Empowering The Next Generation Of Chip Designers: Maven Silicon's Journey To Excellence In VLSI

Q1.  How does it feel to receive this prestigious award?

I am deeply honored and thrilled to receive this prestigious award from Outlook Business India. This recognition as 'Company of the Year - Edtech' in the Indo-Global Business Awards is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire Maven Silicon team over the past 15 years. Maven Silicon was founded with a vision of producing skilled chip designers and helping the Indian and global semiconductor industry meet the growing demand for their chips. In our journey, we have emerged as a ‘Centre of Excellence in VLSI’, bridging the gap between industry and academia, especially for the tier-2 engineering colleges and making their students successful chip designers. We are very proud of our contributions to the Indian semiconductor industry, and this award inspires us to continue our incredible journey and do more for our country. Thank you for this great honor.

Q2.  What are the most inspiring innovations done in your organization?

We’ve been the pioneers in VLSI training, and over the last 15 years, our goal has been to adapt and innovate our training programs to stay on par with industry standards and deliver top-notch training. During COVID-19, we were the first VLSI training company to introduce self-paced online VLSI courses for undergraduates, graduates, and working professionals to help them upskill from anywhere, anytime. This online training business model enabled us to upskill an army of engineers worldwide for the global chipmakers by introducing a muti-year learning subscription model. Also, it helped us to democratize the expensive Job-oriented VLSI training in India and support engineers from tier-2 cities and towns in India. In the B2B corporate training business, we train 100-500 engineers annually for tier-1 global chipmakers and services MNCs. In the B2C NCG training business, we train 2000+ Electronics[EEE/ECE] graduates annually in various VLSI domains. Today, we have 1Lakh+ online learners who have successfully been certified in VLSI.

We also introduced a new processor technology, RISC-V, in our curriculum so engineers could explore the processor design. RISC-V is an open ISA and its license free. It’s emerging as a powerful processor like the open-source Linux operating system. Today, every trainee at Maven Silicon learns how to design RISC-V processors and use the same to realize complex electronic devices like smartphones using SoCs. This is how we prepare the next generation of chip designers and support the semiconductor industry.

Q3.  According to you, what factors helped you excel?

Several key factors have contributed to Maven Silicon's success over the past 15 years. First and foremost, our commitment to staying ahead of the curve by continuously adapting and advancing with the latest technologies and techniques in the semiconductor chip design field has been crucial. This approach has allowed us to offer cutting-edge VLSI training programs that meet the evolving needs of the industry.

Our focus on quality education and practical, hands-on experience has ensured that our students are well-prepared for real-world challenges. We have also built a strong team of experienced professionals who are passionate about teaching and mentoring. Their expertise and dedication have been instrumental in maintaining the high standards of our training programs.

Furthermore, our close collaboration with industry leaders has helped us stay aligned with market demands and emerging trends. This industry connection has not only enhanced our curriculum but also provided our students with valuable placement and networking opportunities.

Lastly, our unwavering commitment to our students' success has driven us to continuously improve and innovate. By creating a supportive and dynamic learning environment, we have empowered thousands of engineers to excel in their careers, which in turn has fuelled our growth and reputation as a leading VLSI training provider.

Q4.  When it comes to your organization, what are you most proud of?

Every country is trying to contribute significantly as part of the global semiconductor supply chain and help the global semiconductor industry balance and sustain the supply chain. India is also very ambitious in creating a good semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem by partnering with global chipmakers and OEMs. This initiative helps our country grow as one of the world's most influential and developed countries. In this AI era, we need next-generation chip designers who can design advanced AI chips using the next-gen VLSI technologies for global chipmakers. At the same time, we want next-gen engineers who can design chips for Indian consumer, space, and defence applications as entrepreneurs and emerge as global chipmakers, utilizing our evolving semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem. As a founder of Maven Silicon, I am very proud of our alums who can lead the Indian semiconductor industry as next-gen chip designers. We have 5000+ alumni working as senior engineers and tech leads in the global semiconductor industry. I expect some of the most talented and ambitious engineers to follow my entrepreneurial path and do something extraordinary for our country.

Also, our team of 120+ talented and dedicated employees is a significant source of pride. Their expertise, passion, and commitment to excellence create a supportive and dynamic learning environment. Our collaborative culture and continuous efforts to innovate our teaching methods have set us apart as leaders in VLSI training.

