Skilled workers for the semiconductor and microelectronics industry from Saxony-Anhalt

Prof. Dina Kuhlee, Prof. Andreas Zopff, and Jörg Vierhaus (from left to right) in the cleanroom of the University of Magdeburg, which plays a central role in the training and further education of specialists. (Jana Dünnhaupt, University of Magdeburg)

The Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg is now participating as the only institution in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in an initiative launched by the federal government in November to specifically train skilled workers for microelectronics in the coming years. The goal of the consortium project skills4chips, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with over 12 million euros, is the development of a national educational academy for microelectronics and microsystem technology. There, innovative and modern personnel development modules in micro- and nanotechnologies will be used to respond to the challenges of the growing demand for skilled workers and the associated changes in the labor market. Under the name Microtec Academy, qualification offers are provided along the entire education chain, from career orientation through dual training, lateral entry, as well as further education and training, and made accessible to a wide range of potential users.

"With the resumption of vocational training for microtechnologists, the new degree programs Advanced Semiconductor Nanotechnologies, Computational Methods in Engineering, and AI Engineering, which started in the winter semester 2023/24, as well as a planned doctoral program, already offer tailored educational opportunities at the university campus for all levels of training for skilled workers," said university director Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jens Strackeljan. This will also attract international students and doctoral candidates in the long term and create a resilient network of partners from science, industry, and politics.

The Microtechnology Staff Unit at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, located at the rectorate, is working together with the Chair of Vocational Pedagogy, with a focus on the development of technical trades, and the Chair of Business Pedagogy at the university to develop a targeted and permeable training, further education, and continuing education concept.

"With this qualification offer, we will sustainably strengthen the university's role as Saxony-Anhalt's skilled workforce factory and microelectronics hub," said project manager Dipl.-Ing. Jörg Vierhaus. The Microtec Academy connects all the necessary players from education, research, and industry nationwide, said the engineer: "This allows us as a university to bundle tailored offers across regions and for all target groups along the education chain. Furthermore, we are opening up new qualification pathways through coordinated collaboration within the project consortium. To the benefit of people and the industry, we are thus gaining the urgently needed skilled workers."

It is particularly noteworthy, as economic educator Prof. Dr. Dina Kuhlee points out, "that the qualification offers are curriculum-based, interconnected, and also consider and incorporate preliminary aspects of career orientation across different levels of vocational and academic education."

The focus of the offers also lies on reaching new target groups and qualifying training managers and teachers, added co-project leader Junior Prof. Dr. Andreas Zopff from the Chair of Vocational Pedagogy at the University of Magdeburg. "Future innovative location- and time-independent qualification measures will be enabled by new digital solutions such as a virtual technology laboratory on campus, as well as help to alleviate capacity bottlenecks."

The project consortium of the skills4chips initiative includes, besides Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, six other partners with diverse expertise: the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut Berlin as consortium coordinator, the regional vocational training center of the Steinburg district, the Institute for Microtechnology at the Technical University of Braunschweig, the Department of Computer Science and Microsystems Technology at Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences, microTEC Südwest e. V., and the IVAM Microtechnology Network. Additional cooperation and network partners from across Germany, such as the Microelectronics Research Factory Germany (FMD) and Silicon Saxony, support the flagship project to advance the securing of skilled workers in microelectronics and microsystem technology.