Rising Technical Contributor Award
Amanda Levenson
Intel Corporation
For technical leadership demonstrating vision, initiative, and accountability; and for tackling complex challenges in semiconductor fabrication with communication and teamwork that inspires and gets results.
Amanda Levenson is a manufacturing process engineer for Intel Corporation at the company’s high-volume semiconductor wafer fabrication Ocotillo site in Chandler, Arizona. She is responsible for wet etch chemical tools, which remove material from and clean the wafers throughout the process line. In 2020, she drove cost savings of thousands of dollars per week in tool chemical consumption, led a high-visibility task force to reduce product defects threefold, and set up a parts inventory tracking system for improved quality control and excursion prevention within the module.
Levenson is recognized for her strong leadership skills. When automated process quality monitors identified a performance anomaly in her area, she mobilized a cross-functional team of six engineers to identify and resolve the root cause, using model-based problem-solving techniques to investigate trends. She led task force discussions, designed and executed experiments, and performed all task force data analyses to determine root cause in the chemical supply line. Levenson worked with global supply chain stakeholders to identify and resolve the problem, resulting in an overall product yield improvement.
She is also responsible for deploying a chemical inventory tracking system across 14 manufacturing areas. She works with global supply chain, IT, and factory stakeholders, leading system functional analysis testing, implementation of new maintenance procedures, and training for engineers and technicians.
Previously, Levenson was a facilities process engineer, responsible for startup, qualification, and sustaining of bulk chemical delivery, and rose to ownership of 60% of the organization’s daily operations scope within eight months. Through her large scope and consistent execution, Levenson has gained high visibility across Intel as a whole. She has led numerous efforts in collaboration with international counterparts, global supply chain, and senior staff engineers.
Solving difficult problems in a fast-paced environment, Levenson developed a deep interest in data analysis and visualization, project management, and mentoring other engineers and technicians. In 2020, she entered an MBA program at Arizona State University to advance her career path as a future technical manager.
Levenson is dedicated to promoting interest in math, science, and community service. During university, she built, sustained, and improved professional development and outreach programs for several hundred undergraduate and graduate students within SWE and Women in Chemical Engineering that are still active today. After moving to Arizona, Levenson served as SWE Phoenix collegiate scholarship chair and vice president, and is FY21-FY22 president.
Levenson earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Washington.
Outside of school and work, she has many hobbies; she enjoys hiking, yoga, cooking, drawing, reading, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.