May 25, 2007 — ROLLING MEADOWS, IL — The Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST) continues to offer valuable online education classes in the ongoing Access the Experts series. “Cleanroom Housekeeping” will be presented Thursday, August 30, 2007, at 11:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time. Learn from your desk, conference room, or auditorium without travel expenses. The per-site fee has no limit on the number of students who may participate at each location.

This live, one-hour online course will explain how to implement housekeeping procedures essential to a cleanroom contamination control program, as outlined in the Recommended Practice (RP) IEST-RP-CC018: Cleanroom Housekeeping: Operating and Monitoring Procedures. This document provides guidance for maintaining a cleanroom at the level for which it was designed, including test procedures to establish frequency, monitor effectiveness, and determine appropriate levels of surface cleanliness. Course registration includes a copy of the latest edition of IEST-RP-CC018. A question-and-answer session will be held.

Instructor Anne Marie Dixon is owner and president of Cleanroom Management Associates, Inc., a consulting firm based in Carson City, NV, that specializes in competitive benchmarking, training, and auditing of clean and aseptic operations and management. Dixon has been actively engaged in the field of contamination control for more than 25 years. She is a Fellow and Past President of IEST and Chair of the United States Technical Advisory Group (US TAG) to ISO Technical Committee (TC) 209.

This online learning environment will allow contamination control professionals around the world to take advantage of this educational opportunity. More information is available at www.iest.org or by calling IEST at (847) 255-1561.

Founded in 1953, IEST is an international technical society of engineers, scientists, and educators that serves its members and the industries they represent (simulating, testing, controlling, and teaching the environments of earth and space) through education and the development of recommended practices and standards. IEST is an ANSI-accredited standards-developing organization; secretariat of ISO/TC 209 Cleanrooms and associated controlled environments; administrator of the ANSI-accredited US TAG to ISO/TC 209; administrator of the ANSI-accredited US TAG to ISO/TC 142 Cleaning equipment for air and other gases; and a founding member of the ANSI-accredited US TAG to ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnologies.

Contact:
IEST
5005 Newport Drive, Suite 506
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008-3841
Tel: 847-255-1561
Fax: 847-255-1699
[email protected]

May 17, 2007 — /PRNewswire/ — EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — The organizers of the annual Pharma ChemOutsourcing Conference and Exhibition are pleased to announce the 2007 event featuring 80 industry speakers from a diverse group of pharmaceutical and biotech companies for the September 10-11 show in New Jersey.

The conference focuses exclusively on sourcing/outsourcing pharmaceutical chemistry topics and attracts 400-500 industry attendees from around the world. A large exhibition adds a strong business development flavor to the information and networking intensive event. The show was recently relocated to the Sheraton Conference in East Rutherford, NJ, to accommodate the larger than expected gathering.

The 2007 Keynotes are:

• “When Will The Pharmaceutical Custom Chemistry Services Industry Reach Equilibrium?” — Stefan Loren, Ph.D., Vice President, Perceptive Life Sciences
• “API/Chemical Intermediate Outsourcing – A Pharma Perspective” — Laurie Chipperfield, Director, API Strategic Sourcing & Planning, Pfizer
• “How Well Equipped Is The Service Provider Community To Handle The Transition From Clinical Development to Commercial?” — Ioannis I. Valvis, Associate Director Sourcing Strategy, Bristol-Myers Squibb
• “A View of the Indian Pharmaceutical R & D Support Services: How Is It Evolving?” — David Floyd, Ph.D., CSO, Pharmacopeia

The chemistry sourcing industry changes noticeably from year to year thus the conference provides an up-to-date examination from Discovery through Commercial, with much of the discussion centered on pre-clinical R & D. The major geo-regions in Asia, North America, and Europe are well addressed as are the increasingly complex relationships that have developed among pharmaceutical companies and CRO/CMOs.

In 2007 the conference covers in depth the unique sourcing needs of “Emerging” pharmaceutical companies whose small size makes such relationships with custom synthesis providers especially important, reports Mark Alexay of Apaporis, the event organizer.

The speaking faculty includes representatives from most of “Big Pharma” and also from many biotechs such as Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Plexxicon, Sapphire Therapeutics, Exelixis, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon, Sepracor, GPC Biotech, EntreMed, and AtheroGenics. Chemistry suppliers contributors from InterChem, ChemDiv, Albemarle, CiVentiChem, Wilmington Pharma Tech, Chembiotek, Ricerca, NAEJA, Dr Reddy’s, IQSynthesis, and Ash Stevens round out the speaking roster.

