The magic of your chip begins in Mexico

The landscape in Mexico

In 2018, Mexico contributed 11.6% of the global supply of semiconductors with an export value of 721 million pesos. They export 88% to the United States and this is because one of its main attractions is its proximity to the industry.

In addition, according to the Institute of Statistical and Geographical Information of Jalisco, the main export subsector of Jalisco is “Manufacture of computer equipment, communication, measurement and other electronic equipment, components and accessories” with an export value of 3,092 million dollars, which represents 54.70% of the entity’s total exports in the fourth quarter of 2020.

This puts it above the export of tequila, since the beverage and tobacco industry only represents a value of 572 million dollars and 10.13% of the total exports of the state.

In addition, the industry has 3.1 million workers, which represents 18% of the country’s formal employment spread over 6,500 companies in 19 states of the Republic.

For this reason, the search and development of Mexican talent is essential for centers such as the GDC. “We see the future full of opportunities, but everything starts with talent,” says Jesús Palomino.

On the other hand, Adriana Palau, director of engineering at Intel GDC, highlights that only 30% of women enter to study a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) career, but of that percentage only 10% graduate and attrition continues to decline in the world of work.

“We want more girls for various reasons, but one of them is because women are 50% of the consumer population. It is necessary to have women in companies to provide solutions and the vision of women”, concludes Palau.

The relevance of semiconductors

Semiconductors are extremely important because they are the essential technology for the operation of all modern devices. They serve to be able to turn on your phone even to have connectivity or a cloud.

In 2020, an investment of 440,000 million dollars was made in the industry worldwide and by 2022 the figure is forecast to reach 600,000 million dollars. For this reason, promoting technological talent in Mexico is key for the semiconductor industry because the journey to make a chip begins with research, which is carried out at the GDC, which was also Intel’s first acquisition in Latin America. .

Jesús Palomino, CEO of Intel GDC, explained the path of a computer chip:

1. Design: Here the ideas of chip architects, logic designers and circuit designers converge.
2. Creation of masks: digital patterns are converted into masks that contain the information for each step of the manufacturing process.
3. Manufacturing: In a controlled environment, machines and photolithography are used to print the patterns of the silicon wafer masks for each step of the manufacturing process, creating integrated circuits.
4. Individualization and classification: the finished wafers are cut into individual chips and placed on spools.
5. Test and Assembly: Technicians test each of the dies one last time, then mount them between a thermal separator and substrate to form a slim, compact package.
6. Storage: Logistics professionals ship the chips to customers or global distribution centers where they are shipped to manufacturers or packaged.