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What are the career opportunities ?

For IC designers

Recently, there is dramatic growth in IC design activities in Singapore because of the increasing number of electronics companies migrating into product and design work here. To support the continuous growth of the electronics and semiconductor industry, an adequate supply of well-trained manpower in IC design must be ensured.

The IC design industry is becoming a major employer in Singapore, and this will likely continue in the next decade. The IC design industries include many large multi-national corporations such as Mediatek, Broadcom, Marvell, Xilinx, Altera, Microchip Technology, Renesas Technology, Philips, Silicon Labs, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, Linear Technology, O2Micro, Panasonic, etc, to small-and-medium size enterprises such as Advanced RFIC and Bluechips.

A close examination of the recent statistics reveals that IC design occupies the top-end of the semiconductor value chain. It is less vulnerable to companies’ relocation when compared to the chip manufacturing activities simply because of cost issues. IC design is also a high value-added activity and according to the industry estimates, each chip designer’s salary doubles after a few years. This is way above the average salary for those working in other sectors and specializations.

For Electronic Engineers

The common denominator in virtually all aspects of the electronics technology, including Information, Computer, Communications and Automation technologies, and even Semiconductor and Life Sciences, is electronics. They are strategic key technologies supported and encouraged by the government. To put it differently, Electronics Engineering is an important foundation that supports and encompasses these industries. As an electronics engineer with the necessary electronics knowledge and foundation, your career opportunities are abundant. More specifically, you would be sufficiently trained to pursue a career in virtually all the different fields of electrical and electronic engineering.

The role of an electronics engineer in industry, academia and society is virtually infinite. In industry, you could be involved in the development of a product at any stage of its life cycle, including commencing from market research to delivery, commissioning, maintaining, research, design, development, production, testing, quality control, etc. You could see yourself serving at the front-end of a defence industry, in commerce and banking, and in many commercial electronic industries.

The electronics industry is a major employer in Singapore, and this will likely continue in the new millennium. The electronic industries include many large local and foreign electronic multi-nationals such as HP, Matsushita, Philips, IBM, Creative, Sony, Venture Corporation, EPCOS, Toshiba, Panasonic, Seagate, 3M, NEC, Murata, AMD, OKI, etc, to defence including MINDEF, to small-and-medium size enterprises such as Aztech, Ektronics and Advanpack Solutions. With a technoprenuer spirit and a good idea, you may even start-up your own high-tech electronics company.