VLSI Training Academy (VTA) of the Department of EEE, UIU has launched industry sponsored “Professional VLSI Training Program” for development of skilled engineers.
The inauguration ceremony was held at UIU campus in Dhaka on Monday, according to a press release issued on Tuesday.
Md Enayetur Rahman, CEO and president, Ulkasemi Limited, Md Shakhawat Hossain, chief executive officer, Neural Semiconductor Limited, DBL Group and Ishraq Tashdid from Dynamic Solution Innovators, were present as sponsors of the training program.
The welcome address was delivered by Prof Dr M Rezwan Khan, executive director, Institute for Advanced Research and professor emeritus, UIU.
Prof Dr Md Abul Kashem Mia, vice-chancellor (in-charge) of UIU, presided over the inaugural ceremony. The vote of thanks was delivered by Prof Dr Raqibul Mostafa, former dean, SoSE, UIU.
Considering the importance of manpower development in this sector, the sponsors are supporting this training program by refunding the training fee once the candidates get a job in their companies after completion of the training. It is estimated that Bangladesh needs approximately 500 trained VLSI designers per year, having a background of CSE and EEE, to keep a healthy growth of this sector.
Presently, the global semiconductor industry, estimated at $481 billion in 2018, is dominated by companies from the US, China, Europe, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.
Industry insiders estimate that Bangladesh's chip-design industry currently earns up to $7 million annually while neighbouring India is earning around $60 billion.
Earnings from our chip-design industry are predicted to reach $1 billion within next 5 years if this sector gets appropriate support from the policy makers.
Unlike RMG sectors, where value addition is of the order of 20%, income from chip-design industry will have a value addition of more than 90%.
VTA also plans to offer VLSI related other training courses on Verification, Physical Design, RTL Design, DFT, etc. Dept of EEE has signed a MoA with Tahoe, a Silicon Valley based training company to provide training support. This is the first such program in Bangladesh where industry is providing complete support for skilled manpower development in the VLSI sector.
Faculty members, officials, academicians, students and other distinguished guests were present in the inaugural ceremony.