The show is studded with networking and socializing events throughout to foster interface among the many delegates. Activities are show related and many attendees staying in the area for longer periods visit New York City.

The conference agenda and related information is available at www.chemoutsourcing.com. Some speaking opportunities still remain and exhibitors may still secure optimal space. Contact the organizers directly; Mark Alexay at [email protected]/201.452.4023 or Amy Yueh at [email protected]/212.228.7974

Source: Apaporis LLC

Contact:
Mark Alexay, +1-201-452-4023, [email protected], or Amy Yueh, +1-212-228-7974, [email protected]

Web site: http://www.chemoutsourcing.com/

May 18, 2007 — /PRWeb/ — MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Despatch Industries, a world leader in thermal processing and environmental simulation, announced today the immediate sale of multiple custom nitrogen atmosphere ovens to an international semiconductor manufacturer. The customer has secured orders for additional units as they plan to expand their facility in the near future.

Despatch designed and manufactured the LND Nitrogen Atmosphere oven with customer-specific features including modified shelf spacing, variable speed drive to allow for increased airflow in the oven and a newly developed humidity sensor to control the amount of moisture in the oven. The customer will utilize the LND for drying and curing boards with multilayers of polyimide or epoxy and copper laminates prior to performing the sputtering process. All Despatch nitrogen atmosphere ovens offer industry-leading technology and performance enhancing features such as the ability to maintain oxygen content as low as 100 or 50 parts per million and a secondary fresh air purge system.

“Because we were able to offer a system with the best performance with verifiable consistency for the customer’s specific needs, they chose Despatch over a lower-priced competitor,” says Steve Eul, Despatch Sales. “Our goal is always to provide our customers with the highest quality product with unique features and performance to provide the best possible solution for their process requirements.”

Despatch Industries is a leading worldwide provider of thermal processing and environmental simulation solutions. Founded in 1902, closely held Despatch Industries is a technology-driven company committed to satisfying customer needs through innovative research and development. Through its two primary product lines, Despatch and Ransco, the company serves customers in a number of industries including: semiconductors, electronic components, photovoltaics, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, automotive and industrial materials.

For more information on Despatch visit the web site: www.despatch.com

May 18, 2007 — /PRNewswire/ — MILPITAS, CA — Grandis Inc., the pioneer in spin-transfer torque memory (STT-RAM) development, today announced the first magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) fabrication facility in the United States dedicated to STT-RAM memory technology. MTJs are the building blocks of STT-RAM, and the new fab represents a major step toward establishing STT-RAM as the leading universal memory solution. A multi-million dollar investment, the fab focuses on STT-RAM research and development (R&D). It began operation last month and is currently in production of qualification wafers.

The MTJ fab’s main purpose is to allow new Grandis STT-RAM technology licensees to incorporate Grandis’s MTJ structures into their CMOS wafers. Generally, licensees are not yet familiar with fabricating MTJ structures and do not possess the associated fab equipment and know-how. With Grandis’s fab expertise, licensees can accelerate their STT-RAM development, learn more about the STT-RAM fabrication steps, and reduce their time-to-market.

The MTJ fab also enables Grandis to conduct leading-edge R&D on new magnetic materials and MTJ structures targeted at further reducing STT-RAM switching current and die size. Presently, STT-RAM switching current is approximately 100 microamperes at the 90 nm technology node. Once proven, these new materials, structures, and processes can be transferred to licensees’ production fabs.

Farhad Tabrizi, president and CEO of Grandis, said, “We are excited to announce our new and innovative MTJ fab, which will assist our partners in achieving excellent STT-RAM results with their own silicon faster and more efficiently. We have developed the optimum implementation of the STT-RAM cell structure to achieve the highest performance possible, and will share these results with our partners so they can duplicate the technology.”

Grandis licenses its STT-RAM technology and forms long-term partnerships with OEMs, semiconductor houses, and wafer fabrication companies. Licensees obtain the benefits of Grandis’s unparalleled experience in STT-RAM technology, including its most optimized materials and process conditions. The materials R&D to be undertaken at Grandis’s new MTJ fab alleviates licensees from making major dollar investments to improve their products. At the same time, they receive the major benefits of deploying newly developed and tested materials and MTJ structures to improve their products.

