On November 18, students had the opportunity to visit and tour the Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment facility, otherwise known as AMEC. The company provides advanced micro-fabrication equipment to global semiconductor manufacturers and other companies in emerging high-tech sectors. The technology that the company produces can be traced to a wide array of devices including smartphones, computers, cameras, and much more. AMEC is a part of a small industry in the tech world, as in it is one of the few players in the market for root components regarding the portable devices that we use everyday. In addition to their integral work in the mobile device industry, they have also made contributions to other innovative hardware, service, and software products leading to the fabrication of cutting-edge technology. They are an international company with offices all around the world and have executive members not just from China, but also from Japan, the United States, Singapore, Taiwan, and many many more. So, what exactly did the NYUSH students get to experience there?

As the students arrived to the company’s Pudong site, they were greeted by the President and CEO of AMEC: Gerald Yin, and by Vice President Steve Mak. The two gave a presentation and overview of the industry’s history throughout the late twentieth century leading into the company’s foundation and current status amongst the tech world. Following this, long-time developers and coders for the company gave the students a presentation on the basics of semiconductor manufacturing, the physical process that goes into creating each part, and the programming that accompanies the machinery. In addition to this, the team also provided some insight into what working for the company looks like and problems that they have to figure out on a day-to-day basis, in which they were honest to describe the job as occasionally headache inducing. They attributed this not to the company or any type of management pressure, but simply due to the nature of job in that making these types of equipment requires so many steps to be done exactly correctly or else the whole thing breaks down.

After the courtesy lunch that the company provided, students were then taken on a tour of their entire facility, which consisted of a manufacturing area, an etching lab, and a materials science lab. All of these areas need to be kept extremely clean and up to standard which is why students were asked to place plastic covers on their shoes before entering the campus, and is also why workers that were inside of the labs were all required to wear cleanroom suits.

The company is shaping the field of semiconductors and have a vast influence especially in the Asian market. As a parting gift, some students and faculty members were even given a silicon wafer, a semiconductor material used in many types electronic circuits, that they manufactured at the plant. VP Mak was also open to giving internships for NYUSH students at the company, so please visit http://www.amec-inc.com/ if you are interested or want more information.<small> This article was written by <i>Billy Chan</i>. Please send an email to <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> to get in touch.<b>Photo Credit:</b> AMEC</small>