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MANCEF Quarterly Newsletter

Event Summaries:

11th Annual Micromachine Summit

The Micromachine Summit provided a Micro-Nano Technology snapshot to worldwide industrial, academic and government initiatives. Three to four key people from the most important regions and countries in the Microtechnology arena participated in the Summit. From 1-4 May, 105 delegates and invited speakers gathered in a roundtable environment in Richardson, Texas, to address topics of special interest and discuss the progress and policies in each country and region. We were very pleased to have heard from the first Latin American delegation to have attended the event. Click the photo below to get an enlarged view of the participants and visit the Micromachine Summit website to read the delegate biographies, sponsor information, program highlights, and information about next year's Summit to be held in China.

Conference Reviews State of MEMS

By Tim Studt, Micro Nano News - Show Report, June 2005

The 11th Annual World Micromachine Summit was held 1-4 May 2005 in Richardson, Texas. This is the first of these conferences to be held in the U.S. with sponsorship by MANCEF (Micro and Nanotechnology Commercialization Education Foundation), Zyvex, Süss Microtec, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, NIST (National Institute for Standards and Technology), Univ. of Texas, Bennington Microtechnology Center, New Mexico Economic Development, CMC Microsystems, Univ. of New Mexico, and Institute of Microtechnology Neuchâtel.

The conference consisted of presentations on the state of MEMS technologies in North and Latin America, Asia, and Europe; MEMS technologies in industry; MEMS strategies; and the relationships of MEMS industry groups. The session finished with group tours to Texas Instruments' DLP (digital light projection) site, Zyvex, and the Nanotechnology Center at the Univ. of Texas at Dallas. About 130 speakers, delegates, and observers attended the conference, with attendees divided somewhat equally between Europe, Asia, and North America.

Country Review

The level of current U.S. investments in mostly nanotechnology projects at the Dept. of Homeland Security, NSF (National Science Foundation), NIH (National Institutes of Health), NIBIB (National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering), and NIST were reviewed by Michael Gaitan (michael.gaitan@nist.gov), project leader of the MEMS research in the Electronics and Electrical Engineering Lab at NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. U.S. nanotech investment is active and substantial across all these agencies with about 65% of the monies going toward support of academic research.

Dan Gale (gale@cmc.ca), VP of CMC Microsystems, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, reviewed Canadian investments in micro- and nanotechnology noting that these technologies are benefiting the most from the government's efforts to commercialize new knowledge. Increases in researchers and infrastructure facilities have been seen in this area. Some of the industries seeing current benefits include biomedical, semiconductor and electronics, energy, and photonics.

Mexico's MEMS efforts started in 2001 following a meeting with Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, the Univ. of Texas at El Paso, and CONACYT (Mexican National Council for Science and Technology) stated Guillermo de la Garza (fumecweb@prodigy.net.mx), executive director of the U.S. FUMEC (Mexico Foundation for Science) in Mexico City. Since then, Mexico has developed micro and nanotechnology centers and established further collaborative relationships with Sandia and the Univ. of Texas.

Jason Chaffey (+61 8 8259 7953), a research microengineer at DSTO (Defense Science and Technology Organization) in Adelaide, Australia, noted that direct government funding for microtechnology in Australia has ceased, citing its maturation as a technology. This change has brought a change in MEMS research in that major funding is now required to come from the product market arena. There has been an increase in funding for infrastructure improvements for the support of micro and nanotechnologies, although relatively small by U.S. standards. A larger amount of funding is dispersed through networks and real products are starting to appear.

An overview of the Japanese MEMS market trends was presented by Isao Shimoyama (isao@leopard.tu-tokyo.ac.jp) from the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology at the Univ. of Tokyo. Shimoyama predicts that the Japanese market will approach $10 billion by 2010. Many of these applications will be focused on information and communications equipment, automotive, and consumer products. The consumer product application areas will be mostly in MEMS sensors and RF MEMS technologies for home applications and home entertainment systems.