The MTJ fab includes MTJ stacks deposition and annealing equipment and characterization metrology systems for STT-RAM technology. Fabrication can be done either on Grandis’s wafers or on licensees’ wafers for 90 nm technology node and beyond. Various MTJ barrier deposition techniques can be used, including natural oxidation, RF sputtering, and plasma oxidation. By incorporating these processes along with its IP, Grandis is able to develop high performance magnesium oxide (MgO) MTJs, the critical building blocks for STT-RAM. This combination of state-of-the-art fab and characterization equipment, novel magnetic materials and MTJ structures is critical in achieving increasingly lower STT-RAM bit writing currents.

About Grandis, Inc.
Grandis is the pioneer in the development of spin-transfer torque memory (STT-RAM), a universal and scalable memory solution. Grandis licenses its technology to companies that are developing a variety of products incorporating stand-alone and embedded STT-RAM memory. It offers its licensees a complete range of support services from process installation through qualification. By combining non-volatility and high performance with low power consumption and low cost, STT-RAM can revolutionize the performance of electronic products in many areas. Grandis was established in 2002 and is headquartered in Silicon Valley, CA. Investors include Applied Ventures LLC, Sevin Rosen Funds, Matrix Partners, Incubic and Concept Ventures.

Source: Grandis, Inc.

Contact:
Grandis, Inc.
Tel: +1-408-945-2160
Fax: +1-408-945-2161
Email: [email protected]

or Dan Garza of DGPR
Tel: +1-408-866-5125
Email: [email protected], for Grandis, Inc.

Web site: http://www.grandisinc.com/

May 21, 2007 — /MARKET WIRE/ — LOS ANGELES, CA — Eco-Safe Systems USA, Inc., a leader in Ozone food-safety and water-purity intervention systems, is pleased to announce that International Marine Products, Inc., a seafood processor using the Eco-Safe Ozone Disinfection System in its Los Angeles facility, has completed the purchase of additional Eco-Safe units for its Las Vegas and San Francisco plants. The company expects to purchase an additional unit for its Phoenix facility later in the year. International Marine currently processes an average of eight tons of seafood daily.

Mr. Yoshitomo Gomi, CEO of International Marine, said, “The Eco-Safe ozone water system helps ensure that our seafood is properly washed, disinfected and safe to eat. The use of ozone water in the plant also helps increase the shelf life of fish and eliminates odor. These important benefits come with an overall cost savings to International Marine.”

Michael Elliot, president of Eco-Safe, added, “We are pleased that International Seafood is expanding their use of Eco-Safe ozone water disinfection technology throughout their processing facilities.”

Ozonated water intervention systems address the need to protect the public against a wide range of contaminants that can affect the food supply. They eliminate the use of harsh chemicals like chlorine, pesticides, and bactericides. Ozonated water is also environmentally friendly since it disappears after 20-30 minutes of use.

Eco-Safe’s patent-pending process raises the bar on food safety and environmental sustainability while decreasing costs and risks to businesses, the public and the planet.

For more information visit: www.ecosafesystemsusa.com

Contact:
Eco-Safe Systems USA, Inc.
Michael Elliot, president
Tel: 800-649-1434

Bookings for the year stand at $89.6 million

May 22, 2007 — /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — NEW YORK, NY — CECO Environmental Corp., a leading provider of air pollution control and industrial ventilation systems, announced today that it has received six new orders totaling approximately $12.7 million.

Rick Blum, president and chief operating officer, stated, “These orders were secured by our Effox, Kirk & Blum, CECOaire, CECO Abatement, and H.M. White subsidiaries. They include ventilation and process equipment for a producer of carbon fibers used in composite materials, equipment for the ethanol industry, a mist collection system for an automotive plant in Mexico, a foundry baghouse and ventilation project, and dampers and expansion joints for the power industry.”

Phillip DeZwirek, chairman and chief executive officer of CECO, stated, “Our strategy continues to work and enable us to win business in a wide variety of industries. Bookings for the year now stand at approximately $89.6 million, with almost $20 million booked to date in May. This is well ahead of our pace in 2006, a year in which we booked approximately $200 million in new business.”

About CECO Environmental
CECO Environmental Corp. is North America’s largest independent air pollution control company. Through its eight subsidiaries — Busch, CECOaire, CECO Filters, CECO Abatement Systems, Effox, kbd/Technic, Kirk & Blum, and H. M. White, Inc. — CECO provides a wide spectrum of air quality services and products including: industrial air filters, environmental maintenance, monitoring and management services, and air quality improvements systems. CECO is a full-service provider to the steel, military, aluminum, automotive, ethanol, aerospace, semiconductor, chemical, cement, metalworking, glass, foundry, power, and virtually all industrial process industries.

