As AI takes center stage in tech and business conversations, one question looms large: What jobs will define the future?
While that answer is still unfolding, one thing is clear — we’ll need a new generation of talent working on building what’s new and what’s next on the hardware side to bring that future to life.
For higher education institutions, the challenge is about creating pathways that equip students with the skills needed to build impactful and sustainable careers in tech. In order to do this, Georgia Tech is expanding its collaboration with tech giant Apple by joining the company’s New Silicon Initiative (NSI), a program designed to equip students with the skills needed for careers in hardware technology, computer architecture, emerging architectures, and silicon chip design.
The new partnership means that electrical and computer engineering students will get hands-on skill development around microelectronic circuits and hardware design, both critical components for which will be pivotal for driving the digital transformation across industries. Apple engineers will team up with Georgia Tech faculty to bring real-world expertise into the classroom. They’ll deliver guest lectures across various integrated system design courses, giving students an inside look at industry practices.
On top of that, these engineers will join project reviews in IC (integrated circuit) design courses, offering hands-on feedback to help students fine-tune their designs throughout the tapeout process.
Georgia Tech joins other universities like the University of California, Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon University which offer the New Silicon Initiative.
The program is focused on teaching students the “principles, skills and best practices” around engineering, Georgia Tech Professor Visvesh Sathe told Hypepotamus. He added that the goal is to help students see the “big picture” and gain a “broader appreciation, interest, and excitement for hardware design.”
This is not the first time Apple and Georgia Tech have joined forces. In 2022, Georgia Tech’s campus introduced a digital circuit design course with Apple’s support to offer undergraduate students a hands-on theory-to-tapeout course for very large-scale integrated (VLSI) digital circuits.
