OTHER ELECTRONICS & NANOTECHNOLOGY
INDUSTRY UPDATE
August 2011
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Agilent, UC Davis Found Research Center
Sensirion Opens New Plant for Components
Cavendish Engineers to Build e2v Cleanroom
Innovnano Builds New Nanomaterial Plant
STMicroelectronics and the BioRobotics Institute Establish Lab
Midatech Receives Manufacturing License for Nanoparticles
The University of Chicago is Planning to Build New Research Center
Diodes Breaks Ground on Manufacturing Facility in Chengdu, China
Agilent Technologies Inc. and the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) established the Davis Millimeter Wave Research Center to develop advanced mm wave and THz systems for radar, sensors, imaging systems, communications and integrated passive devices (IPDs) found in electromagnetic metamaterials and antennae.
DMRC students and faculty will research devices, integrated circuits (ICs), packaging, metamaterials and defected ground integrated passives, imaging systems, THz vacuum electronics, THz micro-machined devices, nonlinear modeling, nanomaterials and wireless implantable devices. Agilent and UC Davis expect results that benefit medical imaging systems, security scanners, gigabit wireless communications devices and sensors, as well as defense usages such as radar and active denial systems.
The Davis Millimeter Wave Research Center is an industry-university cooperative research program with national and international aims.
UC Davis has more than 32,000 students, more than 2,500 faculty and more than 21,000 staff, an annual research budget that exceeds $678 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers.
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) provides measurement tools for chemical analysis, life sciences, electronics and communications.
The new building will shortly house the entire production of the sensor components manufacturer Sensirion.
Sensirion, a Swiss manufacturer of CMOS-based sensor components and systems, has opened a new production plant in Stäfa, just a few hundred meters from the main building, to support growth.
The building will shortly house the entire production of the high-tech company, while the development and sales departments will remain in the main building alongside administration.
Highly automated production lines have now been built over 10,000m2 (107,600 sq. ft.) space on three floors.
The core of the production plant consists of four cleanrooms for the manufacture of sensors for measuring moisture, temperature, gas and liquid flows as well as differential pressure. The largest ISO 6-certified cleanroom offers 1,000m2 (10,760 sq. ft.) of space.
The company says the new building will help it avoid capacity bottlenecks and ensure on-time and reliable delivery of millions of high-quality sensors worldwide.
The plant uses the latest building services technology, with air conditioning provided by geothermal probes, heat pumps and an internal cooling system equipped for heat recovery.
Automatic fire suppression systems and smoke extraction units are included and the building is divided into different autonomous fire compartments, which guarantee high operational safety and security.
Sensirion products include humidity and temperature sensors, mass flow meters and controllers, gas and liquid flow sensors, and differential pressure sensors.
The company supports its international OEM customers with tailor-made sensor systems for analytical instruments, consumer goods, and applications in the medical technology, automotive and HVAC sectors.
Cavendish Engineers has been appointed by e2v technologies as the main contractor for design and build of a new cleanroom facility.
e2v is a leading global provider of specialist technology for high performance systems and equipment; delivering solutions, sub-systems and components for specialist applications within medical & science, aerospace & defense, and commercial & industrial markets.
The cleanroom project includes an ISO Class 6 facility, complete with six cleanrooms, a clean corridor, change room and air lock. The mechanical and electrical plant for this project was designed with stringent conditions on temperature, humidity and pressure.
Energy efficiency and low running costs are notoriously difficult to achieve in such demanding cleanroom environments, but with localized re-circulating air handling units both energy efficiency and reliability can be achieved. LED lighting provides a higher quality light for the cleanroom user for a much improved running cost against other existing lighting solutions.
The cleanroom facility is due for completion in October 2011.
This infrastructure, being built on a 3.3 hectare plot, will also be equipped with a laboratory gifted with the most advanced equipment.
The installation of this modern nanomaterials manufacturing unit, besides the €10 million investment, will promote approximately 40 new skilled employment opportunities in the region, and the commissioning of the first production line is foreseen early in 2012.
The Innovnano Company, holder of four international patents already granted and others pending concerning their unique process of nanomaterials manufacture, is also involved in projects for its application in the production and storage of renewable energies, coatings, and advanced ceramics, among other fields.
