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Home02 · The HostVenkat's Journey

My journey

From a polytechnic in Sivakasi to the fabs India is about to build.

I did not arrive in semiconductors through a campus placement. I arrived through a diploma, a mill, a seating factory and a one-way ticket to Singapore. Every step since has been learned on a floor, next to a machine, with someone patient enough to show me. This is that route, and the ladder it turned out to be.

2001 Sivakasi2004 Singapore2014 India2025 PTW India
Venkatesh Kumar Pandurengan back at Arasan Ganesan Polytechnic College, Sivakasi
SivakasiThe polytechnic where it started, revisited as a guest of honour
Venkatesh Kumar Pandurengan outside a Tech Mahindra campus building
The builder yearsGlobal OEM programmes, run from India
Venkatesh Kumar Pandurengan at the PTW Group stand at a semiconductor exhibition
TodayPTW India, built from zero in year one
SIVAKASI · 2001 – 2004

Where hands came first

A fireworks and printing town in southern Tamil Nadu. Arasan Ganesan Polytechnic gave me a diploma in electrical and electronics; a spinning mill and a seating-systems plant gave me the habit of fixing what is in front of me.

SINGAPORE · 2004 – 2013

Where the fab became home

Nine years across Infineon, ASE and Micron: wafer probe, final test, first-silicon bring-up, and finally a 300 mm fab startup where I led a CVD module team through 100+ tool installations.

INDIA · 2014 – TODAY

Where the building begins

Training programmes, 450+ engineer teams for global OEMs, the HCL–Foxconn ATMP/OSAT DPR, and now PTW India, the equipment and infrastructure services company for India's fabs.

The route

Twenty-two years, one apprenticeship.

Each stop carries a "learned by doing" note: the one lesson that only that floor could teach.

SIVAKASI · THE FOUNDATION

OCT 2001 – MAR 2003 India

Electrical Supervisor

Raja Lakshmi Spinners Pvt Ltd

Motors, drives, panels and the discipline of keeping a spinning mill running through the night.

Learned by doingA machine that stops costs money every minute. Fix first, explain later, document always.

MAR 2003 – MAR 2004 India

PED Technician

Harita Seating Systems

Production engineering on an automotive seating line: fixtures, cycle time, and the first taste of manufacturing discipline.

Learned by doingQuality is designed into the fixture, not inspected into the part.
SINGAPORE · THE FAB YEARS

MAR 2004 – FEB 2008 Singapore

Production Specialist, Final Test & Wafer Probe

Infineon Technologies

Set up, ran and troubleshot Teradyne (J750, J971/J973, Catalyst) and Advantest test systems, probers and handlers. Part of 100+ new ATE installations for a new facility. Worked with the silicon design team on first-silicon bring-up of 16/32-bit microcontrollers, probe cards and DIB boards, characterisation, reliability and release to manufacturing. Trained new hires as their OJT buddy.

Learned by doingA chip proves itself on a tester. Test time, yield and characterisation are where design meets reality.

MAR 2008 – APR 2010 Singapore

Senior Engineering Technician, Final Test & Wafer Probe

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE)

Managed 90+ production specialists and 30+ setup technicians across wafer- and IC-level test equipment. Sustained product on line with SPC/FDC monitoring and guided process engineers through new-equipment qualification.

Learned by doingA floor is run by its handovers. The numbers that matter are the ones you can defend at 6 a.m.

JUL 2010 – JUN 2013 Singapore

CVD PEE Technologist, Shift Lead (300 mm, 40/22 nm)

Micron Semiconductor Asia

Led the Fab CVD module engineering team through the Fab10 startup: 100+ new equipment installations, facility hookups and qualification, released for production. Managed a 200+ member team across CVD and metrology in a fully automated 12-inch fab. AMAT Producer GT/SE, Lam Express, Extreme, Altus Max and more, TEL SOD; HARP, BPSG, AC/TC and SOD processes. PECVD SAT/LAT and warranty support across Asia and Europe with Applied Materials at >95% uptime. Earlier, 200 mm to 300 mm fab conversions at Tech Semiconductor with AMAT, TEL, Novellus and Lam.

