OTHER ELECTRONICS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY UPDATE
March 2012
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SAFC Hitech Opens New Taiwan Facility
D&W Diesel Expanding Headquarters in Auburn, New York
Nanolab Technologies Doubles Space for IC Analysis Services
Cleanroom Installation at National Nonwovens
Cleanroom Aids Student Research at James Madison University
Natcore Technology Opens R &D Center In Rochester, NY
Sterling Instrument Announced Cleanroom Certification
Linde and UCLB drive Nanotube Commercialization
A National Laboratory Expansion in Idaho
Progress with Krishna P Singh, Center for Nanotechnology
SAFC Hitech®, a member of the Sigma-Aldrich® Group, underlined its commitment to the Asia-Pacific electronics markets with the opening of its new multi-million U.S. dollar facility in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The 270,000 sq ft expansion significantly increases the site's existing capacity for the high-volume manufacturing of high-quality Trimethylgallium (TMG), Triethylgallium (TEG) and Trimethylindium (TMI) precursors for High Brightness LED (HBLED) applications. The site will also produce Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) precursors for the silicon semiconductor market and offer regional transfilling capability and technical service and support.
The latest expansion of SAFC Hitech's global manufacturing footprint reinforces Taiwan as a strategic regional hub from which to leverage the company's existing proprietary knowledge and capabilities as a leading provider of ultra-high purity metalorganic and silicon precursors for thin film deposition production processes for the microelectronics and optoelectronic markets. SAFC Hitech's existing Taiwan operations will transition to the new Kaohsiung facility.
Speaking of the new facility, Philip Rose, SAFC Hitech President, commented: "One of SAFC Hitech's key objectives is to continue to provide leading materials technology solutions to drive functional performance in end use devices in the high growth markets we serve - for now and in the future. Following the March 2010 production expansion for TMG at our Bromborough, UK manufacturing site, this strategic investment in Taiwan will continue to strengthen our position as a leading global supplier of reliable precursors for the HBLED market. This market is tailored to address the increased focus on improving efficiency and reducing energy costs through design and technology advances, which is driving the electronics sector to introduce more energy-conscious products and systems."
"Due to the rise in demand for LEDs, and in particular HBLEDs, we are increasingly engaged in customer collaboration activities throughout the Asia-Pacific region," added Dr. Geoff Irvine, VP of Marketing and Business Development at SAFC Hitech. "With 30 years experience in supplying precursors, our focus is on developing local infrastructure and manufacturing capacity in order to continue to offer customers a broad product range and novel delivery systems optimized for performance and cost of ownership. Our proprietary delivery systems like bubblers/ampoules and EpiFill™, EpiVapor™ and EpiSensor™ are allied to strong application development and vertical integrated manufacturing."
In addition to the enhanced manufacturing capacity, SAFC Hitech's Kaohsiung site capabilities can handle and characterize highly specialized laboratory-scale chemicals and features a dedicated customer support center. The site also provides integrated inert atmosphere transfilling stations, state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation for the detection of ultra-low metallic and oxygen containing contaminants and dedicated cylinder preparation and packaging areas. The site is ISO 9001 certified for quality with work to acquire ISO 14001 certification for safety and environmental protocols in process.
About SAFC Hitech: SAFC Hitech provides a unique chemistry service translating application understanding into performance materials worldwide. Through collaborative partnerships and an integrated approach from research and development, process development and scale up to commercial manufacturing, SAFC Hitech invests in innovation and manufacturing enabling current and future technology needs.
For brothers Doug and Dave Wayne, keeping their company D&W Diesel fully stocked with inventory is a vital part of their business.
“In this business, if the customer needs something, the supplier who has it in stock usually wins the sale,” said the brothers.
With that in mind, D&W Diesel’s current inventory of parts and finished product exceeds $13 million.
That’s also a key factor behind D&W’s expansion of its Auburn, NY, headquarters. A 55,000 sq. ft. addition is in the process of being enclosed and will be fully functional by late spring 2012. The majority of the new facility will be for expanded warehousing with 15,000 sq. ft. being dedicated to additional production space.
The new warehouse facility, which is designed for additional growth in the future, will include a highly automated pick and pull inventory system. This will further aid D&W Diesel in being able to expand the amount of on hand inventory, to easily identify the parts customers need and to get them ready for immediate shipping to customers or distribution to one of the eight branch locations.
