ABOUT
SCALE K-12
WHY SCALE K-12
The Importance of Microelectronics
Microelectronics are vital to almost every aspect of modern life and are increasingly at the heart of US national defense and security. The US is facing an increasingly large gap between its domestic needs and microelectronics design and manufacturing capabilities, resulting in a growing dependence on foreign suppliers. While Midwestern universities (such as Purdue University, Indiana University, University of Illinois, and Michigan State University), the Department of Defense / NSWC Crane, and local contractors are very active in the fields of microelectronics, recruiting enough students and workers to this sector remains a major need. It is now vital to bring students into this area much earlier to maximize the chances that they consider these sorts of high-paying career opportunities available in their region. Therefore, the challenge is to rapidly increase the K-12 awareness of and interest in prioritized microelectronics areas in a scalable way.
Job growth in the semiconductor industry workforce is expected to eclipse 30%, reaching over 115,00 jobs by 2030. View Infographic >
WHAT IS MICROELECTRONICS
Microelectronics and Semiconductors
The words microelectronics and semiconductors are everywhere in the news right now. They seem synonymous… but they have slight distinctions. Semiconductors are materials that can conduct electricity under certain conditions. That makes them ideal materials to use as building blocks for microelectronics. So what are microelectronics? They are the electronic devices or circuits fabricated on a very small scale, such as transistors or integrated circuits (or more commonly microchips). You can think of semiconductors as the building blocks and microelectronics as the very small structures built with those blocks. For the purpose of this project, we use the term microelectronics to encompass both terms.
HOW IT WORKS
SCALE K-12: Integrating & Developing through Education
SCALE K-12 aims to expose, motivate, and ultimately prepare students from a variety of backgrounds with the skillset and mindset for careers in defense-related microelectronics (ME). SCALE K-12 is a full school system engagement project that aims to help school districts integrate ME across all levels and content areas of K-12 education. It includes partnering with teachers from these districts to design curricular modules and activities for ME.
The curriculum development aspect of the project includes summer curriculum writing workshops with teachers and university partners, paired with coaching, to allow teams of teachers to design a microelectronics curricular module and activity focused on ME contexts and/or concepts.
The vertical alignment part of the project includes shepherding school administrators and lead teachers to develop ME implementation plans so that at least 75% of their students interact with ME in a manner that promotes exposure and interest each school year.
OUR IMPACT
FUNDERS
The SCALE K-12 initiative is made possible through the generous support of the following organizations:
US Department of Defense
Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons Hub
Indiana Economic Development Corporation
Regional Opportunity Initiatives
PARTNERS
Impact and reach of the SCALE K-12 initiative is made possible through the academic institution and regional outreach partners from across the Midwest and beyond:
SCHOOL DISTRICT PARTNERS
The schools, administrators and teachers that partner in the SCALE K-12 effort are working at the cutting edge of high-level content integration across their schools:
Purdue University
Indiana University
University of Illinois
University of Detroit Mercy
“We acknowledge support from the U.S. Department of Defense [Contract No. W52P1J-22-9-3009], Indiana Economic Development Corporation [Contract No. A281-3-IPF-1028 424208], and U.S. Department of Defense through Applied Research Institute [Contract No. SA-22036.001]”