Trade Group's Report Predicts Dramatic Growth for Domestic MEMS Industry Las Vegas, Nev.-A report from the MEMS Industry Group (MIG, Pittsburgh, Pa.), a trade association representing the U.S. MEMS and microstructures industries, shows the nation's MEMS industry growing at an exponential rate, creating new businesses, increasing employment and diversifying applications into new industry sectors. The report released at MEMS 2002, the 15th annual IEEE International Conference on Microelectromechanical Systems, is said to be the first thorough review of economic and other indicators about the MEMS industry. Industry Roadmap The report provides a roadmap for the industry's continued growth and future commercialization of MEMS technologies. "The U.S. MEMS industry is experiencing phenomenal growth, change and success," said Ken Gabriel, MIG founding co-director and professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. Gabriel expects MEMS to contribute soon to every aspect of daily life, from palm-sized HDTV projection displays to grain-of-rice size implantable medical devices. In 2000, MEMS was an estimated $2-5 billion industry, expected to reach $8-15 billion by 2004. 45% Compound Annual Growth There are an estimated 1.6 MEMS devices in use per person, today, in the U.S., expected to be nearly 5 per person by 2004, a compound annual growth rate of 45 percent. Over 40 percent of MEMS companies were founded between 1995 and 2001, with an average of 10 companies/year founded in the past 3 years. Employment growth in the MEMS industry has exploded; with employment in 2001 some 30 times greater than in 1985. The West Coast boasts 45 percent of MEMS companies, most in California; the Northeast has close to 30 percent. The executive summary is available at www.memsindustrygroup.org.
Newport Acquires MRSI Group; Boosts Optoelectronic Presence Irvine, Calif.-Newport Corp. will acquire Micro Robotics Systems Inc. (MRSI, North Billerica, Mass.), a manufacturer of automated assembly and dispensing systems for the fiberoptic communications, micro-wave and IC markets. "A key growth strategy is to expand Newport into a leading single-source supplier of test, measurement and automation solutions to the fiberoptic communications and semiconductor equipment markets," said Robert G. Deuster, Newport chairman and CEO. "MRSI's die bonding systems are an excellent fit for our strategic initiatives in 2002 and beyond," Deuster added. New-port supplies automated fiber attachment systems to the photonics market and MRSI manufacturers die attach, dispensing and bonding systems with specific applicability to fiberoptic and high-speed electronics markets. The MRSI systems will become part of Newport's Fiber Optics and Photonics Div. [www.newport.com] Plastronics Adds Sockets for Amkor's Image Sensors Irving, Texas-With image sensor and optical packaging applications rapidly increasing, Plastronics has added a line of sockets built to fit Amkor Technology's 28- to 48-pin VisionPak Ceramic Leadless Chip Carrier packages. These LCC sockets are used for test and burn-in with both manual and automatic loading. The sockets are designed for packages to be inserted "live bug" orientation, with the glass top up, since access to the top may be required during test. [www.locknest.com] Micro-Lenses Deposited Directly on Opto Semiconductors Charlotte, N.C.-Waveguide Solutions has developed a cost-effective, wafer-level method for depositing beam correcting micro-lenses directly on optoelectronic semiconductors with end-user specified optical properties. These attributes include beam reshaping, focusing or collimating. Applications range from LEDs, CCDs, and detectors, to VCSELs. This method involves depositing a hybrid glass material onto the semiconductor layer, then printing the desired lens patterns via UV photolithography, followed by low temperature curing. The technique can be incorporated with existing wafer processing methods used in semiconductor plants. [www.waveguidesolutions.com] Dow Corning Launches TFT for Photonics and IC Packaging Midland, Mich.-Dow Corning Corp. recently launched its Thin Film Technology Platform (TFTP) program to identify, develop and promote new products based on thin-film materials and processes. The program will support the company's high-growth business units, including photonics, IC device fabrication and packaging. The program will identify high-value applications for next-generation, silicon-based thin films, develop process chemistry, characterize film performance and integrate high-volume deposition processes technology. The effort is supported by the company's Midland-based thin-film characterization laboratory. [www.dowcorning.com] |
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