Since I departed from a 31-year tenure at Intel Corp in 2015, my involvement in the Semiconductor industry has remained vibrant. I have continued to serve as an executive consultant, advisor, mentor, and board member.
In December of 2022, Professor Udayan Ganguly offered me the opportunity to contribute to the newly envisioned Center for Semiconductor Technologies at IIT Bombay, known as SemiX.
I was intrigued and interested. SemiX was timely. More than 60 years after the emergence of the semiconductor industry, semiconductors are a household word worldwide. They have found their way into nations’ priorities, attracting nearly 100 billion dollars in public investment money. India was one of the countries pledging $10B of public funds for its mission to become a vibrant global hub in semiconductors.
I was thrilled to join SemiX as a Visiting Professor of Practice and an Executive. Contributing to the country of my birth was a significant factor in my decision, as was the opportunity to build something from “scratch.” I love those. I also love hanging out with brilliant and diverse sets of fellow travelers.
Together with the “Friends of SemiX” a group of advisors, industry executives, faculty, staff, and students, we shaped the SemiX Center to drive purposeful research, develop the semiconductor workforce, and influence effective policy. Initial interest from the industry soon led to several companies joining as members of a newly defined SemiX Industry Affiliate Program.
By the middle of 2023, we had gained some momentum. Energetic roadshow discussions within India and the Bay Area increased the number of friends of SemiX and yielded valuable inputs.
We decided to put a stake in the ground by planning the First Annual SemiX Summit for November 27-29. Fractional industry execs and advisors helped in bringing the Summit together. It was a lot to bite, but it gave us the stake to rally ourselves around. The summit was a big success in exposing SemiX to the world, validating an unmet need that SemiX uniquely can fulfill, generating great ideas for collaboration, and creating a high momentum of interest and engagement.
If 2023 was the year of initial momentum, 2024 will be the year of delivering on our promises and growing SemiX’s capability and impact across a wide range of services such as a) education & training programs, b) industry-relevant research programs, c) Entrepreneurship enabling services, and d) Policy papers.
It shall be an exciting ride ahead, however hard it may be. We want to make this ride productive with collaboration, persistence, and discipline.
I am committed to helping SemiX succeed. I will apply my career learning to help build a robust SemiX that can scale up and contribute significantly to the India Semiconductor Mission and Ecosystem.
