WVXU: Intel partners with Ohio colleges to develop workforce

WVXU highlighted the University of Cincinnati's role in preparing skilled workers for new jobs Intel Corp. is bringing to Ohio when it opens the first of its new microchip factories in 2025.

UC is part of a consortium of 15 Ohio colleges and universities called the Ohio Southwest Alliance on Semiconductors and Integrated Scalable Manufacturing getting workers ready for new high-tech careers in the Buckeye State. It's just one of several similar networks across the Midwest that Intel is sponsoring to prepare a pool of skilled workers for new high-tech jobs.

Intel is investing $100 million in local and national higher-ed programs over the next decade to prepare new workers for jobs in semiconductor manufacturing.

UC College of Engineering and Applied Science Associate Dean of Research Gautam Pillay said the university created a rapid certification course composed of five online classes of four hours each that examine topics such as integrated circuit manufacturing and manufacturing safety.

UC doctoral student Nathan Hernandez completed the certification, which inspired him to take some related computer engineering courses.

“I felt it was a really good groundwork to get your foot in,” he said. 

Listen to the WVXU story.

Featured image at top: A University of Cincinnati student works in the Mantei Center Clean Room. Photo/Corrie Mayer/CEAS Marketing