Certificate for Veterans

This 12-week program is offered exclusively to U.S. Veterans and their dependents. Recent veterans looking to enter the workforce as well as “veteran” veterans looking for career change and reskilling are equally welcome. Before entering the MNCP, individuals should comprehend or be familiar with the following technical concepts:

• Basic concepts of science and acclimation to the periodic table
• Basic concepts of chemical bonding
• Basic properties of matter including states of matter
• Background on simple electric circuits (e.g. resistors)
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office tools (PowerPoint and Word, or similar office tools)

Lectures: Live-streamed lectures via Zoom from the Penn State University. The lectures will be from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The lectures will be recorded but attending the live view is highly recommended. It covers the following topics:

•  Basics on microelectronics and nanomanufacturing
•  Health and safety in labs
•  Equipment and processing skills
•  Various semiconductor processing methods
•  Material characterization
•  Device fabrication and patterning
•  Microelectronic and Nanodevices and chip manufacturing
•  Professional skills

In-Person Laboratory: Participants will be trained in a cleanroom at Georgia Tech’s Institute for Matter and Systems approximately twice per week for about 1-3 hours each session.

Online Laboratory: Participants will be trained in a virtual lab with various topics during the course.

Individual Project: Participants will be assigned an individual project of their own topics and present slides during the lecture hour at the end of the semester. It takes 1 to 3 hours per week for a successful completion.

Résumé Development: Participants will be trained on how to develop careers in the semiconductor industry through résumé writing and interviewing workshops. 

Industry Talks: Representatives from partnered companies present information about their company and job opportunities. The partners include Applied Image, Global Foundries, Intel, KLA, Menlo Microsystems, Micron Technologies, Nanoscience Instruments, NXP, Qorvo, TEL, Texas Instruments, TSMC, WGNSTAR, Wolfspeed, and more.

Upon successful completion, students will earn a Microelectronics and Nanomanufacturing Certificate from the Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization (CNEU) at Penn State, attesting to their proficiency. In addition, they will be appropriately prepared to take the three nanotechnology stackable certification exams administered by the international standards organization ASTM International. The three exams are based on the six skill set standards for workforce education in nanotechnology that the ASTM International Technical Subcommittee E56.07 established. The three certificates are:

• Health and Safety in Nanotechnology
• Nano Fabrication and Infrastructure
• Nanotechnology Characterization

This course is fully supported by the ATE program at NSF. There are no fees to pay and no textbooks to buy. In addition, a small stipend may be available to cover parking, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses.

This is an introductory course. It does involve some science: we will talk about atoms, molecules, simple chemical reactions, the periodic table, and the properties of materials, etc., but all at an introductory level, not even at the high school chemistry level. Similarly, simple mathematics including unit of measure, order of magnitude, and unit conversions will be required. It may require minimal physical movement, including wearing coveralls, lifting a gallon-size bottle, walking, and standing.