Having a dedicated, talented staff also plays a key role in making this all happen.
“Our philosophy is that ‘it’s all about people’,” said Doug Wayne. “We go to great lengths to find the right people to fit into our organization that have the right areas of expertise. Our employees are trained to be experts in the areas that they work in and they understand that we are problem solvers.”
D&W currently has more than 250 employees among its eight facilities, which are located across New York (Auburn, Buffalo, Binghamton, Rochester and Albany), Ohio (Cleveland), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and Massachusetts (Worcester).
Another D&W philosophy relates to providing customers with quality products, regardless if the product is new or remanufactured.
“You don’t get a second chance,” said Doug. “Our customers expect that the remanufactured parts coming out of our facility are every bit as good as new parts; and people are only going to purchase remanufactured parts if they represent substantial savings. So everything we offer needs to be affordable and cost competitive.” Doug goes on to say, “None of that matters, though if you don’t have the inventory. Availability is the key. If the customer is looking for it, we need to have it in stock.”
The company has added a new, $100,000, cleanroom for working on the new diesel fuel injection systems used on Tier III and Tier IV engines. These injection systems are so sensitive that there can be absolutely no foreign particulates in the atmosphere when they are being worked on. Eight technicians work in this area, which is meticulously cleaned and the air is filtered through an extensive HEPA air filtration system. This substantial investment further supports D&W’s mantra of offering the highest quality products to its customers.
Originally named D.W. Auto Electrical, D&W Diesel was founded in 1976 by Doug Wayne and was located in a rented one-bay garage. Doug, and one other employee, rebuilt starters, generators and alternators, and offered drive-in electrical services.
As the business grew, Doug’s brother, Dave, became a partner in the business. Diesel fuel injection remanufacturing was added to the product offering and the business was renamed D&W Diesel and Electric.
In the 1980s, D&W expanded its product lines to include the sales and service of turbochargers. It also purchased Ontario Electric and began offering sales and service of DC motors. Positive displacement blowers for tank trucks were soon added to the mix, and the sales territory for tank truck equipment was subsequently expanded to cover all of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.
In 1998, D&W expanded its tank truck equipment product line by adding the sales and manufacturing of hoses and couplings. In 1999, the company signed on as the distributor for Gardner Denver truck and industrial blowers, marking the launch of D&W’s Industrial Products Division, which was responsible for the sales and service of bulk transfer equipment to the industrial markets.
Diesel engine components (starters, alternators, turbochargers, fuel injectors, fuel pumps, charge air coolers, fan clutches, etc.) are to this day, the largest share of the company’s business. However, the company has experienced tremendous growth into other areas. Over the past decade and a half, the company has explored and expanded into other niche markets to grow and diversify the corporation.
The Tank Truck Equipment and Industrial Products & Services Divisions are the result of the Wayne brothers’ diversification efforts.
“The Tank Truck Division services any equipment used to load or unload materials from a tanker truck,” Doug explained. “Typically these would be trucks that are hauling liquids, gases, concrete and sand, just to name a few. For instance, blowers are air pumps, which we offer for the use of loading and unloading of dry bulk materials from tank trucks. Vacuum pumps are used on vacuum trucks to collect and discharge a variety of liquids such as septic, waste oil, industrial, and hazardous waste, just to name a few.”
D&W Diesel’s positive displacement blowers and vacuum pumps are used in applications requiring blending, conveying, aeration, fluidization and much more. This division also offers pneumatic conveying components and processing equipment for a wide range of applications. These products include bulk bag stations, hoppers, flexible augers, liquid pump stations and much more.
“A large variety of liquid pumps are used for loading and unloading liquid tankers. Liquid bulk haulers often use compressors to unload their cargo. We represent Gardner Denver and American Eagle to support those markets. We offer hydraulic drive systems, which offer several benefits over mechanical drive lines for powering tank trailer unloading procedures. Finally, D&W Diesel has an extensive custom hose supply department, which addresses the varied hose and coupling needs for tanker trucks.”
