By Dave Anderson, president, SEMI Americas
The SEMI Strategic Materials Conference (SMC) is the industry’s premier event devoted to technology and business drivers of materials in the electronics supply chain. Slated for September 18-20 in San Jose, Calif., the 18th annual SMC “offers a unique chance to network and discover opportunities in and around the industry in a year where dramatic growth has returned to the semiconductor market,” observes SMC 2017 co-chair Mark Thirsk of Linx Consulting, who will provide opening remarks at the conference.
SMC features three distinguished keynote speakers: AMD’s CTO, Mark Papermaster, will discuss “The Future of Semiconductors: Moore’s Law Plus.” Next, Lam Research’s CTO, Dave Hemker, will present “The Next Level: Is it Time for Equipment and Materials Suppliers to Collaborate More?” describing how the current market environment is having a rippling effect across the supply chain. “As the continuation of Moore’s Law becomes ever-more challenging, closer, earlier collaboration between materials suppliers, equipment makers, and semiconductor manufacturers becomes necessary,” says Hemker. SMIC’s Sunny Hui, senior VP of Marketing, will kick off day two telling the audience how to “Collaborate to Win in China.”
The first day’s agenda features “Economic and Market Trends: The Consolidation Game (M&A), China, 200mm & More,” with speakers from Applied Materials, Credit Suisse, Linx Consulting, and SEMI China.
Detailing Heterogeneous Integration for Performance and Scaling, UCLA’s Subramanian S. Iyer will describe how adapting silicon-inspired processing, integration, and materials to advanced packaging constructs may be the key to perpetuating Moore’s Law.
The Future of Materials Market in China will focus on the state of China’s semiconductor materials industry, government policies, growth opportunities for suppliers, and best practices for companies operating in this expanding environment. Hear from Dow Chemical, Konfoong Materials International (KFMI) and SMIC.
More than twenty program sessions will explore the developments driving industry growth and enabling innovative new materials for today’s evolving electronics industry. The conference agenda also includes:
- Process Challenges at 5nm & Beyond: Insights from ARM, Samsung, and TSMC.
- Universities − Innovation Drivers: Viewpoints from Stanford University, University of California Berkeley, and University of Chicago.
- Materials Supply Chain Challenges in Adjacent Industries: Perspectives from Linde Group, PARC (Xerox), and Pixelligent Technologies
- Heterogeneous Integration − Design to New Materials & Packaging: Insights from ASE Group, imec, and UCLA
SMC 2017 will close with an Executive Panel discussion addressing emerging material challenges for each participant’s company and the segment within which it operates. Executives from Intel, Tokyo Electron, TSMC and Versum Materials will share their views on how the industry can collectively address challenges through focused R&D investment, collaboration throughout the vertical supply chain, and the application of innovative business strategies to ensure a win-win for all companies across the extended supply chain.
I hope to see you at the SEMI Strategic Materials Conference this month. Learn more and register here.
Note: The SEMI Strategic Material Conference (SMC) is organized by the Chemical and Gas Manufacturers Group, a SEMI not-for-profit Special Interest Group comprised of leading manufacturers, producers, packagers, and distributors of chemicals and gases used in the electronics industry.