12/22/2003 (December 22, 2003) Carlsbad, Calif.—Asymtek recently achieved ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System certification. The certification, based on a comprehensive audit by third party agency Det Norske Veritas (DNV), indicates that Asymtek has successfully revised its quality management system to meet the new requirements of ISO 9001:2000.
12/22/2003 (December 22, 2003) Tokyo, Japan—Domestic production by the Japanese electronics and information technology industries will increase year-on-year for the first time in three years, despite being negatively impacted by the SARS outbreak and the war in Iraq, according to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA).
12/22/2003 DEC. 18--ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill.--The Journal of the IEST, published for nearly 50 years by the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST), included topical technical information in its recently published 2003 edition, which was used in ongoing research on the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic
12/22/2003 DEC. 22--TAIWAN--Color filter maker Allied Material Technology Corporation (AMTC) has signed a polarizer technology transfer agreement with South Korea-based LG Chemical, according to company chairman Charles Yu.
12/22/2003 NanoBio Corp., an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based firm specializing in nanotechnology-based pharmaceuticals, announced it has received a $3.2 million federal contract and is spinning off a company.
12/22/2003 The National Science Board, the 24-member policy advisory group for the National Science Foundation, has authorized a fund to create a National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) composed of 13 university sites that will form an integrated system of national facilities for nanoscale science and research.
12/22/2003 "See the light!" declares a sign in the company's entryway. Universal Display Corp. expects its screen technology to see the light of commercial day sometime in 2004. OLED stands for organic light-emitting device, and screens based on UDC's technology are composed of several ultrathin films of special molecules that glow when excited by an electric current.
12/19/2003 (December 19, 2003) San Jose, Calif—North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $930 million in orders in November 2003 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.04, according to the November 2003 Express Report published by SEMI.
12/19/2003 This summer, while discussing the push for MEMS standardization with a venture capitalist, a very interesting question was posed in regard to current business models: What about best practices? This question is very well-timed because the MEMS industry's focus seems to be shifting toward sustaining a successful business.
12/18/2003 (December 18, 2003) San Jose, Calif.—Ultratech Inc., a supplier of photolithography systems used to manufacture semiconductors and nanotechnology devices, announced that it has received a multiple-system order for 200-mm bump tools from the world's largest merchant gold-bump foundry.
12/18/2003 Cepheid Inc. has been issued a U.S. patent that covers the design of a sample preparation cartridge containing a microfluidic chip for extracting and purifying multiple DNA targets simultaneously, according to a news release.
12/18/2003 A group recently gathered from around the world to watch their host build a water molecule and attached it onto the tip of a carbon nanotube. All of this, of course, happened virtually. The demonstration was an online "Webinar" that Accelrys Inc. put on to showcase its molecular modeling and simulation software. Accelrys' Webinar is part of surging trend in business communications.
12/17/2003 (December 17, 2003) Geneva, Switzerland — STMicroelectronics (ST) has announced a new semiconductor technology that virtually eliminates a potential problem that has been increasingly haunting electronic equipment manufacturers in recent years: the growing vulnerability of silicon chips to so-called "soft errors."
12/17/2003 (December 17, 2003) Taipei, Taiwan—Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. (ASE), a semiconductor packaging and testing company, announced that international semiconductor supplier austriamicrosystems' new low-power radio transmitter/receiver ASIC has been packaged using ASE's quad flat no lead (QFN) solution.
12/17/2003 December 17, 2003 - ASML MaskTools, Santa Clara, CA, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based ASML, and Photronics Inc., Brookfield, CT, have agreed to co-develop a maskmaking infrastructure for ASML MaskTools' CPL technology, a technique that enables low-k lithography.
12/17/2003 December 17, 2003 - KLA-Tencor, San Jose, CA, has added inline process monitoring capabilities to its Surfscan family of wafer inspection products.
12/17/2003 DEC. 17--CERRITOS, Calif.--Steril-Aire, Inc. has introduced a hand-held "SterilWand" that uses the company's multi-patented UVC technology for decontamination of surfaces infested with mold, bacteria or viruses.
12/17/2003 DEC. 17--LAS VEGAS--Skinvisible, Inc. through its wholly owned subsidiary Skinvisible Pharmaceuticals, Inc. says its patented antimicrobial hand sanitizer demonstrated a greater than 99% kill in laboratory studies against the Influenza A virus.
