OTHER ELECTRONICS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
UPDATE
August 2010
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Henkel Electronics Has New Headquarters
Texas State University Commercializing
Hanwang to Set Up R&D Center in Taiwan
Sanmina Facility Achieves ISO Certification for Medical Apps
Bergen University Chooses Plasma-Therm's 790+ for
Work Continues on Quantum-Nano Centre in Waterloo, Ontario
Defense Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) Will Have Nano Centre
National Instruments Opens Center
Henkel's Adhesive Electronics business has relocated its headquarters to a new facility in Irvine, California which the company fully expects will help further its innovation initiatives.
The new 75,000 square foot building, located at 14000 Jamboree Road in Irvine, has been designed to accommodate the entire North American R&D team, consolidating staff and resources from three R&D sites under one roof. With over 30,000 square feet of state-of-the art laboratory space organized for maximum efficiency, customer collaboration and safety, Henkel's Irvine headquarters will most certainly promote the innovation spirit the company embodies.
"The advantages this new facility provides – the most important of which is the ability for our technical teams to be located together in one facility – will undoubtedly enable Henkel to innovate at an unprecedented pace," enthusiastically explains Dr. Michael Todd, Henkel Vice-President of Product Development and Engineering. "Our united R&D staff will have hands-on access to some of the most advanced semiconductor and SMT production equipment and research tools available, thus accelerating new product introductions. Indeed, this is good news for the industry as a whole."
As the headquarters for Henkel's electronics business, the Irvine facility will house multi-functional staff including executive management, inside sales, global marketing, global product management, operations, finance, R&D, advanced research, human resource, IT and applications.
Texas State University has received a federal grant to help build its Science Technology Advanced Research project — a commercialization center anticipated to spin out technologies, bring in fledgling companies and create jobs in Central Texas.
Texas State’s Office of Commercialization and Industrial Relations, or OCIR, will receive a $1.8 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. That grant will support creating the Science Technology Advanced Research, or STAR, building, which is part of Texas State’s new office of commercialization.
Created two months ago, OCIR merges the university’s efforts under one umbrella, making research and commercialization a top priority at the school. Texas State has $12 million for such work. The money comes from a $4.2 million Emerging Technology Fund grant, which was matched by the university and industry.
“STAR will bring together high-tech business … and it allows us to combine the city and the university in a meaningful partnership,” said Terry Golding, executive director of OCIR.
STAR will give faculty a place where they can commercialize intellectual property, and it will serve as a technology incubator for startup companies, with a focus on green energy and biotech companies.
The first phase of the STAR project, to be built on 38 acres off Interstate 35, is a 20,000-square-foot building that will house OCIR administrative offices, wet labs, cleanroom space and other research components. Wet lab space is in demand in Central Texas, Golding said.
Texas State is in discussions with an architect, which it declined to name until the contract is finalized.
Texas State hopes to build about 36,000 square feet of research space on the site at McCarty Lane and Hunter Road. It has not completed the master plan, said David Bisett, Texas State’s real estate specialist.
Construction on the first STAR building, estimated to cost $6 million, is scheduled to begin in spring or summer 2011 and take about a year to complete, although the university is working to speed up the timeline. Funding is in place for the project.
The commercialization office and STAR will boost Texas State’s profile as a research institution. STAR has already piqued the interest of startups. OCIR has a number of deals on the table, ranging from green solar companies to biotechnology firms, and is in advanced discussions with several companies.
Two companies are already located at Texas State in anticipation of the STAR building: MicroPower Global, a startup focused on a green device that converts heat into electricity, and a semiconductor manufacturer from Taiwan.
MicroPower Global is developing prototype chips at Texas State’s Multifunctional Materials Laboratory building in San Marcos.
Ali Murdoch, CEO of MicroPower, said that once it completes its prototype, the company intends to fund its commercialization phase, a $10 million project, at Texas State’s new commercialization center. The company plans to employ 20 in San Marcos during that phase.
“The arrangement provides a low-cost base for the company’s engineering work at a facility specifically designed for commercialization projects of this nature,” the company said on its website.
Another major draw for startups is Texas State’s fast-growing engineering program and its new materials science, engineering and commercialization program, which marries science with business and entrepreneurship. Texas State expects that the program’s graduates will be positioned to become chief technology officers.
In the last year, four startups have been spun out of Texas State. And Golding is confident that given a new building, STAR will continue to spin out two or three startups a year. He also expects to attract about three companies to the university each year.
Initially, STAR will have room for about seven companies.
The collective goal for the university and the region is that these companies will stay and grow in Central Texas.
China-based e-book reader maker Hanwang Technology plans to invest US$1 million to set up a R&D center in Taiwan at the end of 2010, according to company chairman Liu Ying-jian.
Since the company's average salaries in China are already close to those in Taiwan and the company sees over 40% of its purchases and 50% of production for e-book readers from Taiwan players, it has decided to establish a base in Taiwan for better management as well as to promote its devices, which are set to launch in Taiwan at the end of 2010.
Liu also expects to hire at least 80 employees for its R&D center in Taiwan.
Sanmina-SCI Corp. has received the ISO 13485:2003 certification for its Lod, Israel, facility for the manufacture of prototypes, printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs), electro-mechanical assemblies, sub-systems and systems for electrical medical devices.
ISO 13485 is an internationally recognized standard developed to ensure that companies provide medical devices that consistently meet regulatory requirements. In order to obtain the certification, Sanmina-SCI demonstrated the ability to consistently meet strict requirements for Quality Management Systems (QMS) applicable to medical device manufacturing and related services.
