PORTLAND, Oregon — October 3, 2000 — More than 2000 cleanroom industry professionals gathered at the Oregon Convention Center for CleanRooms West 2000, which ran from Oct. 2-4.

Representatives from nearly 200 cleanroom industries including semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, food processing, medical research, aerospace and defense, and optoelectronics, among others were on hand for the show.

“There has never been a busier time for the cleanrooms industry,” said CleanRooms Chief Editor Michael Levans. “As the good economy goes, so goes the semiconductor, electronics and life science markets. This year’s increased attendance and vendor participation is certainly indicative of the current upswing.”

During a brief morning ceremony, Levans announced Betty Peterson as the latest inductee into the CleanRooms Hall of Fame. Ms. Peterson was the executive director of the IES (now the IEST) from 1975-1986. A formal presentation of the award will take place at CleanRooms East 2001, which will be held in Boston from March 12-14.

Former college basketball coach and sportscaster Dick Vitale then gave this year’s keynote speech, urging all in attendance to strive for excellence.

“You’re here to get an edge in your life,” an impassioned Vitale said. “If you think you’re mediocre, you will be mediocre.”

Conference attendees got up-to-date information on issues facing the cleanrooms industry in sessions ranging from cleanroom noise and vibration trends and contamination incident recovery to quantification of particle release from cleanroom garments and use of air ionization in semiconductor and disk drive manufacturing. In addition, attendees were able to cull information from the more 200 exhibits which feature the latest in contamination control products, equipment and services including apparel, components, monitoring instruments and supplies.

–Jeff VanPelt