Background. The global semiconductor industry faces a critical talent gap. In emerging economies, this shortfall stems less from a scarcity of engineering graduates than from the insufficient sectoral contextualization of their competencies. Purpose. This study assesses how fully the technical competencies required across the semiconductor value chain—with emphasis on assembly, test, and packaging (ATP/OSAT) and integrated-circuit design—are covered within the curricular portfolio of a Latin American engineering university. Method. We conducted a quantitative curricular audit using a Competency-Based Alignment Matrix (CBAM), structured around 133 descriptors across 11 thematic domains and triangulated from four sector-validated sources. The instrument was applied through a binary alignment procedure to 29 undergraduate programs across four engineering schools. Results. The institutional portfolio covers 79.7% of the CBAM descriptors (106/133). Coverage reaches 86.6% for OSAT/ATP competencies and 57.1% for integrated-circuit design, with the principal gap concentrated in advanced verification. Conclusions. This study contributes to engineering education research by validating a replicable method for portfolio-level curricular analysis, empirically quantifying the structural value of interdisciplinarity, and operationalizing the distinction between contextual and structural gaps. The findings indicate that an Atomic Curriculum Manipulation (ACM) strategy offers a viable short-term means of narrowing the sectoral contextualization gap without a deep restructuring of existing programs.

Keywords

Semiconductor, engineering education; curricular alignment; competency-based; curricular portfolio analysis; emerging economies; atomic curriculum manipulation