Motivating students through problem-based learning and chip-fabrication in a microelectronics design laboratory

Laboratories and project work are widely used in the engineering curricula around the world. Such hands-on trainings allow the students to learn hard-as well as soft-skills and can be used to prepare them for the work in the industry. In microelectronics education laboratories are often offered. For such a laboratory the authors present a set-up to teach microelectronic design using a top-down design approach. In contrast to other work in the field, the laboratory is designed using a problem-based learning approach to foster the students' problem solving skills and enabling them to develop individual learning procedures. Without detailed, tutorial-style instructions the students shall design a digital component from behavior description to layout. Self-directed learning is used to figure out a design-flow and realize their digital design. To motivate the students, the task for the laboratory is to design an artificial intelligence player (AI) as a digital circuit for the classic arcade game Pong. The designs are written in VHDL and implemented in a 0.35 μm CMOS technology, connected to a given implementation of Pong, and taped out. After delivery of the fabricated design, the integrated circuit was tested by the students. The described laboratory was initially run as a block course in 2013. After the course the participants of the laboratory were interviewed to evaluate the course.