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Trellice and RV-SKILLS Form Strategic Partnership to Build U.S.–India Semiconductor Workforce Pathways

Collaboration will connect Trellice’s semiconductor workforce architecture and growing U.S. ecosystem with RV-SKILLS’ established semiconductor curriculum, faculty and training capabilities in India.

NEW JERSEY / BENGALURU, INDIA — OCTOBER 12TH, 2026 — Trellice LLC, a semiconductor workforce and ecosystem company, today announced a strategic partnership with Bengaluru-based RV-SKILLS to develop industry-aligned semiconductor workforce programs connecting capabilities in India with emerging workforce requirements across the United States.

The partnership brings together Trellice Academy’s semiconductor workforce architecture, industry alignment and growing U.S. institutional ecosystem with RV-SKILLS’ semiconductor curriculum, faculty, training infrastructure, hands-on technical education capabilities, and expertise in talent development and workforce infrastructure.

The collaboration is designed around a simple principle: semiconductor workforce development should begin with what industry needs people to be able to do.

Rather than bringing a predetermined training catalog into a market, Trellice and RV-SKILLS will work from semiconductor industry requirements backward — identifying priority occupations and competencies, assessing existing institutional capabilities, and addressing gaps through curriculum, technical environments, faculty enablement, industry projects and work-based learning.

“The semiconductor workforce challenge is not simply about producing more engineers. It is about developing people with the specific capabilities required by the processes, tools and environments in which they will work. RV-SKILLS has spent years building semiconductor training capability in India. By combining that experience with Trellice's workforce architecture and U.S. ecosystem, we have an opportunity to build a repeatable model that connects industry requirements directly to workforce development across the entire talent continuum — from early exposure and technician pathways to mid-career reskilling and advanced engineering execution. The objective is not to create another isolated training program. It is to build a workforce architecture that develops the right capabilities, at the right level, for the semiconductor industry.”

— Sandeep Chandesh, Founder & CEO, Trellice

From Curriculum to Demonstrated Capability

Through Trellice Academy, the collaboration will develop stackable workforce pathways spanning the semiconductor value chain, including IC design and verification, wafer fabrication, semiconductor equipment, process and manufacturing operations, assembly and advanced packaging, testing, quality and reliability, and related technical occupations.

The organizations will explore curriculum alignment and development, faculty and train-the-trainer programs, simulation and technical environments, employer-defined projects, cohort-based training and work-based learning.

RV-SKILLS, which began its journey as RV-VLSI in 2007, is a Bengaluru-based semiconductor talent transformation organization focused on bridging academic education and industry requirements.

For two decades, RV-SKILLS has evolved alongside India's semiconductor ecosystem, creating pathways for aspiring engineers seeking careers in VLSI and semiconductor technologies. Through industry-aligned curricula, experienced faculty, high-performance computing and hands-on laboratory environments, the organization has worked to help engineers move from academic learning toward industry capability.

Over the years, RV-SKILLS has provided a platform for thousands of VLSI aspirants and reports having trained more than 6,500 IC Design engineers. As India's semiconductor ambitions and workforce requirements have expanded, RV-SKILLS has continued to evolve its programs and capabilities around the changing needs of industry.

As Basavaraj Nagaraju has previously stated:

“Our focus was simple: create a platform for engineers who aspired to build careers in VLSI and help bridge the gap between academic learning and what the industry expected. Over the last two decades, we have seen both the industry and the aspirations of students transform significantly. That experience has strengthened our belief that the semiconductor workforce challenge cannot be addressed through training programs alone. We need to build Talent Infrastructure: an ecosystem that connects curriculum, capable faculty, industry-grade tools and environments, hands-on learning, mentorship and meaningful industry exposure. Our partnership with Trellice gives us an opportunity to build on the experience RV-SKILLS has developed in India and contribute to a larger U.S.–India workforce ecosystem, while keeping industry capability at the centre of how talent is developed.”

— Basavaraj Nagaraju, CEO, RV-SKILLS

Basavaraj also serves as Strategic Advisor —India & Workforce Development to Trellice, advising the Founder and leadership team on semiconductor workforce strategy, skills development and institutional engagement in India. His advisory role complements the broader Trellice–RV-SKILLS strategic partnership and its focus on developing scalable U.S.–India semiconductor workforce pathways.

Building a U.S.–India Workforce Execution Model

The initial collaboration will focus on developing workforce programs that can be deployed with universities, community colleges, workforce organizations and semiconductor employers.

Rather than creating parallel educational infrastructure, the model is designed to complement institutions already serving their regions.

Trellice will provide the workforce architecture, industry alignment and ecosystem orchestration. Trellice and RV-SKILLS will jointly develop and align curriculum based on industry requirements, with RV-SKILLS bringing its semiconductor training expertise, faculty capabilities and delivery infrastructure.

Together, the organizations will explore cohort-based programs, faculty enablement, train-the-trainer models and other mechanisms designed to scale semiconductor-specific capabilities across institutions and regions.

The objective is to create a repeatable model that can be adapted to the specific occupations, processes, technologies and employer requirements of individual semiconductor regions.

Institutions educate. Industry defines capability. Trellice connects and operationalizes the two.

Connecting India’s Talent Base with Global Semiconductor Requirements

India represents an important part of the global semiconductor talent ecosystem, with a growing base of engineering talent, academic institutions and semiconductor capabilities. The Trellice–RV-SKILLS partnership will build on RV-SKILLS’ experience in India by connecting these workforce development capabilities with Trellice’s growing network of semiconductor employers, educational institutions and workforce organizations in the United States.

The longer-term objective is not to export one curriculum from one country to another.

It is to create a workforce architecture that can be adapted regionally while remaining connected globally.

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