EngineeringHigh Demand
Semiconductor / IC Design Engineer
Design, simulate, and verify integrated circuits (ICs) and microchips used in computers, smartphones, and AI hardware.
Salary RangeUSD 110,000 - 200,000/year
Growth Outlook15% growth expected by 2032 (Chip Act)
A Day in the Life
You'll spend days designing logic gates, running simulations to check for timing errors, and optimizing chip power consumption.
Key Skills & Competencies
Verilog/VHDL
Circuit Design
Computer Architecture
Physics
How to Build Your Pathway
Projects
- FPGA programming projects
- Design a simple CPU
- Circuit simulations (SPICE)
- Arduino micro-controllers
Internships
- Silicon Design Intern (Intel, AMD, Nvidia)
- Hardware Engineering Intern
- Validation Engineer
Certifications
- Verilog/SystemVerilog courses
- Embedded Systems
- VLSI Design
Suggested Majors
- Computer Engineering
- Electrical & Electronics Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Materials Science & Engineering
- Physics
- Electrical Engineering
- Materials Science
Common Industries
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