I would like to know what a typical day is like for someone working in wet process or thin film process development.

Hello Mattie. What would you say are the most important soft and hard skill sets in your role?

Hi Folasade, thank you for the question! In my current role as a wet process process owner, my day consists of process improvement (monitoring statistical process control, fault detection, etc), working with our High Volume Manufacturing Fabs to align on processes so that we are running the same thing at all fabs, and developing better performing processes. I spend a lot of my day collaborating with other teams and individuals.

Important soft skills: I would say most important is communication. We regularly communicate over email, teams, and zoom right now with the pandemic. It is essential to be able to communicate properly about your processes, data, etc.
Important hard skills: I utilize statistics and general properties of chemistries every day. I also would say knowing materials and energy balance basics is crucial.

Thank you, Mattie.
Do you do any hands-on lab or clean room work in your role?

Yes! In my first role at Micron, shift engineer, I was in the fab (clean room) every day. We were regularly pouring up new chemistries and running tests for the Process Owners (my current role). In my current role as a process owner, I spend about 5 hours a week in the fab checking on my tools, pouring up chemistry, taking samples as needed, etc. I have loved being up close with the processes and getting to watch how they run.

What are the shift options for a shift engineer?
Was your first role as a shift engineer a wet process development role?

We have 4 shifts here in Boise - A,C,E,F. A and C are day shifts (6:30AM - 6:30PM). E and F shifts are night shifts (6:30PM - 6:30AM). Shifts are 12 hours long and work 3 days on, 4 days off then the next week you would work 4 days on, 3 days off. You rotate between days and nights every 4 months. I absolutely loved working shift as it allowed me to have time to do so much in my free time. Great work life balance.

My first role was titled: "Wet Process Shift Engineer". The roles which include "development" title are generally PhD roles and are more research based.

Does that mean that a shift engineer role is more hands on and whilst a development engineer is less hands on?

I would say it depends what type of development engineer role you are in. A shift engineer role would be more hands on than a process development engineer, but an equipment development engineer would probably be the most hands on.

Thank you very much for your time, Mattie.