MANCEF announce that the Commercialization of Micro-and Nano-Systems (COMS) 2011 conference will be held in Greensboro, North Carolina, August 28th – 31st, 2011, at the Grandover Resort. MANCEF said North Carolina is a hotbed of small technology activity; with 35 nanotech university research centers, over 80 nanobiotech and nanotechnology companies, home of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, Semiconductor Research Corporation, renowned engineering programs at the University of North Carolina and Duke University, and companies such as Coventor, RF Micro Devices, Inc. and MEMSCAP.

The conference is hosted by the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering (JSNN), with the support of Research Triangle Institute (RTI) and the NC Center of innovation for Nanobiotechnology (NC COIN).  

Plenary speakers include Anthony Atala, Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine; J. Charles Barbour, Director – Physical, Chemical, and Nano Sciences Center, Sandia National Laboratories; Joseph DeSimone, Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry, UNC; and Paul M. Zavracky, President of NA and European Operations, MEMSIC Corporation.

August 2, 2011 — Multitest, test equipment maker, added a new application to its micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) test and calibration portfolio, MT MEMS tester, testing 3D earth magnetic field sensors for mobile applications and GPS-free state-of-the-art navigation applications.

In addition to being an alternative to using the earth’s magnetic field, the application also can be configured with external magnetic coils. This configuration provides high magnetic force at the highest accuracy.

The MT MEMS tester is part of Multitest’s modular MEMS test platform, targeting low-cost test and incorporating multiple degrees of freedom (DOF) test. It can be combined with low-g accelerometer test and other parameters.

The new equipment for 3D earth magnetic field sensor tests has been in high volume production for several months. Multitest manufactures test equipment — test handlers, contactors, and ATE printed circuit boards — for semiconductors. For more information, visit www.multitest.com.

Also read: STMicroelectronics releases line of geo-magnetic modules

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August 1, 2011 — Sensor manufacturer Sensirion inaugurated a new production building in mid-July 2011 in Stäfa, Switzerland, near to the company’s main building.

The building is slated to house Sensirion’s entire production, with development, administrative, and sales departments staying in the main building.

The new space features highly automated production lines in a three-story, 10,000sq.m. layout. Four clean rooms enable manufacturing of temperature, moisture, gas, differential pressure, and liquid-flow sensors. The largest ISO-6-certified cleanroom occupies 1,000sq.m. The design is energy-conscious, with geothermal/heat pump air conditioning and an internal cooling system with heat recovery. Safety was also a consideration, with automatic fire suppression systems, smoke extraction units, and autonomous fire compartments.

Sensirion constructed the production space to "avoid capacity bottlenecks" in organic growth.

The Swiss sensor manufacturer Sensirion AG supplies CMOS-based sensor components and systems. CMOSens technology uses intelligent system integration, including calibration and digital interfaces.

Contact: www.sensirion.com.

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August 1, 2011 – PR Newswire — The state of Colorado named Synkera (HQ: Longmont, CO) among 50 Colorado Companies to Watch, honoring the second-stage, growing company. CO’s "Companies to Watch" develop valuable products and services, create quality jobs, enrich communities, and create new industries, according to state representatives.

Synkera, founded in 2003, develops, manufactures, and markets nanotechnology-based devices. Its main products include ceramic micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), chemical sensors, and ceramic membranes. Primary markets include bio/life sciences; gas separation; and environment, health, and safety (EHS). The company is led by president and CTO Stephen Williams.

Colorado Companies to Watch surveys the entire state, not specific industries. Applicants are evaluated on growth as well as other factors to recognize companies having critical effects on their industry, community, region, and the state. Stephanie Steffens is the Colorado Companies to Watch program director.

Synkera Technologies makes chemical sensors, ceramic membrane and ceramic MEMS devices. For more information, visit www.synkera.com.

Colorado Companies to Watch is a statewide awards program under the auspices of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade in conjunction with the Edward Lowe Foundation, and valuable community partners from across Colorado. It started in 2009. Learn more at www.Colorado.CompaniestoWatch.org.

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July 28, 2011 — ClassOne Equipment sold its 150th mask aligner, which will be installed in the Smart System Technology & Commercialization Center (STC), part of the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany.
 