Q5.  Your organization’s contribution in the field of Semiconductor Industry?

At Maven Silicon, we have made significant contributions to the semiconductor industry by providing top-notch VLSI Design and Verification, ASIC, DFT and Physical Design, and RISC-V and ARM Processor training. Our programs are continuously updated to align with industry needs and standards. We take pride in having placed over 5000 chip designers globally in top semiconductor companies. We’ve collaborated with 1000+ Academic institutions across India and have helped their students build a strong foundation in VLSI. Through our corporate training solutions, we’ve helped semiconductor industry leaders increase their workforce efficiency and reduce their time-to-market significantly.

Q6.  How are you different from people working in a similar domain?

Maven Silicon is well known for its technical domain expertise, innovation, and business ethics. We are the only training company in India working directly with ARM, UK, and RISC-V International, USA, as their approved global training partners and upskilling the experienced engineers of global chipmakers on advanced processor technologies. Using our innovative online learning solutions, we have democratized the expensive job-oriented VLSI training courses in India. How can you teach complex technologies like VLSI online? Engineers need hands-on experience on industry-standard projects to become deployable in the semiconductor industry. We are the only VLSI training company in India that provides a complete learning environment for engineers to learn and practice chip design online. It's possible only with our high-quality engaging videos, learning materials, labs, and projects. Our trainees access them and do their courses efficiently on our cloud-based LMS. We also collaborated with our EDA partners, Siemens EDA and Synopsys, to empower the next-gen chip designers with cutting-edge EDA technologies. Our partnership with top global chipmakers and design services MNCs reflects our business ethics and scalable training business model. We are the only VLSI training company in India that upskills 100-500+ engineers annually for global chipmakers.

Q7.  What is the goal of your company and how are you planning to achieve it?

At Maven Silicon, we aim to become a global leader in VLSI training, producing millions of skilled chip designers and supporting the global semiconductor industry to overcome the ongoing workforce shortage. But it's very challenging due to two main reasons. One is attracting talented engineers for the chip design, and the other one is continuously updating us on the fast-growing VLSI and EDA technologies. Also, the evolving AI technology will transform our chip design methodology and flow. At Maven Silicon, we are working directly with global chipmakers as their preferred VLSI training partner and supporting their new upskilling initiatives for their new projects in the pipeline. Some of them demand using AI for chip design. It helps us to update ourselves continuously on new technologies. We also inspire new college graduates to become next-gen chip designers, sharing our knowledge and project experience gained from B2B corporate training engagements.

Q8.  What’s the biggest factor that has helped you to be successful?

The most significant factor contributing to our success at Maven Silicon has been our unwavering focus on continuous learning technology advancements, quality, and innovation. By continuously updating our training programs to align with industry advancements and strongly emphasizing practical, hands-on learning, we ensure our trainee engineers are highly skilled and industry-ready. Also, we are emerging as a preferred VLSI training partner for the global chipmakers and tier-1 design services MNCs. This dedication to excellence has built our reputation as a leader in VLSI training services.

Q9.  What are some of your future endeavors?

As part of our future endeavors, we are launching newly designed Embedded System Design and Programming courses based on the latest processor technologies to help undergraduates and graduates of electronics and electrical engineering backgrounds with holistic upskilling opportunities in both VLSI as well as Embedded Systems. We want to see Maven Silicon emerges as Centre of Excellence in VLSI and Embedded Systems, for both chip design and programming.

Q10. What is the best advice you can give to our readers?

Are you truly passionate about chip design? If yes, you will enjoy learning this incredible VLSI technology and successfully build your long-term semiconductor industry career. As a successful electronics engineer, you will always feel proud to design advanced next-gen chips and help our country emerge as one of the world’s most powerful countries. As a founder of Maven Silicon, I am very proud of our alumni’s contribution to the growth of the Indian semiconductor industry. I eagerly anticipate some of them to emerge as the next generation of chipmakers in India.

The best advice I can give is to embrace continuous learning and stay adaptable. In an industry as dynamic as semiconductor technology, learning and evolving with new advancements is crucial. Always seek opportunities to expand your knowledge and skills through formal education, training programs, or hands-on experience. Stay curious, remain open to new ideas, and never stop pushing the boundaries of what you can achieve. Remember, success is not just about keeping up with industry trends but about setting them.