Issue

Gas monitor from Neutronics Inc.; Flow filtration system from Pall Biopharmaceuticals; Imaging software from Horiba Instruments ...

My sister, Anne, recently made a visit home from Germany, and as soon as she got off the plane my parents asked her if she was hungry and what she wanted to eat. "Red meat," she replied in desperation and without hesitation.

The goal of business is to make a profit. In my many years of involvement in particle and microbial management, I have observed countless missed opportunities to increase product yield at very little to no cost.

Check valve/strainer-filter assembly; Assembling and packaging medical devices; Outdoor enclosure with heated desiccant...

Over the past year I've made countless phone calls to readers and vendors in an attempt to point out, shake out, figure out, the single biggest issue that runs across all cleanroom market segments.

If the walls could talk, the 23,000-square-foot building would speak of Volkswagens and Converse sneakers. There would also be some chatter about the new inhabitants of this building, for the V-dubs and Chuck Taylors no longer tread here.

It's never really been enough just to get a handle on all the particles floating around in cleanrooms. Today's manufacturing engineers, who have a pretty good handle on taking particles out of the air, are now turning their attention to a new potential yield-limiting culprit: airborne molecular contamination (AMC). And unlike particle contamination, airborne molecular contamination is sneaky.

Indoor-air-quality (IAQ) challenges outnumber all others in the health-care industry. Unfortunately, the cost-conscious "powers that be" have failed to make the management of critical infection-control systems a top priority.

The renovation or expansion of an existing surgical suite is not a project to be undertaken lightly. In general, facilities put this off until the need to expand or update can be financially justified.

Quorex gets funding for antibacterial compound; Synetics moves; Metrics facility completed; Purdue Pharmaceuticals undergoes expansion...

MOUNT PROSPECT, IL—In late February, the ISO Technical Committee 209 (TC 209) released a draft standard of ISO 14644-7, also known as "Separative Enclosures (clean air hoods, glove boxes, isolators and minienvironments)."

NEW YORK STATE—With close to $1 billion at stake, the state of New York hopes to keep its competitive status in luring high-tech firms to the region.

MURRAY HILL, NJ—Scientists at Bell Labs have developed a plastic that can conduct electricity at low temperatures without any resistance, making it a superconductor and perhaps the catalyst that could revolutionize cleanroom efficiency and change the face of chipmaking.

DUBUQUE, IA—Frommelt Safety Products' cloth ventilation ducts—called DuctSox—treated with antimicrobials, have gained acceptance in the food processing industry.

LOS ALAMOS, NM—Scientists working on a new method to remove photoresist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), have developed a process using super critical CO₂ that could significantly alter the need for the rinse and dry activities currently employed in silicon wafer production cleanrooms.

The outbreak of a virulent livestock ailment, foot-and-mouth disease, in addition to the civil unrest brought on by mad cow disease has forced the European Union (EU) to increase food safety efforts and target early 2002 for the establishment of an agency similar to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories say the same technology that is used to trap lobsters off the coast of Maine can also capture radioactive and other volatile molecules lurking in hazardous waste.

Remember the indecision in Florida associated with the 2000 presidential election? Each side insisted upon new counts, partial recounts or no recounts; new counting rules or the unconstitutionality of changing rules.

The preparation and delivery of the final drug substance either in the retail pharmacy or hospital setting is an area of increasing concern. The patient final dosage in all cases exceeds the "no effect" level for the compound.