Chandler school district to launch high school program about semiconductors

The Chandler Unified School District plans to launch a new high school-level career and technical education program in semiconductor manufacturing, the first of its kind in Arizona.

It's an effort to help meet the workforce demands of a growing industry in the East Valley and the state.

Since 2020, 35 companies in the semiconductor industry have announced plans to expand or relocate to Arizona, according to the Arizona Commerce Authority. A massive $65 billion plant for the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is under construction in north Phoenix.

In Chandler, semiconductor chip producer Intel has two large campuses and is expanding. This year, the company was granted $8.5 billion in funding from the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The U.S. Commerce Department also awarded $162 million to Chandler-based Microchip Technology under the CHIPS legislation.

"The industry has come to us," said Jessica Edgar, Chandler Unified's executive director of curriculum and instruction. She said that several companies reached out to the district when applying for CHIPS grants to ask how schools at the K-12 level were supporting the workforce for the industry.

"We knew how important this would really be to create a pathway for our students," Edgar said.

The program is set to launch in the fall of 2025 and will be housed at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Edgar said. It could ultimately expand since it's being developed in partnership with the East Valley Institute of Technology, a career and technical education district that provides programs for students in 11 school districts across the East Valley. EVIT does not currently offer a program in semiconductor manufacturing.

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Chandler Unified's governing board voted Wednesday to approve a memorandum of understanding between the district and the University of Arizona to develop the curriculum for the two-year program.

The district has received letters of support from several businesses in the semiconductor industry — some of which are based in the East Valley — including Arm, Cactus Materials, Cirrus Logic, Edwards Vacuum, Intel, Lawrence Semiconductor, NXP, Microchip Technology and Teradyne. The district has started meeting with them on a semi-regular basis, Edgar said.

Chandler Unified is anticipating interest in the program. In partnership with the University of Arizona, it's hosting a weeklong semiconductor camp this summer, and the 40 available spots filled up in two days. The camp now has a waitlist.

Reach the reporter at mparrish@arizonarepublic.com.