"Earning the ISO 13485:2003 certification represents a significant accomplishment for the Lod, Israel, facility as it emphasizes Sanmina-SCI's commitment to meeting the highest standards of quality required by its medical customers," said Gelston Howell, senior vice president of Sanmina-SCI's medical division. "Our ability to support medical customers in Lod, Israel, complements Sanmina-SCI's global strategy, and reinforces our growth and leadership position for this key market segment. We have an excellent global network of 14 ISO 13485:2003 certified facilities that include Lod and Ma'alot, Israel. These facilities are also FDA registered and/or QSR compliant ensuring that Sanmina-SCI meets the stringent requirements of the medical industry," concluded Howell.
"Receiving the ISO 13485:2003 certification clearly demonstrates Sanmina-SCI's dedication to offer worldwide manufacturing locations to its medical customers," stated Samuel Semel, Sanmina-SCI's general manager and managing director for Israel. "This key certification opens new opportunities for medical device manufacturing to our customers who are looking for lower-cost and quality solutions in this region."
The Department of Physics and Technology based in Norway has selected Plasma-Therm's 790+ Reactive Ion Etcher for its nano-fabrication facility.
The University of Bergen's system addition to their facility will assist in the development of
free-standing Fresnel zoneplates for neutral helium microscopes. The 790+ RIE equipment will also support the universities work on biophysics experiments in surface engineering and nano-science experiments to test optical and magnetic properties of nanostructures.
"As we move forward with the reach of our experiments, we are constantly searching for reliable, flexible tools that support us in our research and help us push the limits of nano-science. The 790+ system is one of the tools we are using to define the future of nanotechnologies," said Professor Bodil Holst, Nanoscience Program Leader at the University of Bergen's Department of Physics and Technology.
The 790+ RIE provides a flexible technical solution for etching the variety of structures and materials required for advanced research. Simple operation coupled with manual loading on a large electrode addresses the multiple needs of a university operating environment where different substrate sizes and shapes in addition to ease of use by multiple users is key.
"Based on the well proven 790 platform, the newly improved 790+ continues to supply reliable and sophisticated technology for many applications including those at the nanoscale level. The increased area of the 790+ electrode increases uniformity and throughput while maintaining affordability for both university and production settings" said Ed Ostan, executive VP of sales & marketing at Plasma-Therm.
Plasma-Therm, founded in 1974, is a supplier of advanced plasma process equipment that focuses on various specialty markets including photomask, solid state lighting, thin film head and compound semiconductor. Plasma-Therm offers both dry etch & PECVD technologies custom built to meet rapidly changing research needs and the demands of production. The company has sales, service and spares locations throughout North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
The University of Bergen, located in Bergen, Norway, is a research university with a high international profile that is committed to academic and research excellence. The university emphasizes basic research, research-based teaching and the development of academic disciplines. The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences is one of six faculties at the University of Bergen and has around 2700 students. The Faculty consists of eight departments, including the Department of Physics and Technology, which provide the foundations for its teaching and research activities.
Construction continues on the University of Waterloo’s Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre in Waterloo, Ont.
Aecon Buildings is constructing the five-storey, $130-million facility, which will house a state-of-the-art cleanroom, office space and extensive teaching and lab space to conduct quantum computing and nano technology research.
Construction began in August 2008 and is scheduled for completion in mid-2011.
It will be connected to existing buildings by an above grade bridge and underground service tunnel and the project was designed by KPMB Architects.
Consultants are Halsall Associates Ltd. (structural) and HH Angus and Associates Ltd. (mechanical/electrical).
In around six months, the city-based Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) will have a nano technology centre on campus. The proposed facility will aim at giving a fillip to nanotechnology-related research, besides providing a platform for PhD students from across the country.
“Manpower and expert researchers are the key aspects of any technology centre. With the recruitment process over, we are a step closer to establishing the centre,” said Prof Lalit M Patnaik, vice chancellor, DIAT.
The DIAT has been conducting a PhD program for research students from universities across the country for the past two years. “The centre will be a useful platform for research students. In our department alone, we have seven PhD students. We are hopeful that five years from now, around 100 students will be assisting the faculty members in implementing projects. The facility will also help us integrate the research currently being done on individual levels,” said RB Sharma, scientist F and head, Department of Applied Physics, DIAT.
Under the umbrella of Planet NI, National Instruments has opened another Centre of Excellence (CoE), this time in partnership with Velammal Engineering College, Chennai for innovation and creativity in the field of Virtual Instrumentation. This CoE is the first of its kind in the state with a view to improve the quality of engineering education in India and spread the concept of Virtual Instrumentation
The CoE will introduce latest industrial standard technologies and develop products which can encourage ideation and innovation in the areas of embedded technology among engineering students and technical professionals of the country. The CoE will work on research areas like embedded Industrial Control, Image Processing, Robotic System Design, Measurement & Automation, Wireless Sensor network by encouraging ideation and innovation through projects based on real world applications, access to industry events, educational workshops, and training sessions on NI LabVIEW.
Jayaram Pillai, managing director India, Russia & Arabia, National Instruments said, "The establishment of the CoE will strengthen our engagement with the academia in the country. This association will help us equip students with the skills required to undertake research and development in the changing technology environment. With this initiative we will be able to contribute to the development of the limited exploratory or research-based education."
"With acknowledgement of research intensive needs on the part of industry, meeting these needs for the future engineers is an essential part of bridging the academia-industry gap present," he added.
Virtual instruments provide significant advantages in every stage of the engineering process, from research and design to manufacturing test. Virtual Instrumentation aids all stages of the engineering process, from research and design to manufacturing test. With this initiative the centre will offer candidates an opportunity to work to the highest academic standards and will seek to bridge the gap between the industry and the academia by creating an experiential learning environment for engineering students in the state as well as across India.
Planet NI and Velammal Engineering College is committed towards developing quality engineers who can take the country forward with continuous innovations in technology.
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