The vast majority of nanomaterials manufacturers has been finding it difficult to scale-up their production processes with very few manufacturers being able to produce tens of tons of nanomaterials annually. Moreover, the complex nature of nanomaterials has raised certain doubts by end users regarding the technical reliability of these materials.
To address these challenges, INNOVNANO (part of CUF, the largest Portuguese chemical group), with its corporate Headquarter located in Lisbon, has developed a unique and innovative proprietary patented process. The process is defined as high-pressure semi continuous process for the large-scale production of nanomaterials and advanced ceramic powders.
High pressure (> 30,000 bars) and high temperature (range of 500°C to 2000°C) are combined with ultrafast quenching (up to 108 K/s to 109 K/s) in one single reaction step. Furthermore, the complete automation of the manufacturing process has resulted in minimum human intervention and eliminated downtime, thereby ensuring production maximization and quick response time to customers.
The process has been controlled in such a way that competitive selection of precursors and production conditions is possible to tap the appropriate properties of metal oxides, doped metal oxides, and composites. INNOVNANO already offers several commercial nanoparticles in the range of 20 nm to 60 nm.
This patented technology is useful to target the various mechanical, thermal, electrical, optical, and other pertinent properties of these nanomaterials to cater to advanced coatings and advanced ceramics, as well as the energy sector and cosmetics industries. Different synthesis options have been created for preparing either single compound microparticles or nanoparticles, or a homogeneous mixture of various compounds in the same particle.
The proper control of reaction kinetics has ensured that both partial and complete coatings could be easily synthesized in the manufacturing process.
INNOVNANO is part of NANOFutures, the European initiative for sustainable development of nanotechnology, and is also part of the Nanotechnology Industries Association (N.I.A.), which represents the industrial nanotechnology supply chain in Europe.
STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa, a world center of excellence in advanced robotics and one of Italy's most prestigious universities, have announced the creation of a joint laboratory for research and innovation in bio-robotics, smart systems and microelectronics.
Supporting the expansion of research in biologically-inspired robots with human-like structures and behavior, ST and the BioRobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna are working to extend their understanding of locomotion principles in sensing, actuation, dynamics and control of various biological systems with the opening of a joint laboratory in Catania, Italy, where ST has advanced R&D activities in robotics and automation, smart system integration, as well as the exploration of new materials and technologies, including opto-electronics and electronics on plastic. This joint lab will enable the close collaboration leading to a better understanding of the physical design of bodies and the organization of their sensory and nervous systems.
In the past five years, ST and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna have been collaborating to develop and promote advanced robotics and 'smart' systems based on ST's leading-edge semiconductor products and technologies. Completed joint projects include DustBot, a scientific platform integrating self-driven, self-navigating 'service robots' for selective waste collection and street cleaning in city centers, which were successfully demonstrated in a number of places around the world in 2009.
With logistics, material and equipment supplied by ST, as well as skilled researchers, the new joint lab brings researchers and engineers from Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna and ST closer together to delve into the development of new concepts and applications in bio-robotics, smart sensors, energy harvesting, and to examine the application of new materials to expand the horizons of today's microelectronics.
In smart systems, which are miniaturized devices that incorporate functions of sensing, actuation and control, the collaboration is already exploring the capabilities of smart sensors in medical applications, where experts from ST and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna are collaborating to develop smart toys equipped with motion and pressure sensors for early diagnosis of neuro-developmental delays and autistic pathologies in small children. While the child plays with the smart toy, the system will constantly monitor the child's movement and posture, as well as how he/she grasps or holds the toy. The researchers anticipate that doctors will be able to diagnose neurological abnormalities in children, even before the child is able to speak. The ST and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna researchers, in collaboration with medical institutions and a toy manufacturer, expect to prototype toys with sensors for infants, including clear operating guides for doctors, within the next two years.
"Bio-robotics and smart systems will be fundamental to the sustainable development of human society in the 21st century, improving our quality of life in all its aspects, from manufacturing and medicine to smart homes and environment protection," said Professor Paolo Dario, Director of the BioRobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna. "The joint laboratory will help advance our efforts in creating the next generation of intelligent systems integrating microelectronics, mechanics and computing technologies."
