OTHER ELECTRONICS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
UPDATE
March 2008
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Room at the College of Optics and Photonics at UCF Kept Ultra-Clean
Longmont-based ABSL’s Products Fly All the Way into Space
Georgia Tech Has New Nano Center
NanoImaging Expands Laboratory
Unidym Expanding for Nanotube Manufacturing
Littelfuse to Move Assembly and Test Operation from Mexico to China
Robotics and Automation Industrial Park in Meru to Create 6,000 Jobs
Saudi Arabia Plans to Become a Leader in Nanotechnology
Room at the College of Optics and Photonics at UCF Kept Ultra-Clean
This room is in the College of Optics and Photonics, and the dress code is meant to keep it
clean. At most, the room allows for 1,000 dust particles per cubic meter of air, whereas outside air typically contains 20 million to 40 million particles per cubic meter.
The cleanroom, or Nanophotonics Systems Fabrication Facility, is a $1.8 million room that contains $5 million of equipment used in nanofabrication, which is the construction of materials on the atomic or molecular scale — such as components for electronic devices.
The amount of dust in the 3,000-square-foot room must be kept low because even microscopic dust particles can interfere on the atomic level. This is accomplished through use of an air-filtration system and enforcement of strict user guidelines.
When the room was completed at the end of 2003, it was made available to any UCF researcher who needed it. About two years ago, the system changed to include an application process. The application is also available to outside companies, but students and faculty still use the technology in the room for experimental research that can help obtain funding for additional research.
The tools in the clean room — such as the electron-beam lithography system, which writes patterns in dimensions measured by individual atoms — allow researchers to create new material characteristics by manipulating the atoms themselves.
The research the clean room makes possible is used in many applications, such as industrial laser systems, displays and medical imaging, he said.
Although there are sometimes independent contracts with outside companies, the clean room's main purpose is for learning.
Longmont-based ABSL’s Products Fly All the Way into Space
When it came time for ABSL Space Products to expand its U.S. business, Longmont had everything the company was looking for.
The U.K.-based company, which supplies custom lithium ion batteries for spacecraft and launch vehicles, had very specific criteria it was looking to satisfy when it came to finding a home for its new testing and production facility.
ABSL opened a sales and marketing office in Boulder about 14 months ago. The company decided it wanted a U.S. facility to test and build its products, which are sold to clients that include NASA and the European Space Agency.
ABSL was looking for 11,000 square feet with the ability to expand; it needed space for a cleanroom; the layout had to offer easy access between the clean room and the other parts of the company’s operations; and the company wanted to be located close to a university with a solid space program.
The company’s location on Clover Basin Drive fit perfectly, and it will be fully operational within two weeks.
ABSL buys lithium ion batteries from other manufacturers and uses its design capabilities and technology to package them for customers, providing different types of products depending on the type of mission they’ll be used for.
ABSL has participated in several high-profile space missions, including the Venus Express spacecraft, which is being powered by batteries supplied by the company.
Equipment at the facility at this point is fairly sparse. It has a handful of testing machines that can simulate the environment of space, including a thermal vacuum chamber and machines that can be set to extreme heat or extreme cold. ABSL spent $200,000 just on the testing equipment.
It spent several hundred thousand getting the entire space retrofitted, including construction of a 1,200-square-foot cleanroom.
Another benefit of moving to Longmont is its proximity to Sun Microsystems’ Advanced Product Testing lab, which can offer even more extreme testing environments.
ABSL will employ 10 people to start with. All of them are engineers, although some perform other functions for the company, such as marketing.
If the company wins contracts on some current bids, they expect to employ 20 to 25 people at the Longmont facility within a year. The company’s business plan calls for it to “max out” its Longmont space within two years, he said, meaning 35 people would work there.
The company has signed a five-year lease and has the option of expanding into the space next door if the business continues to grow.
Georgia Tech Has New Nano Center
As of March 2008, Georgia Tech selected Siemens Water Technologies to provide multi-million dollar wastewater and ultrapure water treatment systems for the new nanotechnology research center. The center will be completed in October 2008 and will be 160,000 sq. ft. facility with 30,000 sq. ft. of cleanroom space used for research and instruction in microelectronics, semiconductors, materials, medicine and pharmaceuticals.
