B.Tech in Electronics Engineering with Specialization in VLSI Design & Technology

The proliferation of digital economy and consumer electronics has increased the demand for integrated chips and sensors exponentially. Meeting this burgeoning domestic demand is very challenging. Currently, India is importing integrated chips in billions of US dollar. Post-COVID global semiconductor market has grown exponentially with $590 billion in 2021 and also expected to grow to $1 Trillon by 2030. The driving force of this tremendous growth is the technologies such as Artificial Intelligence(AI), Electric Vehicle (EV), 5G Networks, Internet of Things (IoT), Health Care etc. Realization of these technologies, depend on the production of silicon chip for the hardware is required. Many chip-making industries in R&D, design, manufacturing, testing, etc. are established to fill the gap in the chip supply chain. In fact, overall semiconductor import has surpassed that of gold, standing second only to the crude oil. From a long-term economic perspective, the deficit is expected to rise further. Hence, the existing gap must be bridged by realizing indigenous manufacturing of integrated chips.

Most of the tape-out is being siliconized in foreign countries since India has only single Integrated Design to Manufacturing (IDM) pilot line at Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL), Chandigarh based on 180nm Node. Recently, Govt. of India (GoI) has given impetus to the Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) policy for full flow / custom design (Front-end and Back-end) solution. Foundries and companies are encouraged to set-up chip manufacturing unit under GOI’s Indian semiconductor mission to build vibrant ecosystems of Semiconductor and display systems. However, one of the common concerns associated with setting up and running a commercial fab in India is availability of trained manpower required to run the system.

A serious crunch is observed in the trained manpower in every aspect of semiconductor ecosystem in the country. The various schemes and policies are framed by Govt. of India to encourage start-ups, MSMEs, industries and large business houses. Also, Chips to Startup (C2S) programme of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity), Govt. of India. It has been estimated that total manpower requirement over the period of next five to seven years will be around 85,000 at Levels of B. Tech, M.Tech and Ph.Ds in the field of VLSI Technology, Semiconductor Manufacturing, Electronics, Electrical, Mechanical and Chemical Engineering streams. Government of India announced Semiconductor scheme with an outlay of Rs 76,000 Crore in December 2021 to fulfil Aatma Nirbhar Bharath to contribute significantly to the global semiconductor market.

The Government of India is pursuing the National Semiconductor Mission (NSM) to establish a Semiconductor ecosystem in India. MSAJCE is dedicated to becoming a part of this endeavor to create the human resources required for the semiconductor industry in the upcoming years with trained engineers. The outcome of this program is to improve the world through transformative education and impactful research by producing outstanding graduates who are knowledgeable, creative, and passionate about building a vibrant semiconductor and display ecosystem to enable India’s emergence as a global hub for electronics manufacturing and design.

B.Tech in Electronics Engineering with specialization in VLSI Design and Technology is the Specialization in the Faculty of Electronics and Communication Engineering. VLSI is the process of design and manufacturing of integrated circuits ( IC ).. VLSI design curriculum emphasis the key aspects of software and hardware design & development of VLSI applications such as Device modeling, RF Circuit Design, Testing and diagnosis of VLSI Circuits, VLSI Signal Processing, Chip Packaging, System Design Verification and SOC. The VLSI Design and its applications are found in areas like signal processing, image processing, networks and communication applications, space applications, Quantum computing, etc. This programme aims to cater the exponential rise in demand for semiconductor talent pool in India and across the globe. It prepares market-ready engineers in the field of semiconductor technology and electronics industries.

This course is structured in line with the AICTE model curriculum and covers a range of topics from Semiconductor device fundamentals, Analog and Digital circuits to VLSI circuits and design, IC design and technology, Semiconductor equipment operation, manufacturing, assembly, testing and packaging, Microcontrollers, Embedded systems, Algorithms in Design Automation, Logic Synthesis, Testability and Design for Testability, Device and Process simulation of semiconductor devices, and Physical Verification Flows. etc. It also includes study and usage of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools and the programming, scripting languages for semiconductor design, synthesis, simulation, fabrication and testing. The curriculum of VLSI Design has been designed to cater to the ever-changing demands of the VLSI industry and the needs of society through research. The main objective of providing this course is,

• To provide varying roles of employment featuring attractive salary incentives and solid professional growth. India’s largest semiconductor fab plant with an investment of $3 billion is to be established at Mysuru which is a big boost in this sector.
• To pursue higher education in reputed Universities in India and abroad as VLSI is in great demand in companies like Intel, IBM, Cadence, Synopsis, MentorGraphics etc
• To provide insights into market trends and wider opportunity to take up projects under “Make in India” and “Digital India” schemes by Government of India as the investment is high in R&D to come up with innovative products based on VLSI chipsets and to have entrepreneurial endeavors.

Career Prospects :

There are numerous job opportunities for VLSI engineers in the Semiconductor industry. The job opportunities include:

• Design Engineer
• Verification Engineer
• CAD Engineer
• Application Engineer
• Analog Circuit Designer
• DFT Engineer
• FPGA Verification Engineer
• EDA Tool Validation Engineer
• VLSI Micro-architecture Engineer and many more

On successful completion of the course, graduates are recruited in Fabless design companies, Display Fabs, Semiconductor Fabs, Fabs for Compound Semiconductors, Silicon Photonics, Sensors, Discrete Semiconductors and Semiconductor Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging (ATMP) / OSAT facilities. The starting salary in a VLSI company varies from Rs 3 lakhs to Rs 20 lakhs per annum, with an average annual salary of Rs 14 lakhs. In core multinational companies the average annual salary for beginners varies from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 80 lakh.

The Prominent Companies for VLSI Graduates are:

Intel Corporation, Global Foundries, Micron Technologies, Marvell Semiconductor, ARM, AMD, NVIDIA, Infineon Technologies, MediaTek Inc., NXP semiconductors, TSMC, Qualcom, Philips R&D, Samsung R&D, Siemens, IBM, Bosch, Wipro, Tata ELXI, QUALCOMM, Dell, Apex Semiconductor, Free Scale Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, Synopsis, Cadence, Microchip, etc. Similarly, many government PSUs, which recruit VLSI engineers, are SCL, ISRO, DRDO, HAL, BEL, etc