Today, Intel announced the first corporate members — Accenture, Airbus, GE and Hitachi — to the fast-growing Intel Neuromorphic Research Community (INRC). The INRC has tripled in size over the past year and now has more than 75 organizations, spanning leading universities around the world, government labs, neuromorphic start-up companies, and now several Fortune Global 500 members.
MEMS
SEMI, Partners Launch Largest Microelectronics Education Initiative Co-Funded by Erasmus+ Program
SEMI and 19 partners from 14 countries today launched an initiative to fill the skills gap and boost workforce diversity by tightening collaboration between the microelectronics industry and education providers. The project, dubbed METIS – Microelectronics Training, Industry and Skills – will focus on the skills and related training needed to support emerging verticals such as artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous driving and Industry 4.0. A Sector Skills Alliance co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program, METIS is designed to overcome the skills shortage in the electronic components and systems value chain. Under METIS, SEMI and the partner organizations will establish a Microelectronics Observatory and Skills Council consisting of representatives from industry, academia, NGOs, think tanks and government.
SEMICON Korea 2020 to Showcase AI, Smart Mobility and Manufacturing, MEMS and Sensors, Talent
With Korea the world’s largest manufacturer of memory semiconductors and leading in 300mm fab construction in 2019, the region is paving the way to SEMICON Korea 2020 as more than 500 companies and 55,000 visitors are expected to gather February 5-7 at the COEX in Seoul for the latest microelectronics developments, innovations and trends powering the next wave of industry growth. Registration for SEMICON Korea, the premier event in Korea for electronics manufacturing, is now open.
NIST-Led Team Develops Tiny Low-Energy Device to Rapidly Reroute Light in Computer Chips
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues have developed an optical switch that routes light from one computer chip to another in just 20 billionths of a second — faster than any other similar device. The compact switch is the first to operate at voltages low enough to be integrated onto low-cost silicon chips and redirects light with very low signal loss. The switch’s record-breaking performance is a major new step toward building a computer that uses light instead of electricity to process information. Relying on particles of light — photons — to transport data within a computer offers several advantages over electronic communications.
Six O-S-D Product Categories Will Hit Record Sales in 2019
With the global economy slowing and the fallout from the U.S.-China trade war causing systems makers to draw down factory inventories, combined sales of optoelectronics, sensors/actuators, and discrete semiconductors (O-S-D) are on pace to grow just 1% in 2019 to $83.5 billion after rising 9% in 2018 and 11% in 2017, according to IC Insights’ new update of the O-S-D marketplace.
IBM Elects Thomas Buberl to Its Board of Directors
The IBM (NYSE:IBM) board of directors has elected Thomas Buberl to the board, effective April 28, 2020.Mr. Buberl, 46, is the chief executive officer of AXA S.A. Headquartered in Paris, France, AXA is one of the world’s largest global insurance firms. Since becoming CEO in September 2016, Mr. Buberl has been leading AXA through a digital transformation, accelerating business innovation and leveraging data to meet customers’ rapidly evolving needs in the digital world.
Rational Transparent Conductor Design Provides a Boost to Carbon Nanotubes Application
An international team of scientists led by researchers from the Laboratory of Nanomaterials at the Skoltech Center for Photonics and Quantum Materials (CPQM) have rationally designed a novel p-type flexible transparent conductor using single-walled carbon nanotubes. This opens new avenues for its applications in next generation opto-electronics and energy technologies. The results of the study were published in the prestigious international journal Nano Energy. Most of the optical and electronic devices encountered daily are constituted of transparent conductors. However, all the presently available transparent conductors are n-type semiconductors, thus restricting technological advancement. The emergence of carbon nanotubes as p-type transparent conductors has been promising. Its further development will be tremendously instrumental for various opto-electronics and energy technologies.
EV Group and Delo Partner to Expand Materials and Process Capability for Wafer-Level Optics and Nanoimprint Lithography
EV Group (EVG), a leading supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, today announced that it is partnering with DELO, a leading manufacturer of industrial high-tech adhesives, in the area of wafer-level optics (WLO). Both companies, well-known for their leading roles in optical sensor manufacturing, are combining efforts to enable novel optical devices and applications, such as biometric authentication and facial recognition, for the industrial, automotive and consumer electronics markets utilizing EVG’s leading lens molding and nanoimprint lithography (NIL) process equipment and DELO’s advanced adhesives and resist materials.
Presto Engineering Achieves EAL6 Certification for Secure Product Provisioning
Presto Engineering, an outsourced operations provider to semiconductor and Internet of Things (IoT) device manufacturers, has achieved EAL6 (Evaluation Assurance Level 6) — an assurance and independent verification of very high levels of security to protect valuable data. Secured applications initiated with the smart card industry and now permeate most industrial applications, as well as automotive and IoT. EAL, which ranges from 1-7 (a higher level means that the evaluation completed a more stringent set of quality assurance requirements), is a critical aspect to consider when selecting an outsourced manufacturing partner for secure applications.
Heilind Electronics Adds American Sensor Technologies (AST) to TE Connectivity Portfolio
Heilind Electronics, a premier distributor of electronic components worldwide, has partnered with TE Connectivity (TE) to bring its customers an extensive range of harsh environment pressure and liquid level sensors. The new products are part of TE’s American Sensor Technologies (AST) brand, which complements the distributor’s existing TE Measurement Specialties solutions. A key part of Heilind’s new AST offering is hazardous location pressure transducers. These items are certified to CSA, UL, ATEX and other standards that qualify them as explosion proof, intrinsically safe or non-incendive. In addition, customers can request customized designs and configure options like process connections, materials, pressure ranges and output.
