Samsung Austin Semiconductor continues partnership with UIUC with second $1M donation

In September of 2023, when Samsung Austin Semiconductor announced a multi-year partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the focus was to meet the growing demands of the semiconductor industry.

Less than a year after that announcement, UIUC established Samsung Technology Track Scholarships and implemented a new undergraduate minor in Semiconductor Engineering.

On Aug. 21, 2024, when UIUC staff and students (recipients of the Samsung Technology Track Scholarships) visited Samsung Austin Semiconductor’s Austin campus, we announced the school was receiving an additional $1 million investment as part of the partnership.

“We believe that continued partnerships and initiatives with four-year institutions such as UIUC will be vital to increase participation in engineering programs and strengthen the semiconductor ecosystem,” Samsung Austin Semiconductor corporate vice president Jon Taylor said.

The investments have allowed The Grainger College of Engineering to provide scholarships and expand and improve the curriculum that advances the semiconductor ecosystem.

“We’re really proud of the minor in semiconductor engineering which is a collaboration among six departments,” Bruce Hajek, head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Illinois, said.

During the UIUC visit, students also heard from a fellow alumnus who works at Samsung Austin Semiconductor. 

Bernard Ko graduated with an electrical engineering degree from UIUC in 2008 and currently leads the Etch team of nearly 500 people.

“I was born in Urbana when my dad was getting his PhD [from UIUC],” Ko told the students. “UIUC gave me a path forward to the semiconductor industry.”

Ko recalled the school lab where students can make 4-inch wafers, “That was probably the most interesting part of my curriculum at UIUC and that led to me joining Samsung.”

That same lab where Ko’s interest in semiconductors started is still in use today and Hajek said Samsung Austin Semiconductor’s recent investments have allowed them to make improvements to that course.

By partnering with leading engineering schools, the industry can help generate interest among students to consider a career in semiconductor manufacturing.

“Last spring, when I was talking with high school students who were starting their freshman year, they heard about the Samsung program so they wanted to come to Illinois,” Hajek added. “I think having a long-term relationship where we build this up, build up the excitement and get more alumni here [at Samsung] which will communicate with the students back in Urbana, that will be a good pipeline.”

According to Grainger Engineering, along with the new semiconductor engineering minor that started this fall, students can enroll in over 75 related courses in microelectronics. Grainger Engineering has dedicated researchers, centers and partnerships focused on accelerated semiconductor performance and advanced technologies.