CNSE will use the mask aligner on its expanding 200mm processing line, performing front-to-back alignment on 200mm and 150mm wafers. The Center cited price, quality and lead time as factors in their selection of a SUSS Microtec MA200 from ClassOne Equipment.
 
The SUSS system accurately patterns both sides of a single wafer with a high level of automation, noted Paul Tolley, Vice President for Disruptive Technologies at CNSE and Executive Director of CNSE’s STC. The tool will support a variety of critical applications, including radio frequency micro electro mechanical system (RF-MEMS) component, bio and chemical sensor, and microfluidic device manufacture.
 
ClassOne sells mask aligners from SUSS, EVG, OAI, ABM and HTG, and other high-quality refurbished equipment for the semiconductor manufacturing, MEMS and emerging technologies markets. For more information, please visit www.ClassOneEquipment.com.

The University of Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) is dedicated to education, research, development, and deployment in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience, nanoengineering, nanobioscience, and nanoeconomics. For information, visit www.cnse.albany.edu.

The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering’s Smart System Technology & Commercialization Center assists small and large companies in transitioning new technologies from concept to manufacturing. STC maintains a 140,000-square-foot facility with over 25,000 square feet of cleanrooms for MEMS fabrication and packaging. For more information, visit www.stcmems.com.

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July 27, 2011 – Marketwire — mPhase Technologies Inc. (OTC.BB: XDSL) completed its 2nd working prototype of a new automotive and marine product, reducing size by 20% and increasing the product’s functionality.

While the project is veiled from the public until mPhase implements intellectual property (IP) protections, the company did release that it is being developed with a European automobile manufacturer, targeting OEM and aftermarket automotive and marine sectors.

mPhase Technologies develops Smart Surface technology enabled by breakthroughs in nanotechnology, micro electromechanical system (MEMS) processing, and microfluidics.

mPhase has announced that the prototype will provide advanced battery capability. mPhase’s already-existant Smart NanoBattery uses a smart coating to prevent short circuits and provide electrical isolation on conductive surfaces of the battery’s porous membrane. mPhase worked with a MEMS foundry partner to make the production process commercially viable.

Learn more at http://www.mPhaseTech.com.

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July 25, 2011 — STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) supplier, opened 2 2011 iNEMO Campus Design Contests, in China and Taiwan. The contest encourages students to design innovative products based on STM’s iNEMO MEMS platform. In the US, a quadcopter designed by "Team McGill," students at McGill University, won the iNEMO Design Contest earlier this month.

iNEMO is a smart multi-sensor technology, an evaluation and development tool that offers 9-axis MEMS sensing of linear, angular, and magnetic motion, along with pressure and temperature sensing, managed by the STM32 32-bit microcontroller. Application areas include gaming, human/machine interface, robotics, portable navigation devices, patient monitoring, etc.

The iNEMO Campus Design Contest will run in China until November, 22 2011 and offers total prizes in excess of RMB60,000 to the ten most successful iNEMO design concepts, evaluated on their functionality and practicality, implementation, creativity, presentation and final demonstration. The winners will be announced at the end of November, 2011. Further information and registration at http://2011inemo.eefocus.com

The contest in Taiwan, also starting today, is co-sponsored by Taiwan’s Association of Nanotechnology and Micro System. The Taiwan contest runs until mid-December 2011 and offers total prizes in excess of NT$200,000 to the ten most successful iNEMO design concepts, evaluated on their functionality and practicality, implementation, creativity, presentation and final demonstration. The winners will be announced at ST’s Sensor Symposium in Taipei on December 15, 2011. Further information and registration at http://www.st-inemo.com.tw

Learn more about the MEMS design winner and finalists in the US.

STMicroelectronics makes semiconductors and MEMS for multimedia convergence and power applications. Further information on ST can be found at www.st.com.

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July 25, 2011 – BUSINESS WIRE — The MEMS Executive Congress 2011 will take place November 2-3 in Monterey, CA. The MEMS Industry Group announced the MEMS event’s keynote speakers, including a strategist, financial expert, and technologist.

Per Asberg, program director, client partnerships, IBM Rational, will speak about IBM’s facilitation of development design processes for automobile, electronics, and medical device systems in "Accelerating Innovation through Systems Engineering Best Practices." Asberg will pull together real-world examples of "the system of systems" and share best practices for meeting budgets and deadlines with the audience.