Learned by doingStarting a fab is a physical schedule: the ballroom is empty until the last hookup is signed off.
INDIA · THE BUILDER YEARS

JAN 2014 – MAR 2016 India

Engineering Project Leader, Training & Development

Opus Mind Technologies

Came home to turn nine years of fab experience into curriculum: hands-on semiconductor training programmes for engineers entering equipment and manufacturing roles.

Learned by doingYou only understand a skill when you have to teach it to someone who has never seen a cleanroom.

2016 – 2017 India

Semiconductor Equipment Engineer, then Senior Engineer

Orbit Technology Solutions

Managed a 120+ member team of SMEs, product-support and customer-support engineers, lab technicians and design engineers for multiple semiconductor OEM customers. End-to-end installation and engineering operations for CVD, PVD, Etch, CMP, ALD and metrology equipment; PM, CM and troubleshooting to sustain fab process tools.

Learned by doingSustaining is the other half of installing. A tool that is up is a team that is trained.

OCT 2017 – JAN 2023 India · Global

Technical Project Manager, Semiconductor

Tech Mahindra · clients AMAT, Lam, ASML, TEL, KLA, Intel, Micron, SCL

Built and managed teams of up to 450+ engineers and specialists supporting semiconductor OEM and fab operations across business units. Directed cleanroom setup, facility integration and metrology tool installations. Ran installation, commissioning, FAT qualification and warranty programmes in India and global fabs with >95% uptime, and global deployment programmes across the US, China, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and India. Prepared RFPs, DPRs and business proposals for new semiconductor engagements.

Learned by doingScaling people is the real engineering problem. Seven countries, one configuration standard.

JAN 2023 – APR 2025 India

Group Technical Manager, Semiconductor Manufacturing Practices

HCL Technologies (Sankalp Semiconductor)

Led the Detailed Project Report, planning, stakeholder coordination and government approvals for the proposed HCL–Foxconn ATMP/OSAT facility. Directed facility design, build and operational-readiness programmes: ATMP/OSAT, R&D and ATE labs, equipment build centres, EPCM, MEP, cleanroom readiness and commissioning. Established six offshore development centres and built a 500+ member equipment and process engineering workforce. Directed AI-enabled manufacturing capability development.

Learned by doingA DPR is the document that turns intent into a facility. Every number in it will be tested by concrete.

JUN 2025 – PRESENT Bengaluru

General Manager, India

PTW Asia Pvt Ltd

Established and lead PTW India: semiconductor equipment engineering and lifecycle services, installation to decommissioning, fab automation and operational support. Trusted advisor on facility planning, cleanroom readiness, tool-install strategy and Owner's Engineer, PMC and PMCM services including technical due diligence. Acquired and support 10+ customers across semiconductor, solar and lab-grown diamond manufacturing while supporting PTW's global operations.

Learned by doingNow the job is to build the company that builds the fabs, and to leave a trained bench behind it.

Interactive module 04

The Learning Ladder

Seven rungs from technician to ecosystem builder. Click a rung to see what it teaches you by doing, what it unlocks, and where I stood on it.

01Technician2001–04 02ProductionSpecialist2004–08 03SeniorTechnician2008–10 04TechnologistShift Lead2010–13 05EquipmentEngineer2014–17 06Program &Practice Lead2017–25 07GM &EcosystemBuilder2025–

RUNG 01 · TECHNICIAN · 2001 – 2004

You learn that the machine is the teacher.

Electrical supervisor in a spinning mill, then a production engineering technician. No simulator, no sandbox: a motor that trips at midnight and a line supervisor waiting.

Learn by doingFault-finding under time pressure. Reading a panel, a drawing and a noise.UnlocksThe confidence to open the machine. Everything above this rung assumes it.My rungRaja Lakshmi Spinners and Harita Seating Systems, straight after the diploma.

RUNG 02 · PRODUCTION SPECIALIST · 2004 – 2008

You learn what "qualified" means.

Testers, probers and handlers on a wafer-test floor. Setups, conversions, correlation lots, and the first time a new tool is released to production with your name on the checklist.

Learn by doingEquipment setup and maintenance, SPC/FDC monitoring, first-silicon bring-up alongside designers.UnlocksOwnership of a tool and its numbers. The right to train the next new hire.My rungInfineon Technologies, Singapore. 100+ new ATE installs for a new facility; OJT buddy to new joiners.

