Issue

There's no time like the present to plan for the future—especially in a downturn. That's the philosophy of current industry leaders who history eventually will refer to as "progressive," or "revolutionary."

I am puzzled by the current state of affairs in the cleanroom community regarding the value and future health of the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST).

Over the last two decades, I have written articles and books and taught courses on the subject of cleanroom management. During the last five years, the day-to-day management of these facilities has become more difficult.

Fan filter unit; Polymers par for the course; Airborne contaminant indicator ...

Air curtain; Incubator brochure; Machine platform; Generator set ...

Airborne molecular contamination (AMC) is evolving as a major concern for semiconductor manufacturers. In particular, chemically amplified DUV photoresist is sensitive to extremely low levels of basic airborne molecular contamination.¹ Airborne molecular bases include ammonia, amines or N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) among others.

In the late 1940s, it wasn't uncommon to see Pittsburgh-area mill workers crossing one of the bridges over the Monongahela River to get to places like the Old Mill Site Tavern for a bite to eat, or a boilermaker after a long day of rolling steel.

When Doug Bradley was learning the right consistency of sauces at The Culinary Institute of America, he never dreamed his career as a chef would lead to supervising a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) program. But if you regularly attend trade shows or sporting events, you should be glad it did.

Cleanrooms.com now offers interactive forum; Kimberly-Clark renames division; IEST announces Executive Board changes ...

SINGAPORE—For the first time at CleanRooms Asia (July 25-27), representatives from IDC will offer advice on how to construct a life sciences cleanroom, while BELFOR-Relectronic will discuss minimizing your downtime after a cleanroom disaster.

LONDON—Thirteen people recently tested negative for foot-and-mouth disease, restrictions have been lifted on more than 16,000 farms, and mass slaughtering has been eased.

WEST SUSSEX, UK?With news of hoof and mouth and mad cow disease sweeping across the world's headlines, Europe's contamination control acumen is firmly fixed under a global spotlight.

MUNICH, GERMANY—As the semiconductor industry continues to churn out smaller and faster devices for everything from high-performance integrated circuits to micro electromechanical systems (MEMS), efficient cleaning, defect removal and higher yield remains the creed for chipmakers and equipment manufactures alike.

SAINT PAUL, MN—;A proposed ban by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the manufacturing and distribution of the chemical Perfluorooctyl Sulfonates (PFOS), which serves as photoacid generators (PAGs) in the acceleration of the resist process, is prompting the semiconductor industry to search for a replacement.

BRUSSELS, Belgium—The European Union (EU) took a major step in establishing a food-safety agency by creating an interim scientific advisory board, a panel that EU Health Commissioner David Byrne says will provide a key forum where potential conflicts over risk assessment and results can be "clarified and, if possible, resolved."

PHOENIX, AZ—What is the status of Fed-Std-209E? If you were an attendee at the IEST's Annual Technical Meeting, ESTECH 2001, at the end of April, you likely heard the question come up in working group meetings, technical sessions and informal conversation—but you didn't walk away with an answer.

LIVERMORE, CA—A consortium of six of the largest chip manufacturers and teams of government researchers from Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore and Lawrence Berkeley government labs unveiled the first working prototype of a groundbreaking manufacturing technique called extreme ultraviolet lithography, or EUVL.

he remarkable success of the fibrous filters used to create near particle-free cleanroom environments for manufacturing precision products easily overshadows their darker side. While the particle-removal capabilities of these fibrous filters are undeniable, recognition of some of their other, less desirable properties has been slower in coming.

The members of Congress, whom we have elected to represent our interests in the legislature, have been lamenting the high cost of healthcare in our country for years. Even though we have Congressional hearings, committees and special interest groups all lobbying for change, we only seem to chase the issue around and around.