German students in Taiwan to take part in TSMC internship program

Taipei, Feb. 23 (CNA) Students from Dresden taking part in an internship program intended to support the development of a new fab by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) in Germany have begin to arrive in Taiwan.

Josef Goldberger, liaison officer of the Saxon Science Liaison Office Taiwan, said Thursday on the sidelines of a German Trade Office event that some of the 30 students enrolled in the six-month program have already arrived in Taiwan, while others will come in March.

Their program begins with semiconductor-related classes at National Taiwan University (NTU).

"The internship program consists of four months of study at NTU and a two-month internship at TSMC's Taichung fab," Goldberger said.

The program coincides with TSMC's plans to build a fab in Dresden that will rely on its 28 and 22 nanometer technologies and 16nm and 12nm FinFET process technologies to make automotive and other chips, with production scheduled to begin by the end of 2027.

TSMC in August 2023 announced its plan to set up European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC) in Dresden as a base for extending its global manufacturing network to Europe.

Though the exchange program is aimed at cultivating semiconductor talent, Goldberger said participating students did not have to make a formal commitment to eventually work for TSMC or the Dresden fab.

According to Goldberger, the students have already started their NTU classes online in Germany in conjunction with NTU's new semester beginning on Feb. 19.

Nine of the 30 students arrived in Taiwan last week, while the other 21 will join the group after finishing their final exams for the winter semester in Germany, which usually ends in March, according to the liaison officer.

The students are either in their third year of university or graduate students, Goldberger said.

The two-month internship with TSMC following the classes at NTU will be at the Taichung fab "because the one to be set up in Dresden is most similar to the one in Taichung in terms of chipmaking process technologies," Goldberger said.

The exchange program, called the Semiconductor Talent Incubation Program Taiwan (STIPT), is a joint initiative of the German state of Saxony, the Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden), and TSMC.

According to TU Dresden website, the project is being funded by the state of Saxony and is for all Saxon universities and research institutions. Additional universities in Saxony and Taiwan will join the program in 2025.

The Saxon Science Liaison Office Taiwan, representing and promoting scientific exchanges and the cultural and economic interests of Saxony in Taiwan, was opened in September 2023 in Taipei.