RUNG 03 · SENIOR TECHNICIAN · 2008 – 2010

You learn to run a floor, not a tool.

Ninety production specialists, thirty setup technicians, three shifts. The tool is no longer the unit of work; the shift is.

Learn by doingShift handovers, escalation, qualification support for process engineers, sustaining product on line.UnlocksLeadership through competence: people follow the person who can still fix the tool.My rungAdvanced Semiconductor Engineering, Singapore.

RUNG 04 · TECHNOLOGIST & SHIFT LEAD · 2010 – 2013

You learn to start a fab.

A 300 mm fab at 40/22 nm, and a module to bring up from an empty ballroom: install, hook up, qualify and release 100+ tools, then keep them above 95% uptime.

Learn by doingFacility hookups, SAT/LAT qualification, CVD process sustaining (HARP, BPSG, AC/TC, SOD), 200 to 300 mm conversion.UnlocksThe fab startup playbook that every later DPR and install plan is built on.My rungMicron Semiconductor Asia, Fab10 startup; earlier conversions at Tech Semiconductor.

RUNG 05 · EQUIPMENT ENGINEER & PROJECT LEADER · 2014 – 2017

You learn to teach, then to run a service team.

Back in India: curriculum first, then a 120+ member engineering team serving multiple OEM customers across CVD, PVD, Etch, CMP, ALD and metrology.

Learn by doingTurning tacit floor knowledge into training; PM/CM programmes; OEM customer engineering.UnlocksThe ability to multiply yourself. One engineer becomes a bench.My rungOpus Mind Technologies, then Orbit Technology Solutions.

RUNG 06 · PROGRAM & PRACTICE LEAD · 2017 – 2025

You learn that the document is the facility.

Teams of 450+ and 500+ across seven countries. RFPs, DPRs and government approvals. Cleanroom setup, EPCM, MEP and commissioning across multiple infrastructure projects, including the HCL–Foxconn ATMP/OSAT DPR.

Learn by doingProgramme governance, budgets and risk; owner's-side technical management; AI-enabled manufacturing capability.UnlocksA seat at the table where fabs are decided, with the floor experience to know what the numbers hide.My rungTech Mahindra, then HCL Technologies (Sankalp Semiconductor).

RUNG 07 · GENERAL MANAGER & ECOSYSTEM BUILDER · 2025 –

You learn to build the organisation that builds fabs.

PTW India from zero: engineering delivery, EHS, commercial execution, partnerships and 10+ customers in the first year, plus the ecosystem work with government, academia and industry bodies.

Learn by doingCompany building, government relations, localisation strategy, mentoring founders and students.UnlocksImpact that outlives a project: a workforce, a supply chain, a foundation.My rungPTW Asia; Honorary Chairman, Wafer on Wheels Semiconductor Foundation; Mentor, Bharat Semiconductor Society.

Education & credentials

Still a student. Deliberately.

I am completing a Bachelor of Electrical & Electronics Engineering at Anna University while running a company. Experiential learning is not a substitute for fundamentals; it is what makes them stick.

  • Bachelor of Electrical & Electronics Engineering (pursuing), Anna University, India
  • Diploma in Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Arasan Ganesan Polytechnic College, Sivakasi
  • National Trade Certificate (NTC Level 2) in Electronics, Electronics Industries Training Centre, Singapore
  • PMI-ACP certification training · ISO 45001:2018 OHSMS training · ASCEND Leadership Certification
Venkatesh Kumar Pandurengan presenting an award to a student at Arasan Ganesan Polytechnic College, Sivakasi
Full circleBack at Arasan Ganesan Polytechnic College, Sivakasi, for Inception Day, handing an award to the next generation.
HONORARY CHAIRMAN

Wafer on Wheels Semiconductor Foundation

A non-profit driving skill development programmes across the complete life cycle of semiconductor manufacturing practices in India.

About the foundation
MENTOR

Bharat Semiconductor Society

A non-profit that incubates the semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in India. I mentor founders and engineers on the unglamorous parts: facilities, tools, people.

Ask for mentoring