Specialists for microelectronics (#skills4chips)

On March 17, 2025, the first “Skilled Workers for Microelectronics” conference (#skills4chips) took place at the WISTA Event Center in Berlin. Organized by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the event was held under the motto “How Germany can score as a location for innovation through the interplay of research and education”.

The purpose of the event was to present the current status and organization of various projects for training specialists in the field of chip design in Germany and to promote networking between the individual initiatives. The KIT Chipdesign House (KCH) took part in order to connect with other national chip design networks and present current projects. KCH presented two projects that are currently being prepared for workshops: A soldering exercise designing a modular adder with multiple half-adder boards, and a simple digital chip design workshop using Tiny Tapeout. 

The #skills4chips conference, which is to be held regularly in future, provided a valuable platform for networking with other initiatives. Contacts were made with the Bavarian Chip Design Center (BCDC), microTEC Südwest and Chipdesign Germany, among others. Prominent guests at the conference included Dr. Christian Koitzsch (ESMC), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Kahmen (Leibniz Institute for Innovative Microelectronics), Steve Federow (GlobalFoundries Dresden), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Norbert Wehn (Chipdesign Germany), Sven Winterlich (Infineon Technologies Dresden) and Dr. Damian Dudek (VDE ITG).

With around 150 participants, the conference was aimed at teachers and other training specialists in the field of chip design. The event included lectures, interactive workshops and a “market of opportunities” where projects were presented. Topics covered included the need for talent in microelectronics and the benefits of better integration between education and research.

The atmosphere was professional, friendly and engaging. The organization and logistics of the event ran smoothly. The conclusion of the conference: The major German initiatives in the field of chip design education are now known and further networking is necessary to cooperate efficiently with other initiatives.
Further information on the event is available on the skills4chips website. The next conference is already planned for next year, with the aim of further expanding networking, particularly with Chipdesign Germany.