California Dreaming: Marcus Khoo (BSc’83) on life in Silicon Valley

People from all over the world dream of making it big in Silicon Valley – the headquarters of tech giants like Apple and Facebook. 

Lakehead alum Marcus Khoo is one of the select group who has thrived in its rarified atmosphere.

“I’ve no regrets about coming here,” he says, “but Silicon Valley is a very unforgiving place. Once no longer marketable, you’re cut loose.”

Marcus has 40 years of experience in the electronics and semiconductor field. Twenty-five of those years have been spent with California tech companies, in particular, the Intel Corporation.

“When I started in the semiconductor industry, there were humans working on the manufacturing lines,” Marcus says. “Now, it’s only robots because robots don’t make errors.”

So how did Marcus get from Lakehead to Intel – the world’s largest semiconductor chip manufacturer and renowned developer of personal computer microprocessors?

It was a bit of a winding journey. Marcus grew up in Malaysia and went to high school in Toronto. 

“I wasn’t an “A” student,” he says, “but Lakehead took a risk and offered me a place. Lakehead made me what I am today.” 

Marcus excelled at chemistry as an undergraduate and was helped along by supportive professors.

“Dr. Manit Rappon had the most influence on me,” Marcus says. “In classes, we would frantically take notes, and not really take in what our professors were saying, but Dr. Rappon would tell us: ‘Slow down and try to understand. Learn something when you’re here.’” 

After graduating in 1983, Marcus found a job in Singapore’s semiconductors sector with Siemens and then Hewlett Packard.  One job led to another, and his time overseas stretched into several years.

This turned out to be a good thing because it was in Singapore that Marcus met and married his wife. The couple left the country when a cellphone manufacturer, Novatel, offered Marcus a position to start up their new manufacturing facility in Calgary.

“I told my wife that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to go back to Canada.”

Later on, while at Raytheon Calgary, Marcus earned a Master of Quality Assurance degree from Loyola University in New Orleans. This degree, which was sponsored by Raytheon, allowed him to go in a different career direction.

“Quality Assurance is about predicting and preventing design and manufacturing problems before they happen,”Marcus explains.  

In 2020, Marcus was promoted to Intel Technical Program Manager to focus on quality system improvements in semiconductor chip design.

Quality problems are common in the chip industry because the chips are so complex. These tiny components made of silicon – and used in products like cell phones, computers, and automobiles – have become indispensable to modern life.  

“We’re always trying to push laptop and computer technology one generation ahead,” Marcus says. “Chips for laptops and computers have to be ready two years in advance so that laptop and computer manufacturers are able to design their next generation of end products. We are constantly reinventing ourselves. Every error I’m trying to prevent is one I’ve never seen before.”

Marcus’s day is long, starting at 7 am and ending at 7 pm, with a few breaks in between.

“Typically, I spend 6-7 hours on conference calls. Intel has 120,000 employees around the world, including Israel, Ireland, Shanghai, and Costa Rica. This means that it’s always daytime somewhere.”

Despite the pressures he faces, Marcus is passionate about his profession, and he encourages any Lakehead grad with Silicon Valley aspirations to contact him. “I’m more than happy to help them get there,” he says.

There is one thing that Marcus does regret.

“I haven’t been back to Thunder Bay since I graduated. It’s on my bucket list to visit Lakehead, walk around the campus, and see how it’s changed.”