AMETEK France has established a Technology Solutions Centre as a regional headquarters in Élancourt City to support the growth of its electronic instrument and electromechanical product businesses in France. AMETEK France’s goal was to build a resource for showcasing the latest products and technologies from a variety of AMETEK businesses. The centre will serve as a hub of innovation for the European markets. Customers from across the region will have access to live demos, training sessions and top-of-the-line service to meet application needs. Overall, the facility will enhance the relationship between AMETEK and its end users, effectively sustaining a variety of different industries.
MEMS
A Super-Fast ‘Light Switch’ for Future Cars and Computers
Self-driving cars have become better and more reliable in recent years. Before they might be allowed to drive completely autonomously on our roads in the near future, however, a few hurdles have to be taken. Above all, the need to assess the surroundings at lightning speed and to recognize people and obstacles takes current technologies to its limits. A team of scientists led by Juerg Leuthold at the Institute for Electromagnetic Fields at ETH Zurich, together with colleagues at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the USA and at Chalmers University in Gothenburg (Sweden), has now developed a novel electro-opto-mechanical switch that might be able to elegantly solve both problems in the future.
Industry’s First 4Mbit EEPROM Memory Chips from STMicroelectronics Let Small Devices Handle Bigger User Data
STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, has introduced a new generation of memory chips that combine unprecedented storage density with speed and reliability, enabling the devices we use every day to do more to enrich life and work. With 4Mbit capacity, ST’s new EEPROM memories let small devices capture and store more data through the serial SPI bus. This enables equipment such as smart meters to intensify data logging for managing grids more effectively and providing more user-friendly billing. Also, portable medical devices can log patients’ data more intensively to improve care quality, and consumer devices such as smart wearables can support more user features and greater precision. In these applications, the memory’s low power consumption helps extend battery runtime. A wide range of applications in industrial controls and communication infrastructure such as network switches can also benefit from these higher density memories.
Presto Adds New Executives to the Leadership Team
Presto Engineering, an outsourced operations provider to semiconductor and Internet of Things (IoT) device manufacturers, announces the hire of two new executives: Sophie Vaucher, vice president Finance, and Alexandra Moulin, vice president Human Resources. Sophie Vaucher brings ten years of experience in corporate finance and strategy in international industrial companies. Most recently, she held a global finance business partner role at Sibelco where she served in various senior positions for eight years. She was positioned in Asia for four years, where she integrated a new acquisition in the group and set up local teams.
Accenture, Airbus, GE and Hitachi Join Intel Neuromorphic Research Community
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.
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.
