To The Editor:

Clifton Draper

AT&T Engineering Research Center (Princeton, NJ)

I`ve been converted to an avid reader. Having received my chemical processing, cleaning and cleanroom protocol OJT inside AT&T Microelectronics fabrication plants, I never really appreciated the extent to which other production and service technologies required analogous levels of cleanliness.

An article in your April 1995 issue (“Disaster in the Cleanroom: Damage Control, Containment, and Recovery,” CleanRooms, p. 22) prompted me to rethink a problem. As our product family changed over the last decade, air handling and cleanroom practices had failed to keep up with requirements needed to meet production yield objectives. How does one clean up one`s act without interrupting production, without installing completely new air handling system, without having to re-educate an entire workforce? It turned out that within the confines of our own company, we had a disaster recovery department! On occasion, this organization had to oversee the recovery of clean environments (manufacturing and service centers) from unforeseen events, including smoke and particulate damage from fires. We had already used the services of TEC International and others. In a trail of phone calls that started with the articles in CleanRooms, I had found both people with expertise I needed and internal contacts suggesting I was headed in the right direction.

Later this week I go to the dentist for my annual cleaning, gum evaluation and X-rays. I`m bringing a copy of the October article on the risks of contaminated dental equipment. Thanks for the enlightenment.