Lam Research opens new Yongin campus targeting local chip talent

Lam Research opened a new campus in Yongin encompassing a semiconductor research and development (R&D) center and facilities for human resources training.

Tim Archer, president and CEO Of Lam Research, speaks at the opening ceremony for Y Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday. [LAM RESEARCH]

Lam Research opened a new campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday, encompassing a semiconductor research and development (R&D) center and facilities for human resources training.

The U.S. chip equipment manufacturer aims to form new partnerships with Korean companies and hire more talent in the surrounding area via its new “Y Campus,” which is located in the in state-backed Yongin chip cluster.

“The opening of the Lam Research Yongin Campus builds on our 35 years of Korean semiconductor ecosystem leadership and extends our R&D, training and service capabilities in the region,” Tim Archer, President and CEO of Lam Research, said at the opening ceremony Tuesday.

“At a time of rising device complexity, our new facilities will support our ability to closely work with customers to deliver the next generation of disruptive semiconductor innovations.”

Lam Research is one of the leading chip equipment makers in the world next to ASML and Applied Materials.

It already has a significant presence in Korea, having established operations there in 1989. It runs manufacturing facilities in Yongin, Hwaseong and Osan and supplies wafer etching tools to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

The campus spans 30,000 square meters (322,917 square feet), Archer emphasized in his speech, making it the company’s largest R&D center outside the United States.

Lam Research signed an agreement with the Korean Semiconductor Industry Association and Sungkyunkwan University to provide 7 billion won worth of licenses and trained personnel to the university’s College of Engineering. It will also contract its “semiverse” ecosystem, a virtual semiconductor fabrication system meant to educate students about the process.

The program will run a yearlong test phase in 2025. Lam Research plans to expand it further after that time to foster undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate-level talent in the semiconductor industry.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]