San Jose, California–The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and the Semiconductor Research Corp. (SRC) have awarded 53 paid research assistantships totaling $318,000 to undergraduate engineering students participating in semiconductor research projects.

“These assistantships will provide hands-on semiconductor research experience to students,” says Steve Leven, senior vice president of human resources at Texas Instruments and chairman of the SIA Semiconductor Workforce Strategy Committee. “Our goal is to catch the best and brightest students early and show them the many dynamic and exciting careers in the chip industry.”

The new program, administered by the SRC Education Alliance, addresses a fundamental problem identified in current undergraduate engineering programs–the lack of hands-on research experience until a student reaches their senior year or enrolls in an advanced degree program. Most of these students will be college sophomores and juniors who are interested in math, science, or engineering.

Participating universities include Auburn, Cornell, Georgia Tech, Oregon State, Purdue, Stanford, University of California at Irvine, Ohio State, Arizona State University, and the University of Texas at Austin.