D&W Diesel also has heavily invested in the Industrial Products and Services. They are affiliated with top manufacturers of industrial pneumatic equipment and industrial air compressors, such as Gardner Denver and Kobelco. These products, combined with their 15 years of experience, a skilled staff of application engineers, and hands-on technicians, allows D&W to provide solutions for almost any blower/vacuum application, or industrial air compressor system according to the company.
New units and parts are not all the Industrial group offers. They provide 24/7 service and parts support for industrial air compressors. In addition, their skilled technicians perform energy audits, assist customers with maximizing their energy efficiencies and applying for energy savings with utility companies.
Nanolab Technologies Incorporated inaugurated its 47,000sq.ft. state-of-the-art facility in Milpitas, CA on "Leap Day" as a nod to the company's "Giant Leap Forward" theme for 2012. The new facility more than doubles Nanolab Technologies' space.
Nanolab Technologies provides electron microscopy, surface analysis and failure analysis services for MEMS and IC design, process control, and fabrication issues.
The new state-of-the-art laboratory was designed to maximize the performance of extremely high resolution instruments, with precision temperature control, vibration isolation, acoustical absorption, and an electrical system design to virtually eliminate electrical and magnetic field interference (EMI), and environmental and mechanical influences. This supports expansion into new analytical service sectors, said president and CEO John Traub.
The Chiller-based Radiant Cooling System was designed and built to achieve precise temperature control that eliminates lab temperature variances. The system controls and redirects airflow to prevent turbulence that can compromise instrument performance.
The web-based Environmental Control System facilitates remote reprogramming and control of individual lab environments to precondition and stabilize operating conditions prior to the arrival of laboratory analysts. This is particularly valuable when responding to a customer emergency call at night or on weekends, when all environmental systems are optimized for minimizing energy consumption and reducing operating costs.
The new laboratory is designed around a central facilities Service Module "spine" featuring double-wall construction and three layers of high-efficiency acoustical absorption material. This is the central support core for all laboratories and houses ancillary equipment and control delivery systems for gases and fluids. All major mechanical systems are installed on an exterior isolated equipment pad.
The facility was also designed to accommodate seamless expansion with facilities in place for new laboratories as the company grows and adds new instruments, techniques and analytical services.
Nanolab Technologies is a testing laboratory providing chip designers, equipment OEMs and integrated circuit fabricators with independent assessments of IC design, process control, and fabrication issues.
National Nonwovens has installed a 2.4 meter air-laid needle punch nonwoven line which is strategically located in a contained, cleanroom environment. Production on the line is currently focused on, but is not limited to, the manufacturing of medical products.
According to the company, it is fully equipped with state-of-the-art electronics to effectively control temperature, humidity, dusting, and contamination; which are necessary for advanced wound care, medical devices, and patient-care products.
“The air-laid line has the support of process engineers and quality control, including complete chemical profiling of all materials,” the company said in a statement.
The line is capable of processing both synthetic and natural fibers and products can be produced in the range 1.5 oz/yd2 to 10 oz/yd2, supported or unsupported. The line has in-line slitting with slit widths up to 90 inches with future expansion including the installation of a three-roll press with laminating capabilities.
The 2.4 meter air-laid line adds to National Nonwovens’ existing air-laid lines and increases capacity in excess of 2 million pounds of fiber per year. When combined with National Nonwovens’ other production lines, total processing capacity is in excess of 15 million pounds per year.
The company’s manufacturing and technical capabilities include both air-laid and carded cross-laid web forming with chemical bond, felted wool, needle punch, lamination, and thermo-bond constructions.
“National Nonwovens will continue to expand its breath of technology as a commitment to customers’ present and future requirements to meet the needs of global markets,” the company said.
The Microfabrication Cleanroom in HHS holds various machines ranging from $100,000 to $200,000, such as the electron beam evaporation machine.
A beeping sound emanates from the keypad as David Lawrence, an ISAT professor emeritus, enters the access code to the cleanest room on campus.
The air in the JMU cleanroom is 1,000 times cleaner than regular air.
The door swings open as Lawrence enters an 8-by-8-foot dressing room. He reaches into a closet and grabs white shoe covers, protective glasses and a cap. A bench, metal locker and coat rack that hangs dozens of white Tyvek jumpsuits fill the space-deprived room.
“They look like bunny suits if you ask me,” Lawrence said.
Without these jumpsuits, HHS 2034 wouldn’t be nearly as clean.
