This 1-credit course introduces students to the challenges of thermal management and power delivery in advanced semiconductor packaging, including heterogeneous integration, 2.5D/3D packaging, and high-performance computing systems. Students explore fundamental heat transfer principles, advanced cooling technologies, and the relationship between electrical power delivery and thermal performance. Through real-world case studies, design exercises, and demonstrations, students gain practical insight into thermal management solutions at the chip, package, system, and data center levels.
This course includes 15 lectures divided by topic into 5 modules. Each module concludes with a brief assessment.
Format: Online, asynchronous
Platform: Canvas via nanoHUB
Estimated Time: 13 hours
Level: Advanced Undergraduate/Graduate Student
Prerequisites: Undergraduate heat transfer or equivalent recommended
Instructor: Professor Teiwei Wei of University of California Los Angeles
Course Objectives
Explain the thermal challenges introduced by advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration
Apply conduction, convection, and phase-change heat transfer fundamentals to electronic cooling problems
Construct and analyze thermal resistance networks for electronic packages
Evaluate the role of thermal interface materials (TIMs) and contact resistance
Compare air cooling, liquid cooling, and two-phase cooling strategies for high-power devices
Analyze cold plate, microchannel, jet impingement, and immersion cooling solutions
Understand thermal–power co-design tradeoffs, including backside power delivery
Relate chip-level thermal design to system- and data-center-level cooling efficiency
Request Course Enrollment
To enroll in this course, complete the course registration form. The SCALE team will review your request and arrange enrollment in the Canvas course on nanoHUB.