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ALL CAREER STAGES  |  UK-SPEC: A,B,E  |  TWO DAYS  |  ONLINE  |  CPD: 15 HOURS  |  COST: FROM £679

Semiconductors technical training course

An introduction to semiconductor fundamentals

8 - 9 December 2025 - Book your place

About the technical training course

The UK faces a critical skills gap and retention issues due to a shortage of skilled workers in the semiconductor sector. The sector requires a diverse range of specialist skills, but unfortunately, some of these skills are in extremely short supply in the UK.

This technical course on semiconductors will provide an introduction to semiconductor fundamentals as well as trends and market forecasts, international supply chains and semiconductor taxonomy.

Course trainers

Chris Meadows
Director - CSconnected

 
Chris' career in electronics and semiconductors started at British Telecom Research Laboratories before joining a new joint venture between BT and US based DuPont in 1986.
 

Andy G Sellars
Chair UKTIN Semiconductor Expert Working Group - UKTIN

  
Andy chairs the Semiconductor Expert Working Group for UKTIN and serves on the Government’s Semiconductor Advisory Panel.

Matthew Smith
Senior Lecturer and Researcher - School of Physics, University of Bristol

 
Dr. Matthew Smith is a Senior Lecturer and researcher at the School of Physics, University of Bristol, UK, with expertise in wide and ultrawide bandgap material growth, device design, fabrication and characterisation.

Mark Rushworth 

 
CEO - Finchetto

Christopher Bailey 

 
Professor of Advanced Semiconductor Packaging and Director of the Centre for Advanced Semiconductor Packaging - Arizona State University

Course contents

  • Introduction to semiconductor fundamentals
  • Material structure, electrons and holes, drift/diffusion current and electric fields
  • Electrical breakdown
  • Semiconductor fabrication and processing techniques
  • Semiconductor device characterisation
  • Material characterisation techniques
  • Device characterisation techniques
  • Advanced semiconductor devices and applications
  • Semiconductor manufacturing
  • Compound semiconductors
  • Semiconductor taxonomy
  • Types of semiconductors and their applications
  • Trends and market forecasts
  • Semiconductor materials and their properties

Course programme

Day one - 9am - 4pm

8:55am Teams opening
9am - 9:10am Welcome and introduction
Morning sessions Trainer: Matthew Smith. Senior Lecturer and Researcher, School of Physics, University of Bristol.

9:10am - 10am

Session one

Introduction to semiconductor fundamentals
  • What is a semiconductor?
  • Key parameters: bandgap, doping
  • How does current flow?
  • The PN junction

10am - 10:50am

Session two

Semiconductor devices
  • PN diodes and rectification
  • Optoelectronic devices: LEDs and solar cells
  • Bipolar transistors
  • Field-effect transistors
10:50am - 11:05am Coffee break

11:05am - 11:50am

Session three

Semiconductor fabrication and processing techniques
  • Material growth techniques
  • Lithography 
  • Fabrication processes

11:50am - 12:40pm

Session four

Semiconductor device characterisation
  • Material characterisation techniques
  • Device characterisation techniques
  • Reliability and stability
12:40pm - 1:30pm Lunch break
Afternoon sessions Trainer: Chris Meadows. Director - CSconnected

1:30pm - 2:15pm

Session five

Advanced Semiconductor
  • The evolution of semiconductor technologies and applications from analog to digital to quantum
  • From silicon to advanced semiconductors (compounds)
  • Future possibilities: integrating different materials
2:15pm - 2:20pm Break

2:20pm - 3pm

Session six

Devices and applications: Semiconductor manufacturing

  • More than CMOS - sensors, power, RF and quantum devices and applications 
  • Key developments in manufacturing - from miniaturisation to materials
3pm - 3:15pm Coffee break

3:15pm - 4pm

Session seven

The growing semiconductor ecosystem in Arizona, USA.

Speaker: Christopher Bailey. Professor of Advanced Semiconductor Packaging and Director of the Centre for Advanced Semiconductor Packaging. Arizona State University.

  • Advance packaging
  • The growing semiconductor ecosystem in Arizona
4pm - 4:15pm Questions and final remarks.

Day two - 9am - 3pm

8:55am Teams opening

9am

Morning session

Trainer: Andy G Sellars Chair UKTIN semiconductor expert working group

9am - 9:45am

Session 8

Semiconductor taxonomy
  • Types of semiconductors and their applications   
  • Interoperability and substitute-ability

9:45am - 10:30am

Session 9

Trends and market forecasts
  • Historical trends: digitalising everything
  • The implications of AI, machine learning and quantum technology
10:30am -10:45am Coffee break

10:45am - 11:30am

Session 10

International supply chains 
  • Macroeconomic drivers: winner takes all
  • Supply chain bottlenecks and mitigations
  • Geopolitical tensions and emerging standards

11:30am - 12:15pm

Session 11

Opportunities for the UK
  • R&D
  • Design / IP
  • Compound semiconductors

12:15pm - 1pm

Lunch break

Lunch break

1pm

Afternoon sessions

Mark Rushworth CEO Finchetto

1pm - 2pm

Session 12

  • Introduction to photonics
  • Material platforms and uses
  • Applications
  • An integrated photonic workflow
  • The future of photonics
2pm - 2:10pm Coffee break

2:10pm - 2:50pm

Session 13

Invited speaker
2:50pm - 3:00pm Questions and final remarks

Course registration and pricing

Early bird tickets

(until Friday 14 November 2025)

Member - from £679
Non-member - from £799   
Student - £499

Standard tickets 

Member - £779
Non-member- £899
Student - £499

UK and overseas individual

Book now - UK and overseas individual
*Overseas participants

*If you are attending the course from outside of the UK and are paying for your booking using a company payment card where the company is VAT Registered and is the registered card billing address, please use the registration link for a VAT registered overseas company.

This form will capture your Company VAT Registration number and will be subject to Out of Scope VAT. Otherwise, VAT is charged at the UK rate of 20%.

If you are from outside the UK but paying with a personal payment card, please use the overseas individual link.

What's included in registration?

  • Two days of interactive training delivered by Semiconductor experts
  • Access to trainer presentations
  • 15 CPD hours and a certificate
Group booking discounts

The following discount codes are for member and non-member delegate registration only, and not applicable to student bookings.

  • 10% discount for three to five delegates – SEMICONGR3TO5
  • 15% discount for six plus delegates – SEMICONGR6PLUS

Please note that payment must be made in full, and we do not accept AMEX when registering online.

If you need to pay for your group by proforma invoice, please contact events@theiet.org.

Terms and conditions

All prices are per person. If you require a proforma invoice before booking and/or wish to pay via purchase order, please contact us: events@theiet.org. We regret that we cannot accept AMEX for online payments.

*All students must provide a copy of their student pass or letter of enrolment from their college or University.

Once registered please email your documentation to events@theiet.org along with your booking confirmation number.

By attending this event, you’re helping to support the IET’s charitable mission, helping to inspire, inform and influence the global engineering and technology community, to engineer a better world.