The higher education system produces one of the highest numbers of engineering graduates around the world. However, Electronic System Design and Manufacturing industry, which can potentially employ 27.8 million people by 2020, is struggling with short-supply of engineers who know the VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) design process. Industry experts claim that the education in engineering colleges and universities are not able to meet the industry's specific needs, which is forcing them to expend significant efforts on improving the skills of people on various levels. Founded by Venkat Sunkara, who has over 18 years of experience in VLSI industry, ChipEdge's VLSI programs are structured towards bridging this Industry-Academia gap. Established in 2012, ChipEdge is committed to quench semiconductor industry's ever-increasing demand of highly

skilled and effective workforce ready to be productive with no or less further training.

ChipEdge is committed to quench semiconductor industry's ever-increasing demand of highly skilled and effective workforce ready to be productive with no or less further training

"The standard of VLSI teaching at majority of the institutions is not up to the industry level. As a result, the students coming out of the campuses are not skilled enough to work in VLSI industry. We are deeply concerned about the industry - academia skill gap and have designed multiple models to deliver training in college/university campuses," says Sunkara. To foster a generation of skilled professionals, ChipEdge offers customized VLSI training to the entry-level engineers as well as working professionals. While, the institute's VLSI Certification Courses including Advanced Digital Design & Verification and Analog layout Design are carefully structured for colleges to give in detail application oriented practical training to students on the selected topic, the corporate training programs can be used to enhance

training to students on the selected topic, the corporate training programs can be used to enhance the technical skills of existing employees or developing skills for fresher graduates. "These courses are designed as per the industry requirements and will be taught by trainers with rich industry experience. Emphasis will be on the practical aspects using VLSI (EDA) tools, like cadence, mentor graphics, synopsys and so on," explains Sunkara.

ChipEdge is unique in offering wide range of high quality skill development programs that have been delivered by senior VLSI professionals who have strong passion to share their expertise with academia and corporate world. Most of the trainers employed by ChipEdge have worked with MNCs in the industry for 10 to 20 years. While, majority of the academic institutions lack in application oriented knowledge, exposure to the latest technologies and expertise on VLSI tools usage, Sunkara and his team of experts at ChipEdge have realized the importance of faculty training to improve VLSI teaching quality around the county. Hence, today they are also offering modular training to faculties who are already teaching VLSI subjects in UG and PG courses. "We are driven by uncompromising quality, values and contribution to the society through skill development," concludes Sunkara.