Trelleborg Sealing Solutions' has New Laboratory and UK Research and Development Centre
Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has relocated seal manufacturing from its existing premises to a newly constructed building in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire in England. With 141 employees, the manufacturing site is one of over 30 that Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has worldwide. It incorporates production of the company's perfluoroelastomer Isolast, FKM Resifluor, along with fabrication of giant O-rings and seals by the Fleximould process, rubber to metal technologies and custom mouldings.
Within its 5000m2, (53,800 sq. ft.) it also houses a newly equipped materials test laboratory and the UK research and development centre.
To meet aerospace needs, an industry that accounts for a large proportion of Tewkesbury's production, special packaging and handling of components is combined with strict quality control procedures. For clients in hygienic sectors or for those who demand super-clean components, such as semiconductor manufacturers, there is a Class 100 cleanroom.
The construction and move into Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Tewkesbury took place progressively over the last year, with the new production site becoming fully occupied and functional from February 2008
NanoImaging Expands Laboratory
NanoImaging Services, Inc. has completed a round of financing led by Merck Capital Ventures, LLC. The $1.5 million investment will be used to expand the company’s service laboratory. NanoImaging Services, currently located in Northern San Diego, will relocate to a larger facility in La Jolla, Calif. next month.
Unidym Expanding for Nanotube Manufacturing
Unidym, Inc, a majority-owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research Corporation, announced that it is expanding its Houston manufacturing operations to meet the growing demand for high quality carbon nanotubes used by both its transparent electrode business and the market in general.
Unidym, which recently merged with Carbon Nanotechnologies, Inc. (CNI), has its headquarters in Menlo Park, California and carbon nanotube manufacturing operations in Houston, Texas.
"Unidym is ramping up to meet increasing demand for carbon nanotubes from both new and existing customers," said Art Swift, CEO and president. "Projected demand is particularly strong in electronics and composite materials applications. As a result, we are investing in additional production capacity and adding manufacturing, engineering and development personnel."
Littelfuse to Move Assembly and Test Operation from Mexico to China
Fuse maker Littelfuse Inc. said it plans to move its semiconductor assembly and test operation from Matamoros, Mexico, to China over a two-year period.
The Matamoros facility will be closed once the transfer is finished, affecting about 950 employees, Littelfuse said. The move is expected to save about $7.4 million each year.
Manufacturing operations will be consolidated at Littelfuse's existing assembly and test facility in China and subcontractors in the country.
When the transfer is completed, semiconductor assembly and test operations will be in the same location as the company's new wafer fabrication operation, which is scheduled to begin production in the first quarter of 2009.
Littelfuse acquired the Matamoros operation in 2003 through its purchase of Teccor Electronics Corp.
Robotics and Automation Industrial Park in Meru to Create 6,000 Jobs
The Robotics and Industrial Automation Industrial Park (RAIA) in Meru will create 6,000 professional jobs in the technical and engineering fields when it is fully completed in 2013.
The park is being developed on a 3,350-acre land in Meru and it will be a comprehensive industrial high-tech park to meet the needs of businesses, industries, government agencies, and other high tech parks and centers in Perak.
At least 30 companies with a total investment of RM2 billion will participate in the park which will take on an integrated development approach, focusing on promoting niche industries.
Among the industries involved are advanced electronics, mechanical electronics, telecommunication, ICT, Nanotechnology and creative content productions with the emphasis on innovation and R&D.
Saudi Arabia Plans to Become a Leader in Nanotechnology
Saudi Arabia has announced that it aims to establish itself as a regional leader in nanotechnology research in a bid to lessen its dependency on oil. Saudi Arab's research & development organization King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology has signed an agreement with IBM Research to establish a Nanotechnology Centre of Excellence.
Under the multi year agreement, Saudi scientists and engineers will work alongside IBM scientists and engineers on advanced nano science and nanotechnology programs in 3 fields of solar power, water desalination and petrochemical applications such as recyclable materials.
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