Career Horizons in Materials Innovation for AI: Insights from Applied Materials

Gain valuable insights into how the challenges posed by the rapid growth of AI is being addressed, learn what a typical day is like for engineers at Applied Materials and explore exciting career opportunities available for postgraduate students eager to contribute to the future of AI technology!

Applied Materials is the leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world. For more than 55 years, their innovations have improved the lives of billions of people around the globe.

Applied Materials believes that AI represents the most significant inflection point of our time. However, the power required to support the growth of AI is driving energy consumption to new levels. Power is becoming a much more important variable, and the demand for more power-efficient solutions to intensify is expected. In this AI inflection, there is an increasing role of materials innovation in enabling chipmaker roadmaps in logic, DRAM, high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced packaging, all of which are critical to improving chip performance-per-watt requirements.

Speakers:

Dr. Wong Loke Yuen
Senior Director, Applied Materials

Loke Yuen is the Deputy Head of Advanced Packaging Development Center.

He began his career at Applied Materials as a New College Graduate, initially working as a Process Integration Engineer in Advanced Packaging. Over the years, he has built a diverse background with experience in Global Product Management, Programme Management, Strategic Business Development and Engineering Management.

In his current role, he develops and implements long range plans for the Heterogeneous Integration Business Unit. He also leads a multi-disciplinary R&D team, focusing on achieving the Heterogeneous Integration of different chips through collaborations across business units and with other ecosystem partners.

Loke holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the National University of Singapore, has co-authored journal articles, and holds multiple patents.

Dr. Doreen Yong
Chemist, Applied Materials

Doreen is a Chemist with Applied Materials since Jan 2019. She collaborates with research teams globally to develop innovative solutions with a view to overcoming the current limitations in the semiconductor industry through science. In her present role, she is leading the efforts to develop a novel etch process which will have a material impact on the commercialization and manufacturing of next generation semiconductor chips.

Prior to joining Applied Materials, she had a broad-based research experience in various aspects of nanomaterials synthesis, characterization and application testing ranging from defoaming, catalysts, conductive films, energy storage and antimicrobial activity. She obtained her Ph.D. and B.Sc. (Hons) in Chemistry at the National University of Singapore.

Dr. Prayudi Lianto
Process Integration Engineer, Applied Materials

Prayudi Lianto received a Ph.D. degree in advanced materials for micro- and nano-systems from the National University of Singapore in 2013.

He then joined Applied Materials to build his career in semiconductor industry. He has been working on the process integration of various wafer-level packaging technologies, covering through-silicon via (TSV), bump, re-distribution layer (RDL), and hybrid bonding.

During this period, he has been involved in organic/ inorganic dielectric and metal chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process development for emerging advanced packaging applications. He also manages internal and external partnerships to enable new product ideation within Applied. His current interest is in the area of electroplating and cleans. He holds 19 US patents.

This workshop is part of the NUS Postgraduate Career Fair 2024. Find out more about the career fair here.