Zhaoying Zhou (Zhouzy@pim.tsinghua.edu.cn), professor at Tsinghua Univ. in Beijing, China, and chair of its Micro/Nano Technology Research Center, noted that the status of MEMS in China is a process of steady improvements. China's 11th five-year program from 2006-2010 has a key project in its 973 Program -- the development of micro/nano sensors, functional MEMS devices, and intelligent systems. Nanotechnology is considered an important topic on China's list of 20 special projects for its medium- and long-term (2020) development programs.

The status of MEMS in Taiwan was presented by Chih-Kung Lee (02-2737-7524), director general at the National Science Council in Taipei. Lee explained Taiwan's national MEMS infrastructure and gave a timeline of MEMS programs through 2006. Some of the issues he noted included the facts that customer qualification processes for MEMS is taking longer than expected; there is an overinvestment in production capacity that is "burning" investments; and that good people are being lured away by the IC and LCD industries. On the positive side, there is a competitive process infrastructure in place and there are many industrious people involved in the industry.

Albert Chee Wai Lu (cwlu@SIMTech.a-star.edu.sg), a research scientist at the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, presented his country's standing in MEMS with a review of the different technologies that have been developed. A number of MEMS international conferences continue to be staged in Singapore. Also, A*STAR (Agency for Science Technology and Research), universities, and polytechnical institutes have active MEMS and nanotechnology programs.

An overview of the EC's (European Commission) strategy for integrated micro- and nanosystems was presented by Dirk Beernaert (dirk.beernaert@cec.eu.int), head of the micro and nanosystems unit and the directorate general of the Information Society and Media at the EC in Belgium. The EC is now drafting its 7th Framework (FP7) for European Research that will run from 2007-2013. A doubling of the Framework's budget to ~$92 billion is expected for this six-year period with some projects focusing on putting micro- and nanosystems, displays, and MNT (micro/nano technology) inside everything, building interactive intelligent assistive environments, and transferring results to other areas. Future activities in the current 6th Framework Program include a focus on mixed technology micro- and nanosystems with high density hybrid integration. Also, there is activity in the development of autonomous miniaturized robotic systems and the validation of micro- and nanosystems as well as MNT-enabled subsystems. FP7 will continue this direction and move from single S&T approaches to multidisciplinary approaches towards smart integrated systems.

Albert van den Burg from the Univ. of Twente in the Netherlands presented a review of MEMS in the Benelux region that included a listing of the major academic and industrial players in Belgium and the Netherlands and their technology developments. Specific accomplishments of IMEC (Interuniversity MicroElectronics Center) in Leuven, Belgium; the Catholic Univ. in Louvain, Belgium; and MESA+ and Nanomi, both in Enschede, the Netherlands, were highlighted.

A review of MEMS in France was presented by Emmanuel Bigler (bigler@ens2m.fr), a professor of optics and microtechnology at FEMTO-STG CNRS (Franche-Comté Electronique Mecanique Thermique et Optique-Sciences et Technologies) in Cedex, France, and ENSMM (École Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et des Microtechniques) in Besançon, France. Bigler discussed some of the details of French growth in MST facilities throughout the country. He also touched on the new French ANR (National Research Agency), which was established in February 2005 as a joint public/private research funding agency that will target basic and applied research. Its current 2005 budget is ~$442 million with ~$81 million targeted for IT, nanoscience, and nanotechnologies. ANR is expected to spend ~$884 million over the next three years.

Roland Zengerle (zengerle@imtek.de), head of the microfluidics laboratory at the Univ. of Freiburg, Germany, gave a review of Germany's MEMS infrastructure. Zengerle listed how nearly 700,000 jobs in Germany depend on MEMS with an annual component market of ~$5.4 billion and ~$350 billion in systems. Zengerle said that Germany has an 8.4% share of the global market for MEMS systems with SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) being the backbone of the industry. The majority of these systems are focused in the automotive (accelerometers, gyros, sensors); medical/biotech (inhalers, hearing aids, pacemakers); and other smaller niche markets (instrumentation, microprocessing).

