Inclusive Workplace

We came here before five years.

And, then we started to from India I did not have any clue what kind of country and what kind of people here in Taiwan.

At the starting, we were little bit afraid with the language because we are not able to speak Chinese.

And here also we think, like, people we don't know what they will help us or not. We asked some friends so they helped us for everything like accommodations about schools for our kids and everything and also from TSMC we got some agents to get accommodations and everything so the things were very nice.

Being a vegetarian, I started in a beginning period, we were a little bit suffering for the food. But gradually we develop our taste, and with some Taiwanese friends they used to tell us what kind of food can we try or not, so we gradually like so many food and now I don't think we have any trouble with the food. And also we get all the Indian spices and everything here. It's easy here in 7-11.

So be cook ourselves for everything like we have a small India in Taiwan.

According to me, health facilities are really good. With the health insurance, it's very very easy to get all kinds of facilities from the hospitals. I think all kinds of instruments, advice, and medications is available here. So it's really nice.

And about the education, it's easy to get all English schools and kindergartens here.
So for me, it's pretty good.

Finally, out of our home country, we always miss our country, our festivals, rituals. So from TSMC, also, we got support to the Indian club, sport club, and culture club.

So through that we started to celebrate our different different festivals.

During that time, we are like able to meet everyone. And also introduce our culture and festival to Taiwanese people. They are also really happy to be a part of that.

I was in Mumbai when my husband was doing Ph.D., and immediately after that we came here. So the campus life I really enjoyed in India and the same things here.

I have so many students and my friends. So according to me, their life is going really good. They are able to get good accommodations and they are able to work here. So I think life is really good.

Every year we think we can go back to India. But every year we are extending our stay because we like Taiwan. We don't want to leave Taiwan. So I think it's the people here, the culture, and everything is like attracting us to stay here. So we are here, for I think, long time.

I really like Taiwanese people. They are most humble people. They are always ready to help. I never face any trouble because of the language. But I was thinking this is (because) the barrier for me.

But I never had any bad experience here. People are really helpful for us.

I think you are most welcome. This is the most friendly and helpful country I've ever seen. So it's really good if you choose to come Taiwan and about for the study or to work here.

Especially in TSMC, I have really good experience. TSMC supports their employees a lot. So it's really good.

My major responsibilities are related to test chip for R&D and support customers.

So, this will give me an opportunity to work with the latest technology node which may not be in production and still working at the R&D levels or supporting customer projects which is with the latest technology node.

So it can be ahead of other design house. The experience to work on product chips is something unique. And, customer to customer, they are different aspects of dip out.

So, depending on which customer you sell, you get to know their requirements, you get to know what they need from the foundry, what kind of support they need from the DTP.

It does different from working on test chips inside DTP. And it also different from working as a customer to TSMC. So it's different from the design house who are operating separately for their chips and dipping out it from TSMC.

So this is something in between you get to learn from both.

Basically TSMC is a foundry, but still I'm in a design team.

And I like it because I get to work on the technologies which are not yet available to customers.

So it's more about learning something ahead of time.

And it's also more about trying to find solutions, which may help R&D, which may help customer, and it can definitely enrich my technical capabilities.

So, yeah, it's so far really good.

Hi. I'm Ching-Wen and I've been working at TSMC for almost 24 years! I got my start as a Process Module Engineer immediately after I graduated from university. It was a very exciting time for me! More thrilling was when I moved departments and became a Process Integration Manager. It was here where I led a very talented team responsible for non-volatile memory. Very important work.

It was during my Process Integration Role that I was awarded 10 US semiconductor patents. But during that role, I had opportunities to communicate directly with customers to solve problems. That was one facet of the business I enjoyed the most. And through those interactions, I learned how to ask the right questions, but more importantly, how to build trusted business relationships with customers.

When I moved from Taiwan to the US, I felt it was a good time to switch roles within TSMC. From Engineering to the Account Management side. I'm so glad I did! Looking back, that transition was a defining moment for my career and a role where I feel the most fulfilled. I've managed different accounts from startups to sizeable fabless and IDM. TRY TO ADD IN TWO MORE JOB FUNCTIONS/TASKS HERE THAT YOU LIKE. SO YOU'LL LIST 3 TOTAL.

What continues to blow my mind is that when I joined TSMC in 1995 we were working on 0.5um, 500nm technology. Today 5nm technology is at production stage. Amazing. The technology has advanced so much over the years, and I'm proud to share I have changed along with it too. This has been a very meaningful journey for me.

Science has always interested me since I was a kid. When I was at 3rd grade, I saw an electronic assembly kit for kids on TV commercials that you can create doorbell sound, microphone, etc. It was a kid's version circuit board. I liked it so much and I saved money to buy it. I would take the kit apart and put them back together again and again and was so excited every time when I could successfully make the doorbell sound. At school, my favorite subjects are math and physics. It was quite obvious that I have a natural instinct for science.

When I was at Material Science and engineering graduate school, one day I was asked to help walking a big dog. I was very curious why we had dogs in the lab. Then I learned that the lab was working with a doctor to develop materials for artificial knee caps and will try it on dogs. That was the striking moment that I strongly felt engineering can help us have a better life and I want be one of them to help contribute.

I always tell woman who want to pursue a career in technology a couple things.

First, find your passion. Put all your effort and the right attitude into pursuing your dreams.

Second, know what working in the Engineering field will bring you tons of exciting moments, but those moments, also lead you down very bumpy paths. Stick with it through the highs and lows.

Third, build your own, strong, self-confidence, and develop a positive feedback loop to help overcome challenges, obstacles and to solve problems.

And lastly, align with a few strong mentors that you can always seek for help.

TSMC is very supportive of promoting diversity. I was one of the first few female engineers, but I do not feel my gender has limited my opportunities at work at all. When I joined TSMC, I was so inspired that Integrity is TSMC's most important core value. We tell the truth. We believe that the record of our accomplishments is the best proof of our merit. Strive to do what is right and do what we say we will do. In TSMC culture, we believe in mentoring. Along the way, I have a few mentors at different stages. They have provided me guidance and helped me work on the right direction. I am now passionately mentoring and coaching both female and male colleagues at TSMC. I hope I will help create future leaders for the company.

I have found the best approach to achieve work life balance is to know what you want, what you need, and then setting priorities. Priorities may be different at different stages of your careers and you can always adjust it. I always remind myself "choose what you like and like what you do, then you can have mental balance." I LOVE THIS, BTW!

I have a demanding job that I like, but I also want to spend time with my family, play cello, exercise, hike, and travel. There simply aren't enough hours in the day for me to do everything I wish I could, so I have learned to prioritize each day depending on the situation.

Giving myself a mental break is a skill I learned over the years. For me, after exercise, I will have my creativity back, see things more clearly, and be more productive at work.

I look forward to the day that a "woman engineer" will be just called, "an engineer."

Believe that you are unique and step out of your comfort zone to contribute more. Develop the reputation to be known as a go-to person or get-it-done person. More importantly, continuing to challenge yourself and to keep learning is critical when working in a technology field. Broadening your scope beyond engineering will help you cultivate not only more opportunities within your career but for you personally too.