Latest news with #Semicon
Time of India
25-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
200 faculty members of engg colleges await grade pay revision in Gujarat
Ahmedabad: More than 200 qualified faculty members in the state's govt engineering colleges continue to wait for their academic grade pay (AGP) revision, despite the career advancement scheme (CAS) being in effect for over a year. These educators, who actively support programmes like SSIP, Vibrant Gujarat, Semicon, G20 summits, hackathons and Skill India, say they find the inordinate wait frustrating. Following a govt resolution in March 2024 regarding CAS benefits for appointments made after Jan 1, 2016, the Commissionerate of Technical Education (CTE) sought applications through the Kozent portal in Aug 2024. Although 80% of applications have been reviewed, various administrative and procedural challenges prevent the issuance of AGP orders. Former govt polytechnic faculty, who joined the engineering colleges through Gujarat Public Service Commission recruitments, face AGP denial due to their previous service being unrecognized. Furthermore, faculty members obtaining PhD qualifications after their initial AGP (Rs 6,000-7,000) have not received the one-year relaxation stipulated in AICTE's Jan 2016 guidelines for AGP progression to Rs 8,000. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo You Can Also Check: Ahmedabad AQI | Weather in Ahmedabad | Bank Holidays in Ahmedabad | Public Holidays in Ahmedabad Faculty members who earned additional qualifications after their appointments and filed post-facto NOC applications in Jan 2025 remain in limbo. Additionally, those who have previous adhoc or regular service experience face delays in pay protection, pending verification from the Pay Verification Unit (PVU), Gandhinagar. Teaching staff associations have requested the education department and the CTE to address the pending cases by July 31, indicating possible statewide demonstrations if their concerns remain unaddressed.
Straits Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Singapore chipmakers unfazed by tariff threat, see AI and talent hunt as bigger challenges
Chip firms at the Semicon Southeast Asia 2025 last week were unanimous in their view that the industry will not be immune to a global economic slowdown. PHOTO: SEMI SINGAPORE - Singapore's semiconductor industry will continue to invest and innovate to address the growing demand for more efficient chips, despite threats of new trade barriers that can further disrupt its highly globalised supply chain. The more pressing challenges for chipmakers and companies in related businesses – both multinational and local – are the hunt for talent, and the race to innovate and stay competitive and relevant in the era of artificial intelligence. To be sure, chip firms at the three-day Semicon Southeast Asia 2025 in Singapore during May 20 - May 22 were unanimous in their view that despite its solid growth prospects, the industry will not be immune to a global economic slowdown induced by the current trade policy uncertainty and any new tariffs that would affect consumer demand for electronic goods. While making its supply chains more adaptable to geopolitical demand and supply vulnerabilities remain an uphill task, the industry has so far successfully weathered intensifying trade tensions and technology competition between the world's two largest economies – the United States and China since 2017. In the same period, global chip sales have increased at a record pace and are expected to cross the US$1 trillion (S$1.28 trillion) mark by early 2030s from around US$627 billion in 2024. More recently, chip revenues are getting an additional uplift from the fast-growing cloud capacity, with new data centres popping up worldwide to handle the immense computational and data storage demands of artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The industry, however, sees the AI opportunity as a challenge as well. Referring to AI, Mr Tim Breen, chief executive officer of chipmaker GlobalFoundries, said at the Semicon event: 'There is, of course, optimism across the board, but within that is a question – are we ready? Are we ready for that growth? 'If innovation takes five companies to make it happen, do we really know how to work together in groups globally in a world that is more fragmented?' As a step in deepening its innovation partnerships, GlobalFoundries, which has a chipmaking plant in Singapore, signed a pact on the sidelines of the event with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), the Republic's lead public sector research and development (R&D) agency. The collaboration will give the chipmaker access to A*Star's R&D facilities for development and support for workforce skills enhancement in advanced packaging – the most talked-about technology at the Semicon event. Advanced packaging – which involves combining multiple chips and components into a single package – has become a key priority for the industry. Since AI workloads need more computational speed, data storage capacity and high electricity consumption, the technology delivers processing units that not only excel in performance but are also energy efficient. Mr Breen believes that no company in the world can bring such complex semiconductor devices to market on their own. 'You need a whole host of innovation, you need a whole host of manufacturing partnerships to do that,' he said. Other company executives also echoed Mr Breen's view, saying chipmakers are deepening their collaboration with test and packaging companies, chip designers and equipment makers to address the AI imperative. Mr Andrew Goh, corporate vice-president and general manager for South - east Asia at Lam Research, which makes machines used in chip manufacturing, said his company is also deepening its partnerships with its customers, suppliers and other stakeholders in the ecosystem to help address both the supply chain and technological challenges. 