Abstract: Semiconductors are widely used in energy applications – from power discrete’s and power management integrated circuits (ICs), to energy harvesting chips. Renesas is a global semiconductor solution provider, which has a strong portfolio of products for energy conversion – Power FETs, DC-DC converters, power conversion (AC-DC, controllers, intelligent MPPT), IoT and connectivity, battery management ICs, FET drivers, voltage references, intelligent power devices, load switches and so on. Designing and deploying ICs and System on Chips (SoCs) in the semiconductor industry, requires a diverse set of multidisciplinary skills, and rigorous processes considering the increasing complexity. The India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has multiple schemes that support development of semiconductor fabs, semiconductor packaging (ATMP / OSAT) units, and innovative design linked incentives.

The processes before IC fabrication are called pre-silicon processes and include specification requirement definition, system architecture, analog/digital/mixed signal design and verification. This needs experts in semiconductor and solid-state physics, circuit design, thermal design, signal integrity and simulation. After fabrication, the journey of the physical IC starts, with the post-silicon processes. Post silicon validation, electrical and functional characterization, product qualification and failure analysis, is a part of this stage. This process needs high capital and skills investment for high end instrumentation like Automated Test Equipment and probe cards, SEM, thermography, acoustic microscopy, and micro-probing. One also must include the role of embedded software development, which is another process which runs parallel to the hardware design process, be it EDA and physical design tools, embedded and system software or operating systems. The talk will attempt to give an exhaustive overview of the skills required in this crucial industry for the country and hopefully where students could fit in according to their interest, skills and aptitude.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Gautam Raiker is a Staff Engineer at Renesas Electronics, working with the Analog and Connectivity (A&C) group. With over five years of experience in the power and semiconductor industry, Dr. Raiker leads Post Silicon Validation at Renesas Design A&C group in Bangalore. He has contributed to the development of next-generation mmWave and Ultra Wide Band (UWB) SoCs, driving advancements in ranging, sensing, and low-power connectivity technologies.
An alumnus of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering (DESE) at IIT Bombay, Dr. Raiker earned his M.Tech in Energy Systems, where he focused on the electrical characterization of semiconductor-sensitized solar cells. He further pursued a Ph.D. in Energy Research from IISc, Bangalore, publishing extensively in the fields of demand-side energy management systems and solar PV-thermal hybrid systems.
Passionate about multidisciplinary technologies, Dr. Raiker thrives on scaling innovative research concepts into practical, state-of-the-art solutions. His expertise and insights make him a valuable voice in the intersection of energy and semiconductor technologies.