Lawrence walks on “blue sticky” mats as he leaves the dressing room and enters the main cleanroom workspace. The mats help remove all dust particles off shoes.
The University of Virginia and Virginia Tech have cleanrooms, but not so much for undergraduate use. JMU is one of the only academic institutions in Virginia that allows undergraduate students to use this type of facility.
The Microfabrication Cleanroom is a lab comparable to the size of a 25-seat classroom. The facility has its own separate ventilation system with three high-quality air filters. It’s filled with machines that heat, chill and handle hazardous materials used during testing, which keep students and faculty on their toes while working.
It has a very low level of environmental pollutants and chemical vapors. When working with atom-sized samples, even the smallest dust particle can cause inaccurate results.
The temperature remains at 68-70 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity is never more than 60 percent to ensure more accurate results.
Several of these machines include the electron beam evaporation machine and magnetron sputtering system, which cost between $100,000 and $200,000.
More than a dozen students majoring in biology, chemistry, ISAT, engineering and physics use the cleanroom with faculty supervision on a weekly basis.
Warren Grabenstetter, a senior ISAT major, is in the midst of his final research project. He spends three hours a week in the cleanroom with his two group members, researching a way to make a more energy-efficient semiconductor that could lead to a more sustainable economy.
“We feel really humbled and privileged when walking into that room,” Grabenstetter said. “You see work from professors. It can be intimidating.”
Grabenstetter and his fellow group members enjoy being able to have this kind of opportunity. Without this super cleanroom the results of their micro-experiments would be muddled.
In a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Kodak's Eastman Business Park, Natcore Technology Inc. has formally opened its Research and Development Center in Rochester, NY. The Center is located in Building 308 of the Park.
The R&D Center will enable Natcore to accelerate its development of applications based on the company's proprietary liquid phase deposition (LPD) technology. At present, its most promising applications are flexible solar cells, which would halve the cost of producing solar energy; super-efficient tandem cells, which would double the power output of today's most efficient commercial solar cells; and black silicon solar cells, which would produce a significantly greater amount of energy (KwHrs) on a daily basis than will the industry's standard solar cells.
The Natcore facility houses a laboratory/cleanroom, a gowning room, administration offices and a warehouse. The Class ISO 7 cleanroom uses positive air pressure and a series of filters to eliminate 90% of environmental pollutants (e.g., dust, airborne microbes, aerosol particles and chemical vapors) from outside air. Employees enter and leave through airlocks, and wear protective clothing such as caps, facemasks, gloves, booties and coveralls.
But the centerpiece is AR-Box™, Natcore's intelligent LPD processing station for growing an antireflective (AR) coating on silicon wafers in the process of manufacturing solar cells. It will be the primary tool in the development and commercialization of Natcore's new technologies.
This SUV-sized device is a research version of the AR-Box production model, which will be fully automated and substantially larger.
Natcore's R&D Center will be staffed initially by 10-12 people. Two former Kodak employees-chemical engineering technicians Richard Topel, Jr. and Ted Zubil-have already begun working there, and two senior scientists are moving from Natcore's Ohio State facility. Dr. Dennis Flood, Natcore's Chief Technology Officer, will continue to interview chemists and chemical engineers, electrical engineers, materials scientists, and technicians to fill the remaining jobs.
The facility was built and equipped at a cost of nearly $1 million.
Natcore had been conducting its research at Ohio State and Rice Universities. That work will now be consolidated in Rochester, although Natcore will continue its funded joint research program with the Barron Group at Rice. New applications generated at Rice will be moved to Rochester for development and commercialization. The Columbus facility will be closed.
"We're still looking for a site and partners to develop and manufacture flexible solar cells and other applications," says Provini. "Eastman Business Park is being considered, as are overseas locations. Manufacturers from China, India and Italy sent delegations to visit us in February. Like Kodak, they all have extensive experience in manufacturing roll-to-roll photo film. The final decision in this case will rest on the availability of funding."
Sterling Instrument, an ISO 9001:2008 and AS9100C Certified manufacturer of precision electro-mechanical components and assemblies announced the certification of their new ISO 7/Class 10000 Cleanroom.
