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UW introduces virtual reality training for students to help fill crucial semiconductor jobs

June 25, 2026  

A University of Washington course is using virtual reality modules to trainstudents for in-demand semiconductor jobs.Electrical & Computer Engineering Associate Professor Tai-Chang Chen adopted the Cornell NanoScale Facility (CNF) Virtual Reality (VR) educational platform for his Devices and Circuits 1 (EE 331) course this spring to offer students the job skills needed to fill the growing semiconductor technical workforce gap.

Semiconductor chips control electricity in just about every piece of modern technology. And since they are even smaller than microscopic airborne particles that can cause device failures, their production requires a controlled environment that only a cleanroom can provide.

Based on projections from the Semiconductor Industry Association, 67,000 semiconductor jobs in the United States will be unfilled by 2030 — that’s 58% of roles spanning across manufacturing and design. The CNF VR educational models make it possible to scale cleanroom training and support workforce development goals by reaching significantly more learners.

Students in EE331 are immersed in the cleanroom-user experience, which includes simulated face-to-face interactions with CNF equipment and staff.  The course was equipped with eight Meta Quest 3 headsets (one per student, per lab section), along with licensed access to CNF’s library of immersive cleanroom modules, including: 

  • Cleanroom Gowning 
  • Cleanroom Safety
  • a four-part photolithography series 
  • Micron Technology’s Careers in a High-Tech World VR
Students engage with the content collaboratively in the EE 331 lab space, exploring cleanroom environments and processing tools that would otherwise be inaccessible at this scale. (Photo: UW UPWARDS)

Access to the platform was made possible by the CNF VR Early Adopters Program and supported by funding from the U.S.-Japan University Partnership for Workforce Advancement and Research & Development in Semiconductors (UPWARDS) for the Future Network — an international partnership designed to develop semiconductor talent — for $10K per year for two years, with the second course being offered in 2027.

“Incorporating CNF VR educational modules in the classroom offers UW students a unique edge in developing in-demand skills in the microelectronic and nanotechnology fields,” said Chen. “This opportunity highlights UW’s commitment to innovation, along with its role in strengthening the semiconductor industry as an UPWARDS for the Future Network partner.”

UW’s on-campus cleanroom is housed within the Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF) in Fluke Hall. WNF Acting Director Darick Baker worked with CNF and UPWARDS to enroll UW in the beta-test deployment and prepared the headsets for students.

With a potential shortage in a skilled cleanroom workforce in the next five to ten years, “many additional cleanroom workers are needed, but very few students are familiar with what semiconductor manufacturing requires,” noted Baker. “The CNF VR educational modules allow WNF and UW to introduce more students to the cleanroom environment,” noted Baker.

Students complete the modules in VR prior to their hands-on lab sessions, allowing them to enter the WNF better prepared and able to make more productive use of limited lab time. Early observations suggest that the VR platform meaningfully extends the reach of experiential learning in the EE331 course.  

“Immersive VR content empowers students,” said Chen. “These innovative modules enhance the lab experience and provide students with both exposure and confidence to master cleanroom protocols — and ultimately contribute to filling the needs that come with the rapid growth of the semiconductor field.”

Additionally, Chen is exploring further integration through a planned UW–Japan study-abroad fabrication course developed in partnership with member institutions of the UPWARDS for the Future Network. In 2023, Micron and Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL) launched the UPWARDS for the Future Network alongside university partners. This partnership cultivates a more diverse, robust and highly skilled talent pipeline for the semiconductor workforce — and drives emerging research while increasing the pipeline of students studying a semiconductor curr

SEMI Foundation and NSF launch Regional Nodes of the National Network for Microelectronics Education

May 26, 2026

The SEMI Foundation — the Hub Operator for the National Network for Microelectronics Education (NNME) — launched four Regional Nodes of the NNME, each designed to prepare the next generation of America’s semiconductor design and manufacturing workforce.

PINES (Pacific-Intermountain Network for Education in Semiconductors) has officially been selected as one of the Regional Nodes, which includes the Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF) at the University of Washington among its members. Led by Boise State University, the NNME Pacific Intermountain node serves Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Northern California and Hawaii.

“The launch of these Regional Nodes constitutes the activation of national infrastructure built to meet the most consequential economic and technological challenge of our time,” said Shari Liss, Vice President of Workforce Development and Initiatives at SEMI and the SEMI Foundation.

Read the full Node Launch press release.

Ultra-flat optic pushes beyond what was previously thought possible

In a first-of-its-kind achievement, a team of researchers at the University of Washington and Princeton University, co-led by NanoES faculty member Arka Majumdar (electrical & computer engineering, physics) and including NanoES director Karl Böhringer (ECE, bioengineering), has shown that a camera containing a large aperture, ultra-flat optic can record high-quality color images and video comparable to what can be captured with a conventional camera lens. The metalens, developed at the Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF), is hundreds of times smaller and thinner than a conventional camera lens, offering substantial savings in volume, weight, and device battery life.

How hands-on experience at WNF led a mechanical engineering student to Intel

Jimmy covered in protective gear, posing in front of a machine in the clean lab.

Four years ago, as an Engineering Dean’s Scholar, Jimmy Phan was listening to a lecture from the College of Engineering’s associate dean, Dan Ratner. Ratner told Phan’s cohort about the Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF), an open-access nanofabrication facility at the UW, and the opportunities for undergraduates to work there.

WNF student lands dream internship at Nvidia

A photo of Prithvi in a suit.

In the University of Washington’s Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF), undergraduate lab assistants have a unique opportunity to receive on-the-job training from research engineers and network with professionals in advanced electronics, nanotechnology, semiconductors and fabrication-related jobs. Fourth-year electrical and computer engineering major Prithvi Krishnaswamy’s work in the WNF helped him land a summer internship at Nvidia, a company that designs hardware and software for the high-performance computing (HPC) market. Krishnaswamy interned at its Durham, North Carolina office.

Northwest Nanotechnology Infrastructure announces new seed grants

To support the use of nanotechnology tools to develop innovative, new technologies, the Northwest Nanotechnology Infrastructure (NNI) is offering seed grants to new, first-time users for work to be conducted in our fabrication or characterization facilities. These grants are designed to help users build and characterize prototypes, obtain preliminary results and conduct proof of concept studies.

NNI is one of 16 sites in the National Science Foundation’s National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) program. As the Pacific Northwest node in NSF’s NNCI network, NNI includes world-class facilities at the University of Washington including the Washington Nanofabrication Facility and the Molecular Analysis Facility.

The deadline to apply is March 1, 2022.

Additional details regarding eligibility, guidelines, and selection, as well as the link to apply, can be found here.

Optics startup Tunoptix wins federal grant to develop metalenses for imaging satellites at Washington Nanofabrication Facility

A portion of the team’s experimental setup for capturing an image using a metalens. The researchers capture an image of flowers through a metalens (mounted on a microscope slide) and visualize it through a microscope.

Tunoptix, an optics startup co-founded by University of Washington (UW) electrical and computer engineering professors Karl Böhringer and Arka Majumdar, was awarded $223,000 in Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop metasurface lenses (or metalenses) for imaging in satellites at the UW Washington Nanofabrication Facility.