Guzzo, the investment in fabs and the development of fab technology is a driver for investment in STEM, science, technology and manufacturing, he said.
The fabless, US company develops its own manufacturing processes. This is partly to protect the IP, to produce ICs that cannot be counterfeited and to protect the supply chain, he explained. “We don’t necessarily do all of [the processes], but we develop them, we deploy them and that’s where having a stronger pipeline of test engineers . . of software and hardware engineers. . . benefits us,” he said.
Impinj’s RAIN RFID are smaller than a grain of rice; with over 600,000 chips per 12-inch wafer, they are approaching the size of a grain of salt, said Guzzo. Their size means they are impossible to assemble using advanced technologies, he explained but the CHIPs Act means that graduates qualified in, for example, plasma dicing, “fit right into our back-end manufacturing innovations,” he observed.
He believes the creation of jobs will draw people into studying for particular courses. “Yes, you have to have the interest in the passion and the capability. But if the job market isn’t there right in your area, in your region and your country then . . it’s probably not the best choice, so the more jobs that are created, the stronger the STEM pipeline will become.”
In the latest CHIIPs podcast, Jim Guzzo shares more thoughts including how RAIN compares with RFID or NFC, where it can be used and insights into the company’s manufacturing methods.
