Issue

A report was published recently by the American Journal of Health System Pharmacists (Ref.1) that identified the presence of antineoplastic contamination on surfaces in pharmacies in six cancer treatment centers in the United States and Canada.

There is increasing concern across the healthcare field regarding the handling of hazardous drugs. The concern is about not only the new and more potent compounds that are being routinely developed by pharmaceutical research, but also a number of compounds that have been in the marketplace for years.

Operations and safety managers are constantly looking for better ways to make appropriate risk-management decisions for finished pharmaceutical packaging operations involving potent compounds.

Sheila Wilson doesn't give much thought when ordering paper for the cleanrooms at Rudolph Technologies (Ledgewood, NJ). Once a month or so, Wilson, a buyer at the thin-film metrology tool maker, purchases just one 250-sheet case of blue, lint-free, 22.5-pound Munising from Connecticut Clean Room Corp. ...

Faceshield with chin protector; Shower pans; Cleanroom vacuum system; SiC heater...

Hello, my name is Mark, and I'm a wiperholic. I've been a wiperholic now for a while, and I have a cache of wipers for pretty much any surface or circumstance...

Cleanroom; Surface cleaning; Wafer cleaning system ...

I have also been involved with the work of the International Standards Organization (ISO) Technical Committee charged with writing global cleanroom standards.

Part of my job is to keep an ear to the tracks, listen and then try to make some sense out of what I've heard. Editors, on all levels, function as prognosticators, attempting to piece together fragments of conversations we had with analysts or pearls of wisdom we pulled out of the stacks of related journals.

SAN JOSE, CA—The semiconductor industry experienced the worst decline in its history during 2001, according to a new report issued by Gartner Dataquest. "As demand weakened and capacity utilization decreased, financial considerations became foremost in everyone's mind.

SAN JOSE, CA—in the updated International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS), the working partners of the group, including the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), say chip feature sizes are shrinking quickly and reports that the 2001 roadmap "calls for more aggressive scaling...

China is regarded as the next global IC hotspot. While the country is working to meet its internal demand, there's some disparity in forecasts as to how much capacity will grow, and how quickly.

FAA fails to monitor, regulate cabin air quality; ATMI, Nissan Chemical enter manufacturing agreement...

Baltimore, MD—Many cleanroom operators have been looking at ways to protect the technology and medications being manufactured within their facilities since the attacks on September 11th and the subsequent anthrax threats.

TULSA, OK —A research study conducted in a 286,000-square-foot building that houses Public Service Company of Oklahoma indicates that use of ultraviolet radiation within air handling units can drastically reduce microbial contamination.

PORTLAND, OR—Michael Ballaris never thought much of changing out of his street clothes to put on a uniform, shoes and then a bunny suit before punching in for his shift at Wacker Siltronic Corp.

WASHINGTON—Recent testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee by Les Vinney, president and CEO of Steris Inc. (Mentor, OH), has bolstered the company's press to become a player in the new market of anthrax and biological contaminant remediation.

The cancellation of Federal Standard 209 (FED-STD 209) and the rise of cleanroom protocols handed down by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has raised many questions among contamination-control professionals on just where the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stands.

The controversy arises not from the cleanroom concept itself, but from the production processes conducted within this specific type of cleanroom. A cleanroom can be a healthy environment, even aseptic.

ith the advent of 300 mm wafer fabrication, controling humidity levels in semiconductor manufacturing environments is just as important today as it was in the past. This importance continues to be fixed on the larger, general cleanroom but is becoming increasingly crucial in the minienvironments being integrated for specific manufacturing processes.

How do you set yourself up for success when planning a new building, laboratory retrofit or renovation? There are steps that an organization, its scientists and the design team can take to ensure that any new facility or addition is designed to best contribute to...

Photons may not have any mass, but in modern technology they carry a lot of weight. Much of the world's voice, video and data travels as beams of light down strands of fiber. Music and computer data is extracted every day from CDs and DVDs using red-hued, solid-state lasers, and in many cases, optoelectronics play a crucial role in that seemingly ever-present technical magic.

An energy-efficient, innovative, easy-to-maintain, and cost-effective design coupled with an expeditious construction delivery schedule is essential to the success of any high-tech start-up.