'21 alumnus Vineet Tagare is a semiconductor powerhouse

Vineet Tagare is a MatSE ’21 alumnus, who now works as a process integration engineer at TMSC, a semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Let’s catch up with this recent alum in a Q&A.

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Q: What exciting materials efforts are you getting to champion in your current role?

A: “I am a process integration engineer (at TMSC), where I analyze data and work with different departments to design experiments and bring new products into production.”

Q: What sparked your interest in materials science?

A: “I became interested in materials science and engineering once I got to understand the various fields the knowledge I gained could be applied to.”

Q: What made you choose to study materials science and engineering at Illinois?

A: “I chose to study at Illinois because of the university's top engineering school and top MatSE department. I also chose Illinois because of its beautiful campus as well as the exciting campus life.”

Q: What makes MatSE the coolest engineering major?

A: “Materials science and engineering is the coolest major because of the various applications and the advancements being made in the field.”

Q: What are your fondest memories from your time at Illinois?

A: “I have had a lot of great memories from my four years at Illinois — from the various celebrations hosted by the MatSE department, to the many trips I got to go on through (MatSE’s student societies) Materials Advantage and Keramos, to secret Santa and white elephant (gift exchanges) with friends, to Materials Advantage intramural sports teams. I have enjoyed every single event I took part in. One of my favorites was the annual trip to Curtis Apple Orchard, where I enjoyed spending time with friends, picking apples and eating apple cider donuts.”

Q: What research did you conduct as a MatSE undergraduate student?

A: “Most of the work I did happened in the cleanrooms on campus through classes. I have worked in the nanotechnology cleanroom in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building, the cleanrooms in the Nick Holonyak Micro and Nanytechnology Laboratory, and the cleanroom in the mechanical engineering building through classes like Introduction to Nanotechnology; Theory and Fabrication of Integrated Curcuit Devices, and Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems and Nano-Electro Mechanical Systems Theory and Fabrication. In these labs, I worked with advanced device fabrication equipment to create transistors and MEMS-NEMS devices.”

Q: What do you cherish most about your time at Illinois?

A: “I cherish the countless memories I made with lifelong friends and how tight knit the MatSE department is. The supportive faculty and staff in the MatSE department made the Illinois experience even better.”

Q: How did your time at MatSE prepare you for your career?

A: “One of the things I learned as a MatSE student at Illinois is how to consider every possibility when finding anomalies in sets of data. During many of my undergraduate courses, I had to write technical reports for labs, which included analyzing data to come to a conclusion. From the data, I had to think of every possible parameter to explain outliers or unexpected trends in the data. This skill is one that I use in my job every day to determine the root cause of anomalies in data and any other issue that may arise.”

Q: What advice do you have for current MatSE students and the incoming freshman class?

A: “For current MatSE students, take every chance you get to learn in lectures and in the labs to help you get a research position, an internship, into graduate school or (land) a job. Take advantage of every opportunity given to you.

“To the Class of 2026, take every opportunity you get to learn and find out what you're interested in. Make a great group of friends and don't be afraid to reach out to the teaching assistants, professors and faculty.”