Taiwan is racing to set up specialized “chip schools” that run year-round to train its next generation of semiconductor engineers and cement its dominance of the crucial industry.
The plans, championed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), come as chip companies plow billions of dollars into capacity expansion to make the “brains” that power everything from smartphones to fighter jets, amid a global shortage. Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) alone this year is to spend up to US$44 billion and hire more than 8,000 employees.
Jack Sun (孫元成), who retired as TSMC’s chief technology officer in 2018 and became dean