University of North Texas alumni are leading change in roles scattered throughout the semiconductor industry. UNT chemistry professor Oliver Chyan has dozens of former students who have successful careers with some of the industry’s biggest players — from Texas Instruments and Intel to Micron Technology and IBM.

“The most important product is my students. That’s been the most enjoyable aspect of my job at UNT for the last 30 years,” says Chyan, whose research on microelectronic fabrication and semiconductor processing has garnered seven pending or issued patents.

After earning his undergraduate degree in his native India, Ashish Shivaji Salunke (’22 Ph.D.) continued his chemistry education at UNT once he heard about Chyan’s impactful electrochemistry and semiconductor research. In Chyan’s lab, Salunke had the opportunity to contribute to projects that gave him a fundamental understanding of semiconductor production.

Now, as a lead engineer for the photomask clean process team at Micron Technology, Salunke has developed a process that ensures the company manufactures a defect-free photomask for extreme ultraviolet lithography — an opaque quartz substrate that acts like a stencil to aid in printing integrated circuit designs on silicon wafers for fabricating semiconductors.

“At first, I found it challenging to connect the dots between my projects at UNT. However, Dr. Chyan helped me weave them into a cohesive story for my thesis,” Salunke says. “This ability has been incredibly useful in my current job, where we often handle multiple tasks. Those who can see the bigger picture and link these elements are the ones who succeed in leadership.”

Another of Chyan’s former students, Trace Hurd (’05 Ph.D.), has touched almost every aspect of semiconductor production in his decades-long career, including stints at TI, Entegris and Arch Chemicals.

Currently senior director of technology development with Tokyo Electron U.S., also known as TEL, he oversees research and development for the global supplier of integrated circuit manufacturing equipment.

Managing an R&D organization of nearly 60 scientists and engineers, Hurd says he takes a lesson on leadership from Chyan in the way he prioritizes students and their aspirations.

“I want to make sure they’re getting the most out of their career and mentor them if there’s things they want to learn,” Hurd says. “That was always key to Dr. Chyan; he was always looking to help his students move along in their life and giving them the right tools to do so.”