Strategy consultant Aaron Schulman, business director, Toffler Associates, will cover how global changes will transform individual and societal behavoir, from economic to social, environmental, government, technology, and other shifts. Check out Schulman’s "Shaping the Future: The Drivers of Change" to see how these will influence the MEMS industry.

Scott Livingston, CEO, Livingston Securities, will examine financing innovation in public markets via "Financing Innovation in the Public Markets: How to Unleash the Great American Innovation Machine." Livingston has focused on the needs of the nanotechnology sector since 2002.

The speakers reflect the MEMS’ industry’s variety (with vertical markets such as consumer, automotive, industrial and biomedical driving new demand) and volume (with captive and commercial foundries producing the devices), said Karen Lightman, managing director, MEMS Industry Group.

The MEMS Executive Congress will also have panels on:

• MEMS Market Analysis,
• In-house, Fab-lite, Fabless MEMS Fab
• MEMS Sensor Fusion/Sensor Networks
• MEMS in Consumer Products

And a MEMS application showcase, "MEMS Everywhere," where attendees will vote on the best product, and moderator Sam Guilaumé, CEO, Movea, will crown the winner.

MEMS Executive Congress is an annual event that brings together business leaders from disparate industries designing and manufacturing MEMS technology, and end users. For more information, visit www.memscongress.com. 

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July 22, 2011 — Motion sensor maker Qualtré Inc. recently demonstrated its first tri-axial solid-state silicon bulk acoustic wave (BAW) gyroscope, prompting investors to supply an additional $10 million in capital to the company. Participating institutional venture capital investors in the round were Matrix Partners and Pilot House Ventures.

Qualtré will use the funds for its product launch, sales and supply chain network expansions, and further product development based on the HARPSS micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) process. The company focuses on MEMS development for consumer electronics platforms, a market with "exponential" growth opportunity, according to Stan Reiss, a general partner with Matrix Partners. Inertial measurement units (IMU) as a whole will be a $2.60 billion industry in 2015, according to research group Yole Developpement.

Qualtre is now taking steps to commercialize the gyroscope technology, sending engineering samples to key customers and demonstrating the solid-state sensor design within the industry. The technology combines the performance advantages of the BAW sensor design and the cost and size scalability of the high-aspect-ratio combined poly- and single­crystal silicon (HARPSS) process. The small form factor MEMS devices do not require high-vacuum packaging, and can be integrated with CMOS circuitry and other sensors. Qualtre claims that HARPSS can eliminate nano-lithography steps in MEMS manufacturing, and acheive the highest signal to noise ratios in capacitive MEMS devices.

Qualtré is a venture-backed company commercializing next-generation solid-state silicon MEMS motion sensors for consumer electronics. More information can be found at www.qualtre.com

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July 21, 2011 — Halma plc, safety, health, and sensor technology group, acquired Avo Photonics Inc., opto-electronic design, packaging, and manufacturing specialist. Avo will join Halma’s global Photonics Division, retaining autonomy in business models and executives.

Avo Photonics provides custom opto-electronics component and assembly design and contract manufacturing for military, medical, communication, and commercial applications. The acquisition provides Avo access to capital, markets, and personnel to drive domestic and international expansion.

Halma purchases companies in familiar markets or closely allied sectors with demonstrated profitability and growth. Halma encourages its companies to retain existing business models, personnel, and continued autonomy between sister companies. Avo will continue to operate as an independent service provider for custom design and contract manufacturing and its management team and existing staff will remain with the company.

Avo joins Fiberguide (www.fiberguide.com), Labsphere (www.labsphere.com), Ocean Optics (www.oceanoptics.com), and Ocean Thin Films (www.oceanthinfilms.com) in the photonics sector of the health and analysis business group.

Photonic devices are a growing part of medical, applied science, and industrial operations, said Rob Randelman, chief executive of Halma’s Photonics Division, “As the need for photonic solutions in medical, applied science and industry becomes more integrated and smaller in size, Avo Photonics is poised to lead the way in the exciting growth of this market and, along with their colleagues in the Halma Photonics Division, they can better meet their customers’ challenges.”

Avo Photonics is a pure service model company offering fundamental optical physics analysis through mechanical, electrical, thermal, and materials design for packaging/manufacturing, prototypes, and high volume production. Website: www.avophotonics.com.

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