For more information on CECO Environmental, please visit the company’s web site at www.cecoenviro.com.

Contact:
Corporate Information
Phillip DeZwirek, CECO Environmental Corp.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 1-800-606-CECO (2326)

Source: CECO Environmental Corp.

May 22, 2007 — /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — PASADENA, CA — Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced today that it is providing engineering and construction services for Genentech Inc.’s new manufacturing facility to be located in Tuas, Singapore. The new facility is intended for the manufacture of bulk LUCENTIS(R) (ranibizumab injection), a treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration. Working in partnership with Bovis Lend Lease in Singapore, Jacobs will provide full engineering services, including modular design and fabrication from its Charleston, S.C., modular fabrication operations.

Officials did not disclose the contract value.

In making the announcement, Jacobs Group vice president Arlan Emmert stated, “We are pleased to support Genentech’s international manufacturing initiatives through a collaborative effort between assets in both the United States and Singapore. We are committed to providing innovative project delivery approaches to Genentech to help ensure a high-value capital investment.”

Jacobs, with over 46,000 employees and revenues exceeding $8.0 billion, provides technical, professional, and construction services globally.

For additional information contact:
Mary Bloom
Tel: 626-578-6992

Source: Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

Web site: http://www.jacobs.com/

Collaboration between leading drug safety solutions provider and consulting firm will benefit life science industry clients

May 22, 2007 — /PRNewswire/ — IRVINE, CA and NEW YORK, NY — Relsys International and Intrasphere Technologies have announced a strategic partnership to offer joint solutions to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Relsys is the leading provider of software solutions for adverse event reporting, pharmacovigilance, and risk management, while Intrasphere is a consulting firm that provides business-focused services and solutions to life sciences organizations. The collaboration will benefit life science companies by offering best-of-breed solutions to address global regulatory compliance needs and to improve key business processes.

Dave Bajaj, president and CEO of Relsys International, said, “In our twentieth anniversary year, Relsys continues to offer innovative solutions to solve the life science industry’s most pressing needs. By partnering with a leader like Intrasphere, we expect that our clients will benefit from our mutual expertise in regulatory compliance and business process improvement.” Sanket Agrawal, Relsys’ chief strategy officer, added, “The pharmaceutical industry is increasingly looking towards vendors to provide end-to-end safety solutions: from appropriate strategy to efficient processes to effective software applications. This alliance delivers such an offering for our clients and allows them to focus more on Science, their core business.”

Relsys will be showcasing its latest innovations, such as Argus Perceptive(TM) for complete signal detection capability, at the DIA Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA at booth #1127.

About Relsys International
Relsys International provides the industry-leading Argus suite, a complete systems solution for pharmacovigilance and risk management that helps pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies improve drug safety and ensure ongoing compliance with global regulations. The company, founded in 1987, works in partnership with its customers to develop and deliver innovative solutions to long-term business needs, and to provide critical components to support its clients’ corporate risk management strategies. Argus Safety(TM), the company’s flagship product, is the world’s best selling adverse event reporting software, and is used by more of the leading pharmaceutical companies than any other solution. Relsys is a privately held company, headquartered in Irvine, CA. For more information, visit www.relsys.net, or call +1-949-453-1715.

About Intrasphere Technologies
Intrasphere Technologies, Inc. (www.intrasphere.com) is a consulting firm focused on the life sciences industry. We provide comprehensive, business-focused services that help companies achieve meaningful results. Our professionals leverage strategic acumen, deep industry knowledge and proven project execution abilities to deliver superior service that builds true business value. Our strategy, business process and technology services are developed to specifically address areas that are most important to our clients including: Drug Safety, Business Intelligence, Enterprise Content Management, Compliance and IT Management, to name a few. We understand the unique nature of the Life Sciences working environment and clients’ need to reduce costs, drive business processes and speed-to-market, while satisfying regulatory mandates. Some of the world’s leading global pharmaceutical companies look to Intrasphere as their trusted solutions partner. Founded in 1996, Intrasphere is headquartered in New York City with operations in Europe and Asia. Intrasphere has been recognized nationally for performance by industry leading organizations such as Deloitte & Touche, Crain’s New York Business and Inc. Magazine. For more information call (212) 937-8200.

Source: Relsys International; Intrasphere Technologies

Contact:
Relsys International, +1-949-453-1715
or Intrasphere Technologies, +1-212-937-8200