TECHCON 2024

12-Sep-2024

TECHCON 2024: A Celebration of Innovation and Excellence

TECHCON 2024, a unique celebration of innovation and excellence, took place from September 8-10, 2024, at the Renaissance Hotel in Austin, Texas. This year's conference brought together a diverse group of industry leaders, undergraduate and graduate students, and technical recruiters. It was a platform for exchanging ideas, fostering collaboration, and celebrating achievements in the semiconductor industry. The conference was distinguished by the presence of two exceptional speakers who delivered insightful presentations that left a lasting impact on the audience.

In her keynote presentation titled "Future Forward: How R&D will Continue to Propel the Semiconductor Industry," Deirdre Hanford, CEO of Natcast and recipient of the 2025 IEEE Frederik Philips Award, emphasized the pivotal role of the semiconductor industry in driving technological advancements and sustainability. "The semiconductor industry is not just about technology; it's about people and the impact we can make on the world," Hanford remarked, emphasizing the human element in the industry.

She began by expressing her excitement about addressing a diverse audience, including students and industry veterans, and highlighted the historical significance of the transistor and its evolution, leading to modern innovations. Hanford delved into the complexity of the semiconductor industry, discussing the global supply chain, the challenges it faces, and the significant energy consumption of data centers, emphasizing the need for sustainable solutions. She also discussed the Chips and Science Act, which aims to establish infrastructure and leadership in semiconductor research and development in the United States.

She shared insights from her own career journey, underscoring the value of lateral moves and diverse experiences in professional growth.

“My advice to you as you draft your careers is to think about moving. Take an assignment at a company for six months, go off to a research lab for a period, work full-time in the industry. Move back and forth no matter what you do in your career because, in my experience, having taken many, many lateral moves in my career, interestingly, I think I became a more natural candidate when something bigger came along. Think about your career and enjoy it every day of the week and every day of the month. I really hope that you have a fulfilling career like I have had.”

She concluded by encouraging the next generation of engineers to engage in the industry and contribute to solving its challenges.

Deirdre Hanford then had the opportunity to talk with some students about their research experiences. Icelene Leong presented her materials research, which she completed during her bachelor’s degree with the JUMP SUPREME Center. She is now attending the Graduate program at Boise State, pursuing a doctorate degree in Materials Sciences. John Ali is a graduate student at Ohio State University. He presented his current research, called RLDetect, which focuses on systems security, specifically verifying constant-time programming to prevent data leaks in multi-tenant accelerators. Siddha Sharma is a Ph.D. candidate at Brown University, who shared her work on developing detailed chemistry for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) using computational methods. Zishen Wan, currently pursuing his Doctorate degree at Georgia Tech, presented research from the JUMP 2.0 COCOSYS Center. His research interests are computer architecture and VLSI, with a focus on system-architecture-hardware co-optimization for efficient and resilient autonomous machines and cognitive intelligence.

Monday night’s banquet was a grand celebration of the excellence that abounds in our community. During the Conference Banquet, several distinguished individuals were honored for outstanding achievements in microelectronics research and the semiconductor industry. More information can be found on our site.

Tuesday morning kicked off with an energetic talk titled “Looking Ahead – Secure Edge/Automotive Package Technology Opportunities.” Katie Yu, Senior Director of Package Innovation for Automotive Processors at NXP Semiconductors, brought a wealth of expertise to this presentation. Katie's speech covered a wide range of topics related to technology development, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, cost-effectiveness, and environmental impact in advancing the field of electrification and autonomous driving.

Throughout the conference, attendees had the opportunity to attend technical presentations, poster sessions, and networking events. TECHCON 2024 featured over 200 invited SRC Research Scholars, of which nearly 50 were undergraduate researchers. The conference, attended exclusively by member company engineers, scientists, and recruiters, provides unique opportunities to exchange technology, share career insights, and network through formal events and informal conversations. Featuring over 50% participation from women and under-represented minorities, as well as attendees from Switzerland, India, Germany, Canada, Taiwan, and the United States, the event promotes a rich and vibrant atmosphere for collaborative learning.

The conference concluded with a jam-packed CareerConnections recruiting event, featuring 17 sponsors from SRC member companies: GlobalFoundries Inc., Intel Corporation, MICRON Technology, Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., EMD Electronics (a Merck KGaA affiliate), Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Analog Devices, Inc., Arm Limited, ASM, IBM Corporation, MediaTek Inc. As is often the case, SRC alumni attended to represent their current companies and recruit new talent.

The conference closed on Tuesday evening with the presentation of the TECHCON 2024 Top 10 Best Student Presenter Awards and the TECHCON 2024 Top 3 Undergraduate Awards. Congratulations to all the winners! 

Event photographs found here

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