This new area will be used for testing, assembly and packaging. The environment of the Class 10000 Cleanroom is maintained through a HEPA filtration system, strict humidity and temperature controls. Employees are required to wear lab coats, booties and gloves.
Sterling Instrument is a partner to Stock Drive Products; known as SDP/SI they have been providing precision components and system solutions for industrial, medical, defense, and aerospace applications for fifty years.
To facilitate the commercialization of single-wall nanotubes (SWNT) in applications such as touch screen displays and photovoltaics, a team of scientists from University College London and Imperial College has developed an innovative process to separate and purify SWNTs. Unlike existing systems that produce very low yields and can result in damage to the nanotubes, this ground-breaking process is high-yielding, cost-effective and, crucially, commercially scalable. Linde has licensed this technology with to bring to market high-value carbon nanotube materials that will offer superior performance and value in different applications.
Several thousand jobs are being attributed to work now getting under way at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in Idaho Falls, the centerpiece of which is a new, $50-million, 148,000-sq.-ft. (13,750-sq.-m.) research and education laboratory. The three-floor facility will feature offices and multiple laboratories for conducting experiments and performing energy security research as well as conference rooms and meeting space for community outreach activities. Once complete in 2013, the new center will be leased to Battelle Energy Alliance.
Since 2005, INL has opened 13 research, development or support facilities totaling over 430,000 square feet (40,000 sq. m.). One of 10 national laboratories, INL specializes in energy, national security, science and the environment. It is a leading center for nuclear energy research and development and was the lead developer of the batteries for the Mars Rover.
The jobs associated with the new project are from multiple parties, explains Linda Martin, CEO of Grow Idaho Falls, the local economic development organization.
"There are the Alliance personnel, the contractors and scientists with the lab itself as well as a clean-up project that is going on that is a rather significant employment base for several contracting companies here," says Martin. "If you include all of that employment together, you get into the thousands — I'd say it's between 6,000 and 7,000 at any given time."
What's more, says Martin, the lab's presence in Idaho is a magnet for related investment on the part of private enterprise, such as nuclear energy giant AREVA, which just received its Nuclear Regulatory Commission license in October. Subcontractors to the AREVA project are actively seeking work with INL, and additional synergies are forming between INL and the region's higher education resources, particularly at University Place, a joint campus of Idaho State University and the University of Idaho.
"We are also finding some synergies with the Eastern Idaho Technical College in the area of class offerings, which is a great thing, especially for people working at the lab who want to do some continuing education work and for work-force training for new jobs. University Place is also the location of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies, which recently hosted a group of international students working there and with INL.
The University of Pennsylvania’s Krishna P Singh, Center for Nanotechnology designed by Weiss/Manfredi of New York just celebrated the topping off of the structural steel.
Todd Hoehn MArch'01 is the project manager for the design team which includes partner Marion Weiss, Graham Chair Professor at PennDesign, and designers Bryan Kelley MArch'09 and Michael Steiner MArch'04/MLA'04.
Poised at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus (located at 33rd Street and Walnut Street), this is the first major academic building that announces the presence of the campus within West Philadelphia. As the university's first cross disciplinary building, the new nanotech Research Facility will encourage the collaboration, exchange, and integration of knowledge that characterizes the study of this emerging field and will combine the resources of both the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the School of Arts and Sciences. Defined by a new central campus green, the building ascends as a spiral of research, reaching its highest elevation at the forum, a meeting space that cantilevers over the quad and opens to views of both the city and campus.
The result of a $20 million gift from Penn Engineering Alumnus Dr. Krishna P. Singh (GME'69, GR'72), this new facility will make Penn a leader in the field of nanotechnology. The new 78,000 gross-square-foot facility will have state-of-the-art lab spaces including a 10,000 square foot bay/chase cleanroom, 6,500 square foot characterization suite, and 9,000 square feet of general laboratories as well as centralized public spaces including the 15,000 square foot courtyard, public galleria, forum space and high profile conference rooms.
This will become a regional resource for atomic scale imaging and compositional analysis of nanoscale materials as well as fabrication of nanoscale materials. It will function as a crossroads of multi-disciplinary fundamental and translational research, education and innovation, facilitating interaction between faculty and students, researchers and industry, the University and the City, and the region. Occupancy is scheduled for 2013.
The building is targeting LEED Silver Certification.
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