Microsystems technologist workforce development capacity and challenges in Central New Mexico.

Technical Report · Tue Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/942058· OSTI ID:942058

Osborn, Thor D

Sandia National Laboratories has made major investments in microsystems-related infrastructure and research staff development over the past two decades, culminating most recently in the MESA project. These investment decisions have been made based in part upon the necessity for highly reliable, secure, and for some purposes, radiation-hardened devices and subsystems for safety and sustainability of the United States nuclear arsenal and other national security applications. SNL's microsystems development and fabrication capabilities are located almost entirely within its New Mexico site, rendering their effectiveness somewhat dependent on the depth and breadth of the local microsystems workforce. Consequently, the status and development capacity of this workforce has been seen as a key personnel readiness issue in relation to the maintenance of SNL's microsystems capabilities. For this reason SNL has supported the instantiation and development of the Southwest Center for Microsystems Education, an Advanced Technology Education center funded primarily by the National Science Foundation, in order to foster the development of local training capacity for microsystems technologists. Although the SCME and the associated Manufacturing Technology program at Central New Mexico Community College have developed an effective curriculum and graduated several highly capable microsystems technologists, the future of both the center and the degree program remain uncertain due to insufficient student enrollment. The central region of New Mexico has become home to many microsystems-oriented commercial firms. As the demands of those firms for technologists evolve, SNL may face staffing problems in the future, especially if local training capacity is lost.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 942058
• Report Number(s): SAND2008-2319
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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CAPACITY
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FABRICATION
MAINTENANCE
MANUFACTURING
Molecular integrated microsystems.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
NATIONAL SECURITY
Occupational training.
PERSONNEL
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Training needs.