Not long ago, China's leading-edge IC manufacturing capability lagged behind the rest of the world by two or more generations. However, in part due to new wafer fab investments and the Chinese government's efforts to promote the domestic semiconductor industry's development through strategic long-term planning and supportive policies, the past decade has seen China gaining ground rapidly in terms of technology and IC manufacturing capabilities.
01/21/2005 Lymtech Scientific, cleanroom wiper manufacturer proudly announce the opening of its European warehouse. Centrally located in Ghent, Belgium,
distributors are receiving wiper shipments in days instead of weeks. The expansion into Europe is part of Lymtech's ongoing efforts to better serve its distributors with accessible inventory at competitive prices.
01/21/2005 It's a comprehensive CD-ROM designed to help architects, consulting engineers, plant managers, contractors and product buyers select the right materials to address property threats and protect their facilities. Product testing and certification organization FM Approvals has just released its 2005 Approval Guide, and it is available today.
01/21/2005 (January 21, 2005) San Jose, Calif. — North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.24 billion in orders and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.95 in December 2004, according to the December 2004 Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.95 means that $95 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.
01/21/2005 (January 21, 2005) Scotts Valley, Calif. — Carsem announces that they now offer the ability to access Carsem's automatic test equipment (ATE) systems via a direct virtual private network (VPN) connection and a Carsem-secured terminal client server. This link allows customers direct access to any of Carsem's tester platforms for the purpose of doing real-time test program debug, product engineering, and device performance analysis.
01/21/2005 Brian Dance, Contributing Editor (Europe)
Illustrating the need to ensure European technological and industrial competitiveness in the nanoelectronic sector as essential for industrial and economic growth, the MEDEA+ (Microelectronics Development for European Applications) annual forum in Paris (Nov. 23-24) revealed successes of many pan-European collaborative projects carried out under its umbrella.
01/21/2005 As a new year begins, it seems to be a good time to ask: What will 2005 bring? Within the MEMS industry, there’s always something interesting afoot, so let’s answer that question by exploring 2004’s accomplishments and developments that could shape 2005. Accelerometers got their foot in the door with cell phones in 2004 – a huge accomplishment. But, will the use of accelerometers for peripheral applications, such as pedometers and game controllers, really catch on?
01/20/2005 (January 20, 2005) College Park, Md. — China's government authorities are increasingly looking to six environmental directives, in addition to Europe's electronics takeback directives, WEEE and RoHS, according to Richard Ferris. Ferris is a China legal expert and partner at the international law firm of Holland & Knight LLP, and he will speak at a Raymond Communications (www.raymond.com) China teleconference on February 7.
01/20/2005 January 20, 2005 - The MEMS Industry Group (MIG) announced that it has received funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to continue its MEMS Cost Assessment Tool (MEMS CAT) project, and has chosen ISMI to modify its software for MIG.
01/20/2005 Nanotechnology innovators may avoid getting bogged down in legal disputes over who was the first to invent something with the recent reissuing of rules by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The rules are intended to speed up the process used to resolve instances where two parties apply for a patent covering the same invention.
01/19/2005 (January 19, 2005) Pittsburgh, Pa. — The MEMS Industry Group (MIG) announces that it has received funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to continue its MEMS Cost Assessment Tool (MEMS CAT) project.
01/19/2005 (January 19, 2005) Hsinchu, Taiwan — ChipMOS Technologies (Bermuda) Ltd. has reported unaudited consolidated revenue for the month of December 2004.
01/19/2005 January 19, 2005 - Casio Computer Co. Ltd. and Renesas Technology Corp. have agreed to an arrangement whereby Casio will license its wafer level package (WLP) semiconductor device packaging technology to Renesas. The agreement marks the first time Casio has made its WLP technology available to another Japanese semiconductor device manufacturer.
01/19/2005 January 19, 2005 - DuPont Photomasks Inc. has said that as part of a consolidation plan designed to reduce costs and improve capital productivity, operations in its trailing-edge photomask production facility in Kokomo, Indiana, will begin to ramp down immediately. The equipment within the Kokomo site will be disposed of or relocated to other DuPont Photomasks sites, and the facility is expected to close during the 4QFY05, ending June 30.
