AVS 45th International Symposium
    Manufacturing Science and Technology Group Thursday Sessions
       Session MS-ThP

Paper MS-ThP1
Dynamic Simulation Based Learning Tools for Manufacturing Education and Training

Thursday, November 5, 1998, 5:30 pm, Room Hall A

Session: Manufacturing Science and Technology Group Poster Session
Presenter: G.W. Rubloff, University of Maryland
Authors: G.W. Rubloff, University of Maryland
A.R. Rose, University of Maryland
Y. Sankholkar, University of Maryland
D.E. Eckard, North Carolina State University
Correspondent: Click to Email
A critical issue for the semiconductor manufacturing industry is the skill of the workforce at all technical job levels. The challenge of education and training is especially difficult because it is highly labor intensive and because the reality of actual hardware is very expensive and difficult to access for training purposes. We have constructed software learning tools as an avenue to dealing with both problems. They exploit physically-based dynamic simulation, so that the learner may "operate" sophisticated equipment, even break it, without adverse consequence but with the opportunity to understand how the equipment and process work. The simulators are accompanied by integrated tutorial, guidance, and reference material to support the learner in exploring phenomena, principles, and physical behavior of the system. As self-contained learning tools, disseminated as software or across the Internet, these learning modules provide the opportunity to learn when and where the student chooses. The software platform is constructed to relate guidance materials directly to simulator objects, to support experimentation and record-keeping, to permit learner-directed exploration in depth, through examples, and through exercises and self-tests, and to facilitate authoring of tutorial material and construction of physically-motivated simulators and error handling with minimal need for manufacturing practicioners to write software. Learning modules are demonstrated which convey vacuum and gas flow, heat transfer, chemical reaction, and other concepts and realizations relevant to semiconductor manufacturing equipment and process.