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We are excited to announce that Toller Phipps, Heights High, 2022, has started working at Intel’s Ocotillo campus in Chandler, Arizona, one of their semiconductor fabrication locations. The Ocotillo campus manufactures semiconductors, which is becoming increasingly rare, as many American chip companies outsource production to overseas companies (such as TSMC in Taiwan).
Speaking of Taiwan, Intel recently partnered with UMC, a Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing company, to enhance Intel’s production capabilities. UMC will share tools and processes with Intel, particularly at the Ocotillo campus where Toller works, to help them develop a 12 nm production process. This will be the first of its kind in the US, and the US is heavily investing in Intel to support this effort and reduce reliance on overseas manufacturing.
Toller joined the fabrication department, where he focuses on ensuring that the wafers Intel produces are functioning correctly, identifying defects, and determining their causes. Toller also works on maintaining the tools to ensure smooth operations. Due to the ongoing collaboration between UMC and Intel, he has also worked with the install quality team to ensure that the new tools they’re integrating meet the requirements for their upcoming chip launches.
Toller shared, “This has been an incredible experience so far. One of the highlights has been suiting up and entering the fabs to witness the production process firsthand and see the amazing technology Intel uses to manufacture such tiny components. I will attach a short video below showing the inside of one of our fabs and some of the cool things we have going on.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRlcZqqyBM8
Congratulations on your new role, Toller!
