Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEMCO) has recruited Gang Duan, a veteran semiconductor packaging engineer formerly with Intel, as Vice President of its U.S. subsidiary. The move signals SEMCO's accelerated push into next-generation glass substrates, often referred to as the "substrate of dreams," as the company looks beyond traditional IT markets into AI, automotive, robotics, and energy applications.

Duan, a Chinese-American and Caltech graduate, spent 17 years at Intel, where he was recognized as "Inventor of the Year" in 2024 for his pioneering work in glass substrate technology. Starting this month, he will oversee technology marketing and application engineering at SEMCO's San Jose office, spearheading global business development, customer strategy, and R&D collaboration with major tech companies.

Glass substrates are emerging as a game-changing packaging platform for AI and high-performance computing chips. Compared to conventional organic substrates, glass offers a smoother surface for fine circuit formation, superior thermal resistance, and mechanical stability, making it ideal for large-area, high-density chip designs.

Industry experts believe glass substrates can support line widths below 5µm—half that of current organic substrates—and enable chiplet integration with higher density and better signal integrity. Embedding components like MLCCs within the substrate also frees up surface space for more chips, enhancing power efficiency and computing density.

Duan has been vocal about glass substrates as the future of AI hardware, stating, "Tomorrow's AI systems will be built on ultra-large form-factor glass substrates." His appointment reflects SEMCO's strategic focus on capturing early leadership in this rapidly evolving space.

SEMCO is currently operating a pilot glass substrate production line and plans to supply samples to two or three global tech companies by the end of 2025, targeting mass production in 2027.

According to MarketsandMarkets, the global glass substrate market is expected to grow from $7.1 billion in 2023 to $8.4 billion by 2028, driven by the increasing demand for high-performance semiconductor packaging.