Issue

EDINBURGH, Scotland—The Scottish Microelectronics Center (SMC), $12.3 million high-tech "business incubator" developed in conjunction with Edinburgh University and Scottish Enterprise, has officially opened its doors with its sights set on strengthening the already vibrant electronics cluster in Scotland.

Walking across a floor ...

GREEN BAY, WI—Another E. coli scare in Minnesota is being cited as the reason meatpacking company American Foods Group Inc. is recalling 1.1 million pounds of ground beef sent to stores in 15 states in early November.

Adept leases manufacturing facility; Solution Consultants gets new identity; Lam ships 300 mm system to Taiwan; Ashland expands ...

PALO ALTO, CA—Plagued by recurring national headlines sounding failed contamination control practices, food producers, now more than ever before, are looking for new ways to make certain that their offerings are as pathogen- and contaminant-free as possible.

BEIJING—Action has been swift in China's crackdown on substandard pharmaceutical manufacturers and shoddy, used medical equipment sales, but it would seem its State Drug Administration (SDA) is just getting warmed up.

NICE, France—European Union (EU) leaders at a December summit here approved a European Commission proposal for the establishment of an agency similar to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ensure food safety from "farm to fork."

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO—A shortage of electricians and clean pipe fitters has caused Intel Corp. to delay the opening of its $1.2 billion manufacturing plant here. The 120,000-square-foot cleanroom, originally slated to run silicon by Thanksgiving, won't be up and running until later in the first quarter this year, says Chuck Mulloy, spokesman for Intel.

Cleanroom ceiling beams; Outside air conditioner; Cleanroom filtering system; Electronic component cleaning ...

When cleanroom and contamination control people sit around the campfire and tell stories, all kinds of really interesting and old stuff tends to come out.

As industries and markets grow more competitive, and as the unarguable edict of energy conservation becomes widely accepted in all industries, it is necessary to re-evaluate existing methods of airflow design, since airflow is the biggest factor effecting both the initial start-up and operating costs of cleanrooms.

As we race to adapt and integrate new technologies and processes into our clean manufacturing environments, we often forget to take a close look at the fundamentals along the way. By asking a few simple questions, we may be able to fold new processes into our standard operating procedures (SOPs) or quickly eliminate the thought of them altogether.

We all do it: Point a blaming, bony finger at the government, and for whatever reason, it validates our gripes, be it personal or collective.

These days, it isn't a stretch to have a softwall cleanroom project that goes together like an Erector Set or Lincoln Logs. And that's how Gus Rotstein, test area coordinator for Despatch Industries (Minneapolis), describes the high-performance industrial oven manufacturer's first cleanroom venture.

As industries and markets grow more competitive, and as the unarguable edict of energy conservation becomes widely accepted in all industries, it is necessary to re-evaluate existing methods of airflow design, since airflow is the biggest factor effecting both the initial start-up and operating costs of cleanrooms.

For the past five years, construction personnel at Cirent Semiconductor's Orlando, FL, wafer fab have installed hundreds of fan filter units (FFUs) in support areas, while choosing distributed air circulation systems for main production areas.

Those of us living in modern industrialized nations may forget that the world of infectious diseases can be a dangerous world. Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, and infectious diseases in the U.S. account for 25 percent of all visits to physicians each year. Furthermore, anti-microbial agents are the second most frequently prescribed class of drugs.

Many precision products, while still requiring some degree of environmental contaminant control, can settle for less than the state of-the-art cleanroom used in semiconductor manufacturing. One definition of a precision product is a product that must be manufactured in a cleanroom.

Flexibility is a word that is not often spoken in an industry that requires a tortuous path of documentation for facilities, process and documentation changes. Many in the industry see the risk of changing facilities, process or equipment for the sake of improvement or cost reduction as not acceptable.

CleanBarrier curtain from Technical Air Products; Bactericidal filter from Technovation; Safety light curtain Scientific Technologies Inc. ...

Microscopic dust, bacteria, viruses and allergens beware. Filters used in air cleaning have become so precise that the most delicate wafer architecture can be exposed in cleanrooms without the slightest contamination from some very small particles.