How the UK is expected to spend ~$489 million on micro- and nanotechnology over the next three years was discussed by Ron Lawes (r.lawes@imperial.ac.uk), a research engineer/professor at the Imperial College in London, UK. Priority areas for MNT are set by the UK's Technology Strategy Board. The areas being focused on include nanoparticles and materials (27%), nanobiotechnology (37%), nanometrology (8%), and nano device development (28%). Lawes noted that >100 companies and institutions are currently engaged in MNT in the UK. The web-based MNT directory is a key tool for coordinating these activities and >300 organizations have signed up.

Nico de Rooij (Nico.deRooij@unine.ch), director of the Institute of Microtechnology at the Univ. of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, revealed his country's primary centers of MNT, which include IBM Research Labs, CSEM (Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique), EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), IMT (Innovative Micro Technology), Paul Scherrer Institute, ETHZ (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), and EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research). He also noted the industrial organizations active in MNT work, including Hach, Rolex, Colibrys, Süss Microtec, Roche Diagnostics, Siemens, and others.

The Nordic region's activity in MNT was discussed by Henrik Jakobsen (Henrik.Jakobsen@hive.no), institute leader at the Institute for Microsystem Technology at Vestfold Univ. College, Horten, Norway. Across Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, Jakobsen noted that there are 18 major universities with six fabs for MNT, 11 institutes with 2 fabs, and ~120 companies with three fabs. Jakobsen highlighted some of these organizations and the sensor, IC, lab-on-a-chip, microfluidic, biomedical, and other devices being developed. He said that well beyond ~$126 million in microsystems are being developed and marketed annually in the region.

Paolo Dario (dario@mail-arts.sssup.it) concluded the "country review" for this conference with a presentation of the Mediterranean region. Dario is a professor and the director of the Advanced Robotics Lab and the Microfabrication Technologies Lab at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Italy. He highlighted MNT work in Spain, Greece, and Italy, including their involvement in the EC's FP6.

Technology Reviews

A number of technology reviews were presented by industrial and technology institute representatives. These included:

• Texas Instruments, Plano, Texas - DLP (digital light processing) and DMD (digital micromirror device).
• Micromachine Center, Tokyo, Japan.
• MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, Univ. of Twente, the Netherlands - LOC (lab-on-a-chip).
• Zyvex, Richardson, Texas - NanoWorks tools, NanoSolve materials, microassembly.
• Wageningen UR, Wageningen, the Netherlands - nanotech and foods.
• Olympus Corp., Tokyo, Japan - Capsule endoscope.
• Karlsruhe Research Center, Germany - Micro- and nanosystems.
• Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Tokyo, Japan - Micro- and nanotechnology

Strategies for MNT

An interesting group of sessions focused on the strategies being developed for S&T (science and technology) policies as they refer to MNT.

Peter Kozodoy from the Secretary of State's office at the U.S. Dept. of State discussed the perspectives on MNT's future and the changes that may affect the its growth in the U.S.

Lessons learned in transferring university-proven MEMS technologies into an industrial MEMS manufacturer was discussed by Sean Neylon (sean.neylon@colibrys.com), CEO of Colibrys, Houston. Neylon stated that Colibrys aims to reduce the product development cycles, risks, and costs in these areas, noting that the current total cycle time of five to 15 years is too long, and the cost of $500,000 to $5 million is too costly to transfer these technologies.

Hans Hartmann Pedersen, a program officer in the Directorate General's Office of the EC (European Commission), in Brussels, Belgium, went into more detail of the FP7's focus on MNT. This is one of nine thematic priorities for the FP7 that will target nanotechnologies, materials, production techniques, and integration for advanced development.

Geoff Beadmore, CEO of Myriad Technology in Gloucestershire, UK, discussed two challenges his company sees in MNT development. In one bio application, there are challenges and opportunities in applying whole cell bioassay techniques to wearable detection devices. The challenge is that there lacks a simple, easy to operate, enabling technology to make these devices portable and low cost. In another application, a ground-based reflector telescope, Beadmore stated that MNT costsand performance are crucial design criteria for this large project.