Taking a bold look into humanity's future, the experts from ST and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna plan to work in the fascinating area of humanoid robots. These robots will be entirely new machines with flexible and compliant properties - soft-bodied robots made of Shape-Memory materials capable of acting and interacting physically, emotionally, socially and safely with humans. Equipped with all the right ingredients for the creation of these 'robot companions,' the ST and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna lab aims to participate in the EU Future and Emerging Technologies Program for the development of companion robots. One example of the lab's interests is in replacing the motor from a conventional robot's elbow and replacing it with an artificial 'muscle,' making the system lighter, as well as more natural looking.
In bio-robotics, the joint laboratory will also focus on exploiting the use of new materials in advanced applications, yielding lighter-weight and more resilient robots. These new materials include Shape Memory Alloys, or smart metals, which exhibit unique, muscle-like properties, such as pseudo-elasticity and the shape memory effect. Such materials 'remember' their original shape and, after deformation, can return to their pre-deformed shape when heated. This quality can be useful in a wide range of applications, including medical equipment and aviation.
The newly established laboratory will take an active role in the smart system efforts and initiatives coordinated by EPoSS. Integration of smart systems aims to address global challenges and opportunities, including health and aging or sustainable mobility by giving intelligent and adaptable functionalities to the user, utilizing new materials and technologies, and redefining the interaction between people and technology.
ST has a long history in working with leading educational and research establishments around the world, combining industry experience and knowledge with academic research strengths and rich talent pool. The ST- Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna joint laboratory initiative will enhance and leverage the global network of partnering research centers in the robotics domain that already include, among others, the University of Catania, the Italian Institute of Technology, the Humanoid Robotics Institute at the Waseda University in Japan, the Waseda - Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna RoboCasa joint lab, the Korean Institute for Scientific Technologies, the Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Within this network, ST contributes its semiconductor expertise to open new perspectives and fuel further development in this field.
Midatech Biogune S. L., the nanoparticle manufacturing subsidiary of the Midatech Group, announced that it has been granted an Investigational Medicinal Products (IMP) License from the Spanish Medicines Agency for the cGMP manufacture of clinical grade nanoparticles at its state-of-the art facility in Bilbao, Spain.
Inspectors from the Spanish Medicines Agency carried out an inspection of the Midatech Biogune facility on the 15th and 16th of February 2011 and thereupon granted the accreditation, making Midatech one of the first companies in Spain to be granted this type of license under the new European regulations.
Justin Barry, CEO, said; “Getting such a rapid and positive response from the Medicines Agency validates the quality of our manufacturing and endorses the investment that Midatech has made into its first class quality systems.”
The University of Chicago is planning to build the William Eckhardt Research Center, a five-story, 265,000-sq-ft building. The cast-in-place concrete structure will utilize slurry-wall construction for the basement wall and include chilled-beam technology and heat recovery systems. The building will contain offices, laboratories, conference rooms and the Institute of Molecular Engineering, with a 9,200-sq-ft cleanroom and an imaging suite below grade. HOK, along with James Carpenter Design Associates, is handling design; W.E. O’Neil is serving as the construction manager. The project also entails demolishing the existing Research Institutes Building, Low-Temp Building and the Astronomy and Astrophysics Center. The project goal is LEED Gold certification. Construction is expected to be completed in 2015. The project is valued at $215 million.
Diodes Incorporated, a leading global manufacturer and supplier of high-quality application specific standard products within the broad discrete, logic and analog semiconductor markets, announced that it hosted a ground breaking ceremony for Diodes Technology (Chengdu) Company Limited at the Company's new production site at Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone (CDHT) on Tuesday, July 19, 2011.
Established in December 2010, as a joint venture between Diodes Incorporated and Chengdu Ya Guang Electronic Company Limited (5% ownership), Diodes Technology (Chengdu) Company Limited was formed to perform semiconductor manufacturing assembly and test functions and is an expansion of the Company's manufacturing presence in China.
Dr. Keh-Shew Lu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Diodes Incorporated led the ceremony. Also attending the ground breaking ceremony were local, city and CDHT officials, media guests, the Company's business partners and members of the Company's senior management.
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