Career events build on university partnerships as chipmaker expands advanced production in Texas
Samsung Electronics is moving more aggressively to turn multiyear ties with US engineering schools into a recruiting pipeline for its semiconductor business, as the company expands advanced-chip capacity and the industry competes for a limited pool of engineers.
The company’s Device Solutions division will hold Campus Career Day events at Texas A&M University on Aug. 26, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on Sept. 2 and the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Sept. 4, according to notices posted by Korean student associations at the schools.
Samsung plans to explain job and internship opportunities across its semiconductor operations, then hold Q&A sessions and individual consultations with undergraduate and graduate students.
Importantly for Samsung, two of the three universities chosen for recruitment already have formal ties with the company in semiconductor education and workforce development.
Samsung Austin Semiconductor invested $1 million in Texas A&M’s engineering school in 2023. The funding supports scholarships and graduate fellowships, as well as student projects linked to semiconductor engineering. Texas A&M said at the time that Samsung had already hired hundreds of its graduates and provided internships to hundreds more.
At UIUC, Samsung launched a semiconductor education program in 2023 with $1 million in annual funding planned through 2027. The program includes scholarships and mentoring, alongside curriculum development intended to prepare students for semiconductor careers.
UW-Madison does not have a comparable disclosed funding relationship with Samsung, but it has expanded its semiconductor research base. The university opened a new facility last year focused on ultrawide-bandgap semiconductor materials, adding to existing work in chip fabrication and related fields.
The campus outreach comes as Samsung is building out its US manufacturing footprint. Its federally supported investment plan in Texas covers two advanced logic fabs and an R&D facility in Taylor, along with expansion at its existing Austin site. Expected capital spending exceeds $37 billion.
In its July earnings call, Samsung said it is preparing its first Taylor fab for operation in 2026, with 2-nanometer capacity set to increase afterward. Separately, the company recently began recruiting for the first summer internship program to include the Taylor site.
The campus events, however, are not described as hiring specifically for Taylor. They are being organized by Samsung Electronics’ broader DS division, and the notices do not say whether successful applicants would work in South Korea or the US.
By Moon Joon-hyun (mjh@heraldcorp.com)
