by Gail Flower, editor-in-chief
On December 4, 2007, the New England iMAPS Chapter met at the Westford Regency in Westford, MA for a dinner meeting and presentation. Vincent Caprio, executive director of NY NanoBusiness Alliance covered Nanobusiness Matters: Driving Quality of Life and Economic Progress in the 21st Century. As things approach the nanoscale, new properties emerge. And these new properties can be “tuned in” by controlling the constituent composition, the size, and spacing of materials. Using nano technology allows control of structural, thermal, catalytic, electric, magnetic, and optical properties. This, in turn, gives engineers more creativity in product design. Caprio reviewed some of the meaningful products and profitable companies that point to the technology’s economical potential. He also reviewed some of the major challenges in the marketplace.

(December 17, 2007) TEMPE, AZ —Amtech Systems Inc., a global supplier of production and automation systems and related supplies for the manufacture of solar cells, semiconductors, and silicon wafers, today announced that its subsidiary, Tempress Systems Inc., has received an additional $8.9 million in orders for diffusion processing systems from the solar cell industry.