On Jan. 13, a cohort of seniors from Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services (TST-BOCES) New Visions Engineering stepped into the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility (CNF), trading notebooks for cleanroom suits as part of the Accelerated Training for Labor Advancement in Semiconductors(ATLAS) program.
The program is designed to introduce high school students to the semiconductor industry through authentic, hands-on laboratory experience.
Unlike most high school STEM enrichment courses, ATLAS places students inside an active research fabrication facility. Over two weeks, participants complete virtual reality coursework, safety training and hands-on activities inside CNF's 17,000-square-foot cleanroom, one of the most advanced university nanofabrication facilities in the country. Before heading to the lab, students take CNF's three-day virtual Technology and Characterization at the Nanoscale curriculum, which provides the scientific foundation for what they later create.
"Having this kind of access is transformative," said David Syracuse, the instructor with New Visions Engineering. "It shows students that science and engineering are more than a lab report you write after a 45-minute experiment. They get to see the full story - from an idea to the work it takes to develop it, to sharing results - and understand that engineering is always a collaborative effort."
Once cleared for cleanroom access, students suit up in specialized garments and enter CNF's fabrication bays, where university researchers and visiting scientists routinely build microscale and nanoscale devices. Staff demonstrate how chips begin as bare, single-crystal silicon wafers and introduce students to the tools and processes used to layer, pattern, and etch the tiny circuits that power modern electronics.
"One of my favorite parts of the ATLAS program was seeing how so many different disciplines can make discoveries and advancements with nanotechnology. We learned from people researching everything from cancer detection to solar efficiency to quantum computing devices. The experience encouraged me to approach problems holistically and collaborate across disciplines to find solutions," said Iris Johnson, New Visions Engineering student.
For most students in the group, it was the first time seeing how the hardware inside everyday devices is physically manufactured.
Building the semiconductor workforce pipeline
ATLAS is gaining renewed relevance at a pivotal moment for New York State's semiconductor sector. On Jan. 16, Micron Technology broke ground on its $100 billionmegafab complex in Onondaga County -the largest private investment in the history of the state, described by federal officials as one of the largest industrial projects in U.S. history. The development is expected to generate tens of thousands of technical jobs, with Micron estimating 9,000 direct hires and 50,000 total jobs created not only in fabrication but also across a network of suppliers, training classes and research institutions.
"The construction of the Micron Technology megafab will change the shape of the state's economy for decades to come," said Thomas Pennell, CNF's Workforce Development Program Manager and ATLAS lead instructor. "Current estimates are that by the year 2030 over 25% of the chips manufactured in the United States will be made on the I-90 corridor,"
Pennell explained how ATLAS is already helping position students to take advantage of that growth. "Since we launched it in 2023, nine students have returned to CNF for National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates and internships supported by the Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTECH)," he said. "We're seeing students shift their trajectories toward high-tech industries."
Inspiring the next generation of chipmakers
For the high school students who participated, the cleanroom experience was more than a tour; it was a glimpse of what it means to work at the forefront of modern technology, and their first encounter with a rapidly expanding industry.
"As a programmer, working in a cleanroom made me more familiar with the processes leading up to the code running on the silicon. I think this experience will help greatly with future software engineering," said Clayton Melson, New Visions Engineering student.
"My time in the clean room has certainly impacted my decision for my intended field of study. Initially, when going into the cleanroom, I had determined my major to be biomedical engineering. After my time in the clean room, and the discovery of how microfluidic devices aid in the research of microbiology, I was able to whittle my interest in biomedical engineering to a nano-specific biological approach," said Niveck VonBergen, New Visions Engineering student.
Syracuse expanded on how early exposure to professional semiconductor environments helps students connect classroom learning to real-world careers while developing transferable skills. "This type of experience shows students that professional skills matter just as much as technical knowledge," he said. "Being able to communicate clearly, work on a team and show up prepared are skills they can carry into college or any career."
"By experiencing the ATLAS program and developing my own personal wafer, I gained a newfound interest in nanotechnology," said Ari Wessell, New Visions Engineering student. "I really hope to work in a cleanroom facility in the future, and I'm interested in the endless possibilities in the world of nanotechnology."
