Lam Research expands virtual semiconductor training to 20 Indian varsities

The virtual semiconductor training programme aims to train more than 60000 students over next decade

Lam Research announced expanding its Semiverse Solutions virtual infrastructure to 20 Indian universities, aiming to upskill thousands of semiconductor engineers.

The initiative targets training 60,000 engineers over the next decade, and while this year’s programme will impact 2,600 students, Lam plans to scale it up further.

“We received applications from 75 universities, but this is just the start. As we expand the infrastructure, we aim to increase participation and continue contributing to India’s semiconductor ecosystem,” said Rangesh Raghavan, corporate vice-president and general manager, Lam Research India, while talking to Business Standard at the Semicon India event on Wednesday.

On the selection criteria for colleges under the programme, he said that the universities were a mix of both private and public institutions and were selected based on factors such as NIRF rankings, the presence of existing semiconductor courses, and student reach. A regional distribution is also considered to ensure nationwide coverage.

"We want to target programmes with maximum reach to ensure broad participation. By selecting universities strategically, we're ensuring that students across India have access to advanced semiconductor training," Raghavan explained.

Explaining the need for such a training solution, Raghavan said that the traditional way of training engineers through physical labs wasn’t scalable in India. “There are only a handful of labs capable of training semiconductor engineers, which cannot meet the industry’s demands. The virtual platform provides a solution by enabling students to access advanced semiconductor processes through simulations, significantly reducing costs associated with physical labs,” he said.

Following a successful pilot at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Lam Research has signed a tripartite agreement with the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and IISc to scale the programme.

The company is contributing $29 million in software licences for the virtual training suite, while ISM covers infrastructure costs at some of the universities, and IISc will implement a "train-the-trainer" model to educate faculty across the 20 universities.

Raghavan, talking about the broader impact of virtualisation, said that their complex equipment, used by global semiconductor giants like Intel and Samsung, is crucial to the fabrication process but couldn’t be accessed by many. “We’re virtualising these processes, making them accessible to students in a fast, scalable way. This will democratise semiconductor education across India,” he added.

David Fried, corporate vice-president, Semiverse Solutions, Lam Research, further explained the technology and said, “We’ve taken the same platforms used internally for some of the toughest challenges in the semiconductor industry and deployed them in education. This allows students to experiment virtually with advanced semiconductor tools, giving them hands-on experience without needing physical labs.”