PORTLAND, OR — Hoping to enhance Oregon’s pool of potential high-tech workers, SEMI is planning its first Pacific Northwest educational campaign in which 25 area high school students will embark on a program that will teach them the basics of semiconductors and cleanrooms protocol, among others.

Juniors and seniors from Multnomah County, Oregon will take part in the four day school-to-work program which begins March 7. The program was created to educate students on career possibilities. Officials say one in every three of Oregon’s tech careers are in the semiconductor industry. The aim of the program is to prepare students for a chip-driven economy.

The students will tour local semiconductor facilities, and learn about cleanroom protocol, diodes, transistors and semiconductor patterning using etches and photolithography.

“Introducing high school students to careers in semiconductor technology necessitated the industry’s partnering with schools to broaden our students’ opportunities,” said Gary Rawson, president of Technologies North America and chairman of the SEMI task force that is coordinating the Institute with LSI Logic, the company that is hosting the pilot program.

“Classroom environments alone aren’t providing them with the breadth of experience necessary to make an informed career decision,” Rawson said.

LSI will host the program out of its semiconductor manufacturing facility in Gresham. Highlights of the vent include trips to the Microelectronics Training Center at Mt. Hood Community College and a tour of Fujitsu’s semiconductor facility.