06/05/2007 Electronic component distributor Digi-Key Corporation and memory provider Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc. (ISSI) signed a global distribution agreement, wherein Digi-Key will distribute ISSI EEPROM chips, SDRAM, and SRAM components in various package form factors and memory capacities.
06/05/2007 May 16, 2007 -- EAST HILLS, NY -- As part of its global initiative to align with customers worldwide, Pall Corporation today inaugurated its newest Life Sciences Centre of Excellence in Bangalore, India.
06/05/2007 May 17, 2007 -- /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- WASHINGTON, DC -- An Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) $610 million loan guarantee will finance U.S. exports of wafer fabrication equipment to expand Chartered Semiconductor Mfg. Ltd.'s Fab 7 facility in Singapore.
06/05/2007 May 15, 2007 -- /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PASADENA, CA -- Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced today that it received a contract from Biogen Idec to provide engineering, procurement, validation, and site support services for the first cell culture manufacturing facility at the greenfield biotechnology plant in Hillerod, Denmark.
06/05/2007 May 16, 2007 -- /PRNewswire/ -- MILFORD, MA -- Avecia OligoMedicines announced today the further expansion of its Milford, MA, manufacturing facility, dramatically enhancing the company's capabilities in siRNA and aptamer manufacturing.
06/05/2007 May 16, 2007 -- /PRNewswire/ -- BETHLEHEM, PA -- Digestive Care, Inc (DCI) announced today that it is quadrupling the capacity of its manufacturing, research and development facility in order to meet the growing demand for PANCRECARB(R) (pancrelipase).
06/05/2007 May 16, 2007 -- /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- Hawkins, Inc. today announced an agreement to acquire New Jersey-based Trumark, Inc., a growing company in the area of antimicrobial products for the food industry.
06/05/2007 May 16, 2007 -- /PRNewswire/ -- AGAWAM, MA -- A new, free white paper, addressing the challenges of new U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations awaiting combination products manufacturers, is now available for download at www.microtestlabs.com/combinationpaper.
06/05/2007 The eTEC thin-film miniature embedded thermoelectric component was enhanced to achieve 55°–60°C temperature differentials at room temperature in a research environment. Proprietary materials for cooling or power generation measure 5–15-µm thick.
06/05/2007 The Telsa power-device characterization system tests and characterizes power devices prior to packaging, providing on-wafer probing for over-temperature, low-contact-resistance measurement up to 60 A and 3,000 V. Characterization prior to packaging is said to improve accuracy of test data and models.
06/05/2007 With all circuits wired on the bottom of the ceramic BGA (CBGA) package, the CHC-Precision series resistor network components eliminates wrap-around terminations to reduce parasitic effects and enable under-side washing.
06/05/2007 The BWT-104 research-quality, open-loop, benchtop wind tunnel suits thermal characterization for components, PCB assemblies (PCBAs), and heatsink-type cooling devices. Twelve ports allow users to insert probes and temperature and velocity sensors for analysis, while a Plexiglass viewing section enables visual flow characterization.
06/05/2007 The PakSi-E quasi-static electromagnetic analysis software for IC, system-in-package (SiP), and PCB design includes various updates and improvements that reportedly enhance performance up to 3× that of previous versions. It targets a unified analysis environment for signal, power, and thermal integrity through multi-port design, front-end CAD import uniformity, and streamlined user interfacing.
06/05/2007 Developed at the University of Hiroshima (Japan) with professor Mitiko Miura-Mattausch, the HiSIM SPICE modeling solution targets modeling and simulation based on the physics of 90-nm CMOS geometries and below. It incorporates the surface potential-based model.
06/05/2007 MIL-STD-883-certified hermetic, the molded ceramic surface-mount packages are low profile and target aerospace, avionics, and telecom applications, packaging LEDs, MEMS, and optical devices.
06/05/2007 Flash memory will become a large factor in the portable media player (PMP) market by 2011, reports analyst firm iSuppli. Flash is expected to grow 25× in this sector by 2011, bringing the quantity of flash-equipped PMPs to 150.2 million units. In 2007, shipments of PMPs with flash components will reach 54.8 million units. iSuppli predicts NAND packages will replace HDDs, based on storage capacity requirements for video as well as audio output.
06/05/2007 After scolding memory firms during a SEMI breakfast panel near Boston for overspending and India for irrational chest-thumping and "real-men-own-fabs" nationalism in the face of economic realities, McClean also suggested there aren't enough people in the industry who think about risks -- not typical risks like yield-killing defects, but larger scale risks such as usage of volatile chemicals, natural disasters, and geopolitical uncertainty.
06/05/2007 "Food for thought" served up during a SEMI breakfast panel near Boston suggested memory firms' wild overspending and capacity increases may in fact be shrewd strategic moves to shore up leading-edge 300mm capacity before an oncoming technology "brick wall" makes their existing 200mm fabs obsolete.
06/05/2007 As the industry watches memory firms push out orders as prices and profits evaporate, those waiting for foundry spending to mount a late-year comeback to pick up the slack might want to avert their eyes from the scoreboard. Warning signs in the memory sector -- and the dawning realization of how much of the industry's capex is tied up in the most price-sensitive segment -- were major topics discussed at a recent SEMI breakfast panel of analysts near Boston.
06/05/2007 Another point reiterated at the SEMI breakfast was that the industry cycles are shrinking, to the point where we're practically seeing "minicycles" in a single year, noted Bill McClean. He has updated IC Insights' ubiquitous "IC Industry cycle" eight-stage wheel to list one year/stage instead of 2-3 years or more, and noted that it's starting to feel like the industry is racing through the cycles on a quarterly basis.