'We are working with the governments, schools and universities to collaborate on the R&D and innovation that we can do locally,' Mr Goh told The Straits Times. The company has a network of plants across Asia, including one in Malaysia and two offices in Singapore , to manage its supply chain and customer support. He said Lam has ongoing engagements with the Republic's Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore to also help them maintain a talent pipeline, and develop and retain their workforce. Mr Goh said AI is not only changing the market for companies like Lam, with demand rising for machines for advanced packing and manufacturing of advanced chips, it is also having an impact internally. AI is being increasingly used to boost factory floor efficiency of chipmakers and equipment makers like Lam, which also means increasing demand for talent. 'Maintaining a talent pipeline has become a pressing challenge for the industry, not only in Singapore but in other countries and regions as well,' Mr Goh said. The Semicon event also had a dedicated space for career exploration fair that hosted several career talks. Ms Michelle Phua, director of operations management at chip equipment maker Applied Materials, said the industry has broadened the scope of talent from engineering graduates and diploma holders to professionals in related fields such as software development. Singapore universities and polytechnics offer several programmes focused on areas like integrated circuit design, manufacturing and operations. In recent years, they have also launched short courses for graduates and mid-career professions under the umbrella of the SkillsFuture scheme – a joint initiative of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech). Still, developing a sustainable talent pipeline is seen as a problem not only by large multinational firms such as GlobalFoundries, Lam Research and Applied Materials but also by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Mr Kenneth Lee, CEO of Global Tech Solutions – which provides refurbishment, installations and field service support to chipmakers – said graduates do not see chip manufacturing as less glamorous. 'We put in a lot of effort, like participating in career events and going to educational institutions to introduce ourselves and the industry,' he said. Still, many company executives appreciated the Government's effort to boost talent supply, and recognised the importance of working closely with universities and polytechnics to encourage more of their graduates to join the industry. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Iraqi News
26-03-2025
- Business
- Iraqi News
China chip insiders eye stronger global ties despite trade tensions
Shanghai – Industry insiders at a semiconductor trade fair in Shanghai urged more cooperation between the Chinese chip sector and the rest of the world, despite growing trade tensions with Washington. Visitors thronged the Semicon expo as it opened on Wednesday, with exhibitors using loudspeakers and bright banners to advertise everything from silicon wafers and chip testing equipment to adhesives and glass pipes. China's burgeoning semiconductor sector has faced pressure from the United States and some European governments in recent years, with Washington blacklisting dozens of companies this week over national security concerns. US President Donald Trump has vowed to ramp up trade curbs on Chinese chip companies, while pressuring allies to restrict business with Beijing — attempting to isolate the world's second largest semiconductor market. Still, Xiao Jincheng, co-founder of Suzhou Zunheng Semiconductor Technology Company, told AFP 'it is our dream to expand globally'. China has sought in recent years to become self-sufficient in the semiconductor industry, with Beijing pouring billions of dollars into a massive chip fund. Xiao, whose company sells chip-making equipment, said he still believed that 'in the future we may need cooperation across the global industrial chain'. – Self-sufficiency? – Xiao's sentiment was echoed by Ram Trichur, a semiconductor specialist at German materials giant Henkel. 'Semiconductor innovation cannot happen in isolation,' Trichur told AFP. 'The ecosystem has to work together to be productive,' he said. Across the cavernous halls that house the trade fair, Chinese companies showed off lists of foreign clients, while one put up a sign proclaiming its wish to 'sincerely invite foreign agent'. Still, there were signs of unease at the fair on Wednesday, with multiple Chinese firms and one European group telling AFP the topic of curbs on China's semiconductor trade was too sensitive to discuss. 'The limitations from the United States do have a certain impact on us,' Zhou Dongdong, a product manager at equipment supplier Wuxi Evergrand Electronic Scientific Technology Co., told AFP. But Zhou said he believed restrictions could spur China's chip supply chain to make 'breakthroughs'. Trichur told AFP the challenges faced by Chinese firms could result in 'catalyzing their innovation to make some big gains in the front end technologies'. Computer chips — used in everything from refrigerators and vacuum cleaners to smartphones and electric vehicles — now occupy a crucial position in the global economy. Experts have long considered China to be lagging behind the United States in the race to secure sufficient access to cutting-edge semiconductors. But the shock release in January of an AI chatbot developed by Chinese firm DeepSeek, apparently at a fraction of the cost needed for US-based OpenAI to produce its ChatGPT tool, has suggested that US trade curbs have not been entirely successful. Still, Chinese chipmakers face headwinds, with top firm SMIC saying last month that its 2024 profit had plunged significantly from the previous year on the back of souring trade relations between Beijing and Washington.
