억원을 직접 투자한다. ‘세미버스TM 솔루션’으로 불리는 반도체 교육 인프라를 보급하기 위해 한국반도체산업협회, 성균관대학교와 함께 손을 맞잡았다.
▲(From left) Kim Jeong-hoe, Vice Chairman of the Semiconductor Industry Association, Tim Archer, CEO of Lam Research, and Choi Jae-boong, Vice President of Sungkyunkwan University, are taking a commemorative photo after signing the MOU.
MOU with Sungkyunkwan University and the Semiconductor Industry Association, 1-year pilot project, training of master's and doctoral level talents
The latest fab implementation digital twin, direct experience of the entire chip design and manufacturing process
Lam Research will be the first global semiconductor equipment company to move into the Yongin Semiconductor Mega Cluster in Gyeonggi Province, and will directly invest 7 billion won to foster domestic semiconductor talent. We joined hands with the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association and Sungkyunkwan University to spread the semiconductor education infrastructure called 'Semiverse Solution'.
Lam Research held an opening ceremony for its Yongin campus on the 8th.
The event was attended by approximately 130 government, industry, and academic officials, including Yongin Special City Mayor Lee Sang-il, U.S. Embassy in Korea Minister Andrew Gateley, American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) Chairman James Kim, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) President Cho Hyun-dae, Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) Vice Chairman Kim Jeong-hoe, and Sungkyunkwan University Vice President Choi Jae-boong, as well as Lam Research CEO Tim Archer and Lam Research Korea CEO Park Joon-hong, to celebrate the opening of the Yongin Campus.
At the event held that day, a ‘MOU signing ceremony for the industry-academia-government cooperation program for nurturing K-semiconductor talent’ was held.
This program involves Lam Research, Sungkyunkwan University, and the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, and they agreed to conduct a one-year pilot project starting next year and then expand the program to foster advanced semiconductor personnel at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels. Lam Research plans to provide licenses and training experts worth a total of 7 billion won to Sungkyunkwan University's College of Engineering for a pilot project in 2025.
Lam Research's 'Semiverse Solutions' introduced in this collaboration program is a digital twin that implements the latest fab facilities in a virtual fab, and is designed to overcome the technical, physical, and spatial limitations of the current semiconductor education infrastructure.
Students participating in the collaborative program will be able to access this virtual fab through software called SEMulator3D (Simulator 3D - 3D semiconductor process simulator) and experience the entire chip design and manufacturing process first-hand.
This is the first time that the Semiverse solution has been introduced in cooperation with schools and related organizations in Korea to foster semiconductor talent. Lam Research has already signed industry-academia-government cooperation agreements utilizing the Semiverse solution in the US and India to accelerate the training of future semiconductor talent.
According to data released by the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association in 2021, the number of domestic semiconductor workers needed by 2031 will increase to 300,000, but the number of workers entering the industry is severely insufficient.
If this level continues, a shortage of approximately 54,000 people (35,000 for bachelor's degrees and 19,000 for master's and doctoral degrees) is expected by 2031.
Park Jun-hong, CEO of Lam Research Korea, said, “Cultivating semiconductor talent is a common challenge for the industry, and it is difficult for a single company, school, or government to achieve this. I am very pleased that we have established a cutting-edge foundation for nurturing K-semiconductor talent by overcoming infrastructure limitations using Lam Research’s semiverse solution. “We will make greater efforts to develop the domestic semiconductor ecosystem and foster talent through various investments, such as the opening of this Yongin campus and the MOU for industry-academia cooperation programs,” he said.
Choi Jae-boong, Vice President of Sungkyunkwan University, said, “We expect that this MOU will greatly improve the educational environment for Sungkyunkwan University semiconductor major students. In particular, Lam Research’s Semiverse solution will provide hands-on experience in semiconductor design that has been lacking so far, which will be of great help in fostering competitive talent in the field.”
Kim Jeong-hoe, Vice Chairman of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, said, “Lam Research’s Korea Technology Center has played a major role in solving various challenges in the semiconductor manufacturing process over the past three years. We expect that the establishment of the Yongin campus and the launch of the Semiverse Solution Talent Development Program will provide another opportunity for more advanced cooperation with various members of the Korean semiconductor ecosystem.”
Lam Research is the first global company to enter the semiconductor mega cluster that the government is creating in the southern Gyeonggi region, including Yongin, and has gradually expanded its scope of operations since establishing a branch in Korea in 1989. It currently operates facilities for everything from R&D to logistics, customer service, and manufacturing in Yongin, Osan, Hwaseong, and Pyeongtaek, Korea.
Based on its newly opened Yongin campus, Lam Research aims to accelerate customer support and development of next-generation semiconductor solutions through close collaboration with various partners within the semiconductor mega cluster. We have been implementing a differentiated R&D strategy that dramatically shortens the development and testing process, increases productivity, and reduces costs by establishing research facilities in close proximity to our customers and connecting them with our headquarters lab through a virtual R&D network.
“The opening of Lam’s Yongin campus is significant because it builds on the accomplishments we have made together in the Korean semiconductor ecosystem over the past 35 years, further strengthening our R&D, talent training, and customer support capabilities,” said Tim Archer, Lam Research’s global president and CEO. “As the market’s need for semiconductor performance evolves, the Yongin campus will play a key role in enabling us to be closer to our customers and drive the next generation of semiconductor innovation.”
▲Distinguished guests attending the opening ceremony of Lam Research’s Yongin campus are taking a commemorative photo.