By Jeff Dorsch
The annual SEMICON Europa exhibition – along with the Plastic Electronics 2012 show – came and went in Dresden, Germany last week. Speakers expounded on the state of the European semiconductor industry in particular, and attendees flocked through the exhibit floors of the Messe Dresden to see the latest in microelectronics manufacturing technology – and more on the flexible electronics in a moment.
Exhibitors at SEMICON Europa had plenty of announcements for the show, including Advantest Corp. revealing the formation of Cloud Testing Service, Inc., which will bring cloud-computing technology to the field of semiconductor testing.
At the opening of this year’s SEMICON Europa, Heinz Kundert, president of SEMI Europe, emphasized that European semiconductor manufacturers and their suppliers must work closely together to keep the European chip industry vital. “It is important for the industry to see itself as a European industry that is advocating its coordinated and consolidated interests both with the European Commission and with national governments. We all need to speak with one voice,” he said.
Economic development officials from New York State were at the conference, promoting their “NY Loves Nanotech” initiative. Dresden and the Empire State have something in common – they are the sites of sprawling wafer fabrication facilities operated by GlobalFoundries, Inc.
Plastics Electronics Conference, Exhibition Held at the Same Time
The eighth annual Plastic Electronics conference and exhibition was held last week in Dresden as well, covering a wide variety of topics in flexible and organic electronics. The big trend in plastic electronics is organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), used in computer monitors, mobile devices, and television sets. OLEDs are also being employed in lighting applications, another big market. Flexible solar panels were another topic of discussion at PE2012.
The Plastic Electronics conference and exhibition became part of Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) earlier this year.