05/16/2008 by Françoise von Trapp, contributing editor, Solid State Technology
May 16, 2008 - Born Global, held last week in Bath, UK, focused on leveraging international partnerships with industry analysts and experts from successful start-ups offering insight and advice sharing their own philosophies and paths to success. The target audience was clearly potential silicon start-ups, though venture capital recruiters and other consultants were represented among the 100+ attendees.
05/16/2008 NT-MDT, manufacturer of atomic-force and scanning-probe microscopes (AFMs and SPMs) for nanotechnology R&D, has signed an agreement with Nano & Giga Solutions, a networking research and consulting company, for joint development of an informal educational web portal, Atomic Scale Design Network (ASDN.NET), covering atomic scale science fundamentals for nanotechnology.
05/16/2008 Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has approved proposals by IC packaging and testing companies PowerTech Technology Inc., and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. to expand their investment in China after deciding the companies met the conditions set for investment in China by the ministry's Investment Commission.
05/15/2008 by James Montgomery, News Editor, Solid State Technology
May 15, 2008 - The acquisition of Ponte Solutions by Mentor Graphics not only takes one of the last pure DFM companies off the table, it also answers the question about what side of the chipmaking wall DFM belongs, and terminates an inflection point that might not be seen again for a decade or more.
05/15/2008 Silicon Resources LLC, a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) development and prototype company based in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area, has appointed Christopher Campbell as Business Director. According to Frank DiPiazza, Founder and Technical Director of the company -- a service provider for companies designing MEMS -- said, "His unique skills will allow us to accelerate our forward momentum."
05/15/2008 May 15, 2008 -- Approved just one year ago, the Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation (IMNI) at Brown University has opened. IMNI encompasses the Center for Advanced Materials Research, focused on nano- and micromechanics of materials; a new Center for Nanoscience and Soft Matter, covering sensing, molecular electronics, nanomagnetics, and supramolecular chemistry; and The NanoHealth Working Group for nano EHS and nanomedicine. Small Times' Barbara Goode reports.
05/15/2008 It's been a busy month for human resources departments across the industry supply chain as sales forces are beefed up, management promotions and changes occur, and award recipients are announced. Here's a round-up of the latest companies with their names in the news.
05/15/2008 EoPlex Technologies disclosed $4M additional funding to build its first full-scale production plant for the manufacture of state-of-the-art cell phone antennas. The company had previously announced its Series C funding of $8M in 2007. That round was lead by ATA Ventures with the backing of all current investors, including Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Labrador Ventures and Draper-Richards. The current increase brings the total for the C-round to $12M.
05/15/2008 by James Montgomery, News Editor, Solid State Technology
May 14, 2008 - Industry projections of a soft 2008 aren't nearly soft enough, according to AMAT president/CEO Mike Splinter -- he projects capex could be down 35% or more this year. "There's not a good story" being told in any chipmaking sector, he told listeners in a quarterly results conference call, adding that capex levels will be similar to those from 2003.
05/15/2008 by Ed Korczynski, senior technical editor, Solid State Technology
May 14, 2008 - The highlight of a recent regional meeting of the American Vacuum Society's Thin-Film Users Group on printable electronics was a detailed presentation on self-aligned imprint lithography (SAIL), developed by HP and PowerFilm Solar for their roll-to-roll IC line.
05/14/2008 EV Group, equipment manufacturer for semiconductor, MEMS, and nanotechnology applications, announced the opening of a subsidiary, EV Group Korea Ltd., in Seoul, Korea to serve as a direct-to-customer site for sales, service, and support efforts for EVG's existing and potential new customer base. The subsidiary will reportedly house sales, service, process/application and administrative capabilities.
05/14/2008 Vietnam-Chipscale Advanced Packaging Services, an outsource semiconductor assembly and test services provider based in Vietnam, has been presented with its investment certificate from th Vietnamese government, recognizing the company as a 100% foreign owned venture.
05/14/2008 May 14, 2008 - Regional press reports analyzing the impact of the May 12 major earthquake in China's Sichuan province, say that most tech firms didn't suffer significant damage or losses -- with one big exception.
05/13/2008 Premier Semiconductor Services, LLC announced the opening of a facility in St. Petersburg, Fl to provide quick-turn services for strategic east-coast accounts and to solidify Premier's growing counterfeit detection programs. Premier will reportedly offer a variety of counterfeit detection services such as functional electrical testing, decapsulation, XRF testing, solderability, and advanced visual inspection.
05/13/2008 STATS ChipPAC Ltd. announced the completion of full internal qualification of its Fan-in Package-on-Package (FiPoP) technology. Fully functional electrical samples are available, and production volumes are expected to ramp by the end of 2008.
05/13/2008 by James Montgomery, News Editor, Solid State Technology
May 13, 2008 - Some big chipmakers are eager to transition to 450mm wafers because of cost savings, but resistant semiconductor equipment/materials suppliers are still smarting from their 300mm investment burden and lower-than-hoped returns. After a lot of saber-rattling on both sides, a toned-down PR from Intel/Samsung/TSMC might be the first step for both sides to finally move forward with 450mm development.
05/13/2008 May 13, 2008 -- Nanobiotix, an emerging nanomedicine company focused on combining advances in nanotechnology and molecular biology for cancer therapy, says it has elected Patrick Langlois as chairman of its board of directors. Because it targets cancer cells for destruction -- leaving healthy cells untouched -- Nanobiotix's nano-enabled NanoXray platform has the potential to dramatically impact cancer therapy, says Langlois.
05/12/2008 May 12, 2008 - Taiwan chip assembler Advanced Semiconductor Engineering and memory firm ProMOS are being wooed by mainland Chinese officials to build a 300mm wafer fab onshore, according to the Taiwan Economic News, citing mainland press reports.
05/12/2008 Avago Technologies, supplier of analog interface components for communications, industrial, and consumer applications; announced what it believes to be a breakthrough in packaging technology that it says will provide a new level of design flexibility. Called WaferCap CSP, it is reportedly the industry's first semiconductor-based chip scale packaging (CSP) technology.
05/12/2008 Cadence Design Systems, Inc. announced that Renesas Technology Corp. has successfully taped out its most advanced and large-scale system-on-chip (SoC) design to date using the Cadence SoC Encounter system. Hisaharu Miwa, general manager, Design Technology Division LSI Product Technology Unit at Renesas credits the system's memory capacity and fast turnaround time as the reason for the successful tape out.
