ANAHEIM, CALIF.—Where does the money go in your cleanroom project?

It's a question we ask ourselves regularly, and it's an issue that will be tackled in a conference session on designing and constructing controlled environments at CleanRooms West 2003, September 22-23, at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Whether it's a retrofit or a complete turn-key project, having the insight to know what type of contracting method to use and how much it should cost are proverbial feathers in your cap, says William Deckert, director of corporate business development for Integrated Project Services (Towson, Md.)

Deckert will present “Cleanroom Design/Construction: Where does the money go?” with Chris DiPaolo, director of project delivery for Integrated.

“If you go with the big construction manager for projects, they may have 40, 50, even 60 people on site. They all don't have to be there. You'll be paying for hidden charges,” he says. “You have to get someone who is going to open up their books and show you what their fees are, as well as what their profit is going to be. You will learn what expenses to expect, how to protect yourselves and the best methodology for a project.”

Other conference sessions include “Fire Testing Standards: Solving the Cleanroom Fire Risk Problem” and “ESD Basics, Measurement, Management and Standards.”

The session on fire testing standards will be presented by two officials from FM Global (Johnston R.I.)—Vincent A. DeGiorgio, semiconductor industry leader, and Gilbert J. Erb, senior engineering specialist.

DeGiorgio and George Smith, manager of FM Approvals' materials group, penned an article for CleanRooms, “Guidelines to protect the value your cleanroom creates” (July, page 23).

In addition, Arnie Steinman, lead on the SEMI ESD Task Force and chief technology officer at Ion Systems (Berkeley, Calif.), will present the session on electrostatic discharge basics.

For more information on attending CleanRooms West 2003, call (603) 891-9267, or e-mail [email protected].