Tag Archives: Small Times Magazine

April 21, 2006 – Nano Chemical Systems Holdings Inc. of Seaford, Del., announced a new lubrication product that it says can enhance performance over a range of operating and environmental conditions encountered in various applications.

The product is designed to solve the problem of a lubricants’ loss of effectiveness and breaking down under the stress of elevated temperatures and pressures. The first planned package for the Nano Ball Bearing Lubrication product is a spray can for commercial and home uses. The company has documented the invention of the technology and has filed a patent application. The product is currently in the development stage.

April 21, 2006 – Advance Nanotech Inc. (OTC.BB: AVNA), a provider of financing and support services to expedite the commercialization of nanotechnology discoveries, announced that John Robertson has been appointed to its board of directors.

Robertson assumes the seat vacated by Professor William Milne, who has stepped down to focus on his responsibilities at the Center for Advanced Photonics and Electronics, of which Advance Nanotech is a strategic partner.

Robertson is currently a professor of electronics at Cambridge University. Previously he was a reader in solid state electronics, a university lecturer and research associate, all at Cambridge University. Prior to his work at Cambridge, Professor Robertson served as a visiting professor at the University of Illinois. He also served as a research officer at the Leatherhead and Swindon Central Electricity Generating Board in the U.K. for nearly 20 years.

Robertson’s research covers a wide range of interests in electronics materials including carbon nanotubes, diamond-like carbon, amorphous silicon, and ferroelectric oxides. He has published over 400 papers, is currently the most cited staff member in the Cambridge engineering department and is a recipient of the T.P. Hoar Award for best paper in Corrosion Science. Professor Robertson earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in natural sciences from Churchill College at Cambridge University and a doctorate in physics from the Cavendish Laboratories at Cambridge University.

April 21, 2006 – Unaxis Wafer Processing, a leader in deposition and etch solutions, announced a fifth generation dry etch tool intended to allow advanced dry etch fabrication by addressing the biggest challenges faced by mask makers today.

The latest process innovations demonstrate sub-3nm CD uniformity in Cr etch and 2 degree phase uniformity for advanced Quartz mask – enabling the manufacture of 45nm photomasks.

The company says its Mask Etcher V tool provides enhanced ICP process solutions over previous systems, including improved particle control, ultra-low CD etch bias and sub-7nm feature-size linearity.

April 21, 2006 – Amtech Systems Inc., a supplier of production and automation systems and related supplies to the semiconductor, solar cell and silicon wafer industries, announced that a major U.S. manufacturer of solar energy products awarded the company an order for its Bruce Technologies horizontal BDF 200 diffusion furnace.

Amtech manufactures capital equipment, including silicon wafer handling automation, thermal semiconductor processing equipment and related consumables used in fabricating semiconductor devices. The company’s semiconductor handling, thermal processing and consumable products currently address the polishing of newly sliced silicon wafers and reclaimed test wafers and the oxidation and deposition steps used in the fabrication of semiconductors, solar cells and MEMS.

April 20, 2006 — FEI Co. announced that McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, has ordered two FEI Titan S/TEM systems and a multi-year service contract to support them. In dollars, it is one of the largest orders in recent FEI history.

The two Titan systems — capable of delivering sub-Angstrom revolution — will be installed at Canada’s National Facility for Ultrahigh-Resolution Electron Microscopy at McMaster University. The new, state-of-the-art facility will serve researchers from 24 universities across Canada, several national laboratories and partners from institutions around the world.

Using the Titan’s aberration-corrected and monochromated technology, users of the systems at McMaster will conduct nanoscale research in areas including electronics, photonics, metallic alloys, drug delivery systems and energy-related materials including catalysts and battery materials, among others.

Since the introduction of the Titan S/TEM in August 2005, FEI said it has received orders for more than 30 systems and has increased Titan production to keep pace with market demand. The installation of the McMaster Titans is scheduled for the first quarter of 2007.

April 19, 2006 – American Pharmaceutical Partners Inc., a specialty injectable pharmaceutical company, and its parent company American BioScience, a biotechnology company, announced that the merger between the two companies has been completed. The combined company is named Abraxis BioScience Inc. and its common stock will trade as of April 19 on the Nasdaq National Market under the new ticker symbol ABBI.

The company said it believes it is well positioned for long term growth by capitalizing on the financial position of its injectables business and the potential of Abraxane (paclitaxel protein-bound particles) as well as its clinical programs and product development pipeline.

Konarka names Brabec CTO


April 18, 2006

April 18, 2006 – Konarka Technologies Inc., a developer of power plastic that converts light to energy, announced that Christoph Brabec has been appointed as the company’s chief technology officer. Previously Konarka’s director of polymer photovoltaics, Brabec will guide scientific research efforts as CTO, while working with the company’s technology developments to develop relevant applications.

Since joining Konarka in September of 2004 as part of the acquisition of Siemens’ organic photovoltaic research group, Brabec has led Konarka’s European research and development efforts. Additionally, he has expanded the company’s intellectual property and patent portfolio, while making strong contributions to the development and continued relationship with manufacturing partner KURZ and other European partners, including Merck.

Before joining Konarka, he was project leader for organic semiconductor devices at Siemens Corporate Technology.

April 14, 2006 – Novaled and Ciba Specialty Chemicals announced an industrial collaboration in the field of OLED materials. Ciba Specialty Chemicals will produce the organic dopant and transport materials developed by Novaled.

Ciba will produce the materials using its know how in the synthesis of organic materials, whereas Novaled will continue to market the materials. The two companies will also collaborate in the development of future OLED products and platforms based on Novaled’s technology and materials.

April 14, 2006 – PolyFuel Inc., a developer of engineered membranes for fuel cells, announced that it has entered into an agreement to provide Johnson Matthey with the PolyFuel hydrocarbon direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) membrane intended for fuel cells to power portable devices.

Johnson Matthey will use these membranes in the manufacture of catalyst coated membranes and membrane electrode assemblies. Under the agreement, Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells will be a PolyFuel “channel partner” and will purchase PolyFuel’s DMFC hydrocarbon membranes to manufacture a variety of products for the portable fuel cell market.

PolyFuel first launched its hydrocarbon membrane technology for the portable fuel cell market in early 2004.

April 14, 2006 – Olympus Corp. and Movaz Networks Inc. announced the creation of a joint venture company named Olympus Microsystems America Inc. which will provide MEMS technologies and products for optical equipment suppliers worldwide.

The companies say that by combining Movaz intellectual property and engineering resources with Olympus’ established MEMS foundry services and optical technology will result in a new company with the capability to develop, manufacture and market new products with anticipated gross sales of approximately $60 million within 5 years.

Olympus Microsystems America Inc. will be based in San Jose, Calif., with Olympus Partnership Development Group vice president Lawrence Wang serving as the president of the new company. Movaz R&D engineers will work with Olympus staff to further expand the portfolio of products using MEMS and free space optical technologies.

The first jointly developed product, a MEMS-based wavelength selective switch (WSS) for reconfigurable optical add drop modules (ROADM), has been deployed since last August.