<\/a>Semiconductors are materials used to make chips that power most modern electronics like phones, laptops, cars, solar energy, defense technologies, artificial intelligence and medical devices.
Sacramento is home to nine global semiconductor companies: Bosch, Samsung, Intel, Micron, Solidigm, AMD, Kioxia, Qualcomm and Western Digital.
Daniel Marrujo, president and managing director of Trusted Strategic Solutions, which is a consulting firm that helps navigate challenges related to microelectronics. He was approached by GSEC on the heels of an evaluation by Newmark<\/a> with a vision to expand Sacramento\u2019s chip manufacturing sector.<\/p>\n
For the plan to work, he said they needed to focus on the one factor that will allow the region to thrive or not: its people.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are quintessential to any capability that is either being stood up or planning to expand,\u201d Marrujo said.\u00a0 \u201cWe focused on workforce development as being the core focus for this action plan, looking at all of the demands that industry had in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
Workforce development through education \u201cIt really gives students a real good strong basis on how things mechanically work, and then what happens when you electrify that situation and use a chip in the process to regulate the process and move processes,\u201d Duncan said. \u201cIt allows students to work really hands-on and get the basics and all of those components.\u201d<\/p>\n Sierra College offers both a certificate in mechatronics and an AA or AS degree depending on what the student chooses. Duncan said students could complete the certificate program in 18 months and could make anywhere from $70,000 to $100,000 a year. Oettle said she feels prepared for the jobs she\u2019s doing now because of going through that and would recommend it to people who want to get a job in this field. Now, GSEC and industry partners have already started building their homegrown workforce and partnering with local institutions in the region. Marrujo said the investment these companies are making will have a ripple effect on the region.
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Sierra College in Rocklin has already begun producing people to go into the workforce with their mechatronics program.\u00a0
German-based manufacturing company Bosch acquired the former TSI facility in Roseville in 2023 and was just awarded $225 million in CHIPS<\/a> funding to help transform the facility into a major U.S. production hub for silicon carbide chips.
Through their partnership with Bosch, Sierra College students have a direct pathway to a job through the program \u2014 the types of jobs that GSEC hopes more residents could fill.
Bosch said in an email that they\u2019ve hired 13 technicians from Sierra College since they acquired the site. The positions include associates that were in operations previously and were then promoted after obtaining mechatronics certificates.\u00a0
One of those hires is Sacramento native Ella Oettle who took the program at Sierra College and now works for Bosch as a line maintenance technician level 1. She\u2019s been working at Bosch for two years.
\u201cI was hired by Bosch right out of graduating from Sierra College Mechatronics program, and I had no prior semiconductor experience before that, or much prior work experience,\u201d Oettle said. \u201cThis is my first full-time job out of college, but over the last two years, I’ve gained a lot of knowledge about the areas that I am working on in the fab.\u201d\u00a0
Willy Duncan, the superintendent for Sierra College, said their Mechatronics program<\/a> combines the concepts of mechanical and electrical engineering into one program.<\/p>\n![\"Bosch\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bosch_digital_press_kit_2026_roseville-122_2.jpg\")
Bosch intends to start U.S. based commercial manufacturing in 2026 \u2013 just three years after acquiring the Roseville site.Photo courtesy of Bosch<\/p>\n
\u201cThe certificate program has really all of the same mechatronics programs,\u201d Duncan said. \u201cIt’s just if you want to get the degree, you also need to get a lot of your general education done and some of the other components in order to get the degree and be able to maybe transfer on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m obviously not coming in as an expert in any field, but I think specifically with the semiconductor industry, it is pretty unique in the manufacturing sense that it does deal with pretty much all systems that we covered in the mechatronics program,\u201d she said. \u201cNo matter how much we’d like to talk about AI taking away jobs, the robots will always need somebody to fix them.\u201d
Oettle began her mechatronics journey at Del Oro High school where she had a dual enrollment class through Sierra College.
Sacramento equals semiconductors<\/p>\n
Marrujo mentioned they\u2019ve had discussions with UC Davis, Sacramento State and the Los Rios Community College District. He said they\u2019ve presented Sac State with a program called Warp 10, which incorporates some of the national lab capabilities that the nation has invested via the Department of Energy, specifically Brookhaven National Labs<\/a>.
\u201cInstead of having students go all the way to Long Island, New York, and get hands-on experience, our virtual capability allows them to do state-of-the-art kinds of testing that is needed here in Sacramento, while leveraging the same capabilities framework that is available over at Brookhaven,\u201d he said.
Bosch isn\u2019t the only company that has invested in the region. Solidigm, a U.S.-based semiconductor company owned by South Korea-based SK Group, has its headquarters in Sacramento.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why it’s so exciting to be in the Sacramento region because you’re seeing companies want to call Sacramento home, pulling away from states that are the classical states that they would go to, Texas or New York,\u201d he said.
With all of the companies in the region, Marrujo has a simple message: \u201cSacramento equals semiconductors.\u201d<\/p>\n
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