Rogue Valley Microdevices Advocates for STEM Education and Workforce Diversity at SEMICON West 2018

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Rogue Valley Microdevices, a full-service precision MEMS foundry specializing in biomedical device manufacturing, will engage in SEMI’s Smart Workforce Pavilion — a three-day conference track exploring the complexities of developing, attracting and retaining a diverse STEM-educated workforce — during SEMICON West, July 10-12, 2018, Moscone Center, San Francisco. The company will also introduce members of Team TNT, a FIRST Tech Challenge high school robotics team that recently competed in the World Championships, to SEMICON West attendees.

“It’s imperative that companies of all sizes get involved in programs that will inspire the next generation’s engineers,” said Jessica Gomez, CEO and co-founder, Rogue Valley Microdevices. “Supporting STEM education in your own community is one way to accomplish that, and it’s why we are so excited to bring members of Southern Oregon’s own Team TNT to Moscone Center for SEMICON West. In addition to attending SEMI Foundation’s amazing High Tech U during the event, Team TNT members will showcase their robot at the Smart Workforce Pavilion and at our booth.”

Gomez espouses equal passion for recruiting and retaining a talented and diverse workforce, noting that just a small percentage of the chemical engineers on which her foundry depends are women, and even smaller percentages are racially diverse. “It’s hard to imagine that just 16.9% of chemical engineers in the U.S. are women,” said Gomez. “Racial disparities are even more staggering, with African Americans representing just 1.7% of chemical engineers. For Hispanics/Latinos, it is 4.1%, and Asians comprise 7% of chemical engineers in the U.S. We need a workforce that is more representative of the population at large because women and people of different cultures and races enrich the companies in which they work. By fostering workforce diversity, we achieve greater innovation and resiliency.”

About Rogue Valley Microdevices

Rogue Valley Microdevices is a full-service precision MEMS foundry that combines state-of-the-art process modules with the engineering expertise to go seamlessly from custom design to manufacturing. Specializing in MEMS and biomedical device manufacturing — including microfluidics and lab-on-chip platforms — Rogue Valley Microdevices offers a flexible equipment set and smaller batch sizes, playing a critical role in the commercial MEMS manufacturing ecosystem.

Rogue Valley Microdevices also maintains the broadest and most comprehensive set of wafer services commercially available — with over 50 unique dielectric and conductive thin films and all services performed in its own class 100 cleanroom. For more information, please click here.

About SEMICON West

SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing supply chain, hosts SEMICON West 2018, the flagship U.S. event for connecting the electronics manufacturing supply chain. SEMICON West will take place July 10-12, 2018 at Moscone Center in San Francisco, California. For more information, click here.