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From the Show: IMAPS 2008
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Conferences abound