Semiconductor test equipment supplier Advantest Corporation announced today that its subsidiary, Advantest (Singapore) Pte Ltd, has entered into a strategic partnership with Singapore Polytechnic (SP) to establish a Test Engineering Centre (TEC) to enhance and upgrade the test development and product characterisation capabilities of semiconductor test engineers in the Southeast Asia region.
This is the first time that Advantest is collaborating with an Institute of Higher Learning (IHL) in Singapore. The signed Memorandum of Collaboration marks the commitment of both business partners to train and equip semiconductor test engineers in Singapore and the region with future-ready technical competencies that are essential to advance the growing the semiconductor industry.
Advantest and SP will develop new initiatives to grow the workforce readiness and build an inclusive talent ecosystem for the semiconductor industry. Advantest and SP will co-create hands-on learning experiences for both Pre-Employment Training (PET) students and Continuing Education & Training (CET) learners. The curricula will be developed with a strong focus on semiconductor testing to provide practical and up-to-date industry-related knowledge to learners of all ages so as to build a robust talent pipeline for the region.
As part of the collaboration, Advantest installed the state-of-the-art test system, V93000 and M4841 handler, a scalable system which is widely adopted by the semiconductor testing industry. It will support a wide range of device testing applications in both engineering development and high volume manufacturing. This integrated test cell solution is a key enabler for test floor automation and smart manufacturing. These cutting edge facilities will enable learners to acquire the relevant knowledge and practical hands-on experience by working on real-life test applications and operations with industry experts.
“Advantest is honored to support these industry skill-development initiatives together with Singapore Polytechnic. We enthusiastically support this collaboration which will help lay the foundation, as well as create value, for the entire semiconductor value chain,” said Mr Ricky Sim, Managing Director and CEO of Advantest Singapore.
Mr Soh Wai Wah, Principal and CEO of Singapore Polytechnic, said, “The semiconductor industry powers billions of devices around the world. As semiconductor designs become more complex and market pressures rise, highly skilled semiconductor test engineers will play an increasingly critical role in achieving manufacturing and testing excellence so that their products can meet the advanced computational power and capacity standards to create technological breakthroughs. Partnering with Advantest will enable us to jointly expand and strengthen a regional talent pool with the specialised expertise for semiconductor companies to tap on and scale up their business with a clear competitive edge in a fast growing digital world.”