Wally Lopez, the associate director of ATIP (Asian Technology Information Program), Albuquerque, N.M, highlighted the nano-related programs in Asia as a result of numerous surveys that his non-profit organization has taken. He noted that Japan is still the strongest country with the most infrastructure and R&D. However, China now has >6,000 researchers and >500 companies working in MNT areas.

Sven Achenbach (sven.achenbach@usask.ca) from the Univ. of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, discussed the status of high-aspect ratio microfabrication and research capabilities in Canada. He noted that this technology, long a research novelty, is evolving to industrial relevance, especially with the increasing availability of high-energy light sources. High-aspect ratio RF MEMS devices have now been demonstrated. The long-term research aims are to continue pushing the limits of thelithography technologies.

The final technology presentation was made by Scott Bryant, executive director of MANCEF, Albuquerque, N.M. His presentation on bioMEMS opportunities touched on the advancing technologies in artificial retinas and the value and large-scale opportunities that this development offers. Bryant noted that among the U.S. groups working in this area, six groups worldwide are developing a variety of similar MEMS-based systems.

Industry Groups

A concluding session on industry groups touched on the capabilities and information offerings of MESA + Institute of Nanotechnology, Univ. of Twente, the Netherlands; MEMS Industry Group, Pittsburgh; Nexus Association, Grenoble, France; IVAM, Dortmund, Germany; and ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute), Tainan, Taiwan.

The 12th World Micromachine Summit: MNT & Applications will be held April 27-29, 2006 in Beijing, China. The chair of the session is Zhaoying Zhou from Tsinghua Univ. in Beijing. For more information, go to www.mancef.org or contact Zhou at zhouzy@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.

Reprinted with the permission of Micro Nano newsletter, a Reed Business Information publication. Copyright Micro Nano 2005.

SAME-TEC 2005 Summary

Contributed by Leslie Jabara, Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center

On July 25-28, over 240 college faculty and administrators, industry trainers, and workforce development personnel gathered in Silicon Valley for the Semiconductors, Automated Manufacturing, and Electronics – Training and Education Conference (SAME-TEC). This eleventh edition of the annual conference focused on “Learning What Works” to ensure student and workforce success at the technician level.

SAME-TEC began with two days of intensive pre-conference workshops. Over 50 percent of conference attendees participated in one or more workshop. This year ten different courses were offered, ranging from technical topics such as microsystems, automation, and PC architecture, to topics on learning styles and pedagogy. In collaboration with the Southwest Center for Microsystems Education (SCME), a two-day workshop on MEMS drew 60 attendees. Speakers at the workshop included microsystems industry personnel, government researchers, and faculty and administrators on the forefront of MEMS education.

The two days of the conference itself featured over 40 speakers covering a host of important topics. Keynote speakers gave insight into nanotechnology, the future of terabyte computing, and the economic forces that drive our future technologies, while in-depth sessions on emerging trends and technologies focused on MEMS and nanotechnology, semiconductors, electronics, and automated manufacturing. Special plenary sessions included practical solutions for community college educators to utilize in building and maintaining their high tech programs.

A day-long technology showcase featured over 20 exhibitors, and garnered nearly 100 percent attendance by conference registrants. Throughout the day, SAME-TEC attendees met with representatives from organizations such as MANCEF, the Electronics Technicians Association (ETA), and the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), or checked out the latest training equipment and tools with SemiZone, SMC International Training, General Physics, Princeton Center, and Training Partner. Educational programs such as SCME and the MESA Institute at Sandia National Laboratories utilized the showcase as a way to spread the message about their recent accomplishments.

This year the SAME-TEC was again held in conjunction with the annual meeting of TPIC, the Technician Performance Improvement Council, group of semiconductor industry trainers. This co-joining allowed educators and industry personnel to network and to gain insight into the issues and trends on the other side of the industry/education fence. Intel, SEMI, the Semiconductor Industry Association and STMicroelectronics sponsor the conference.

Next year's SAME-TEC will be held in Albuquerque, NM. For more information or to view photos and presentations from this year's conference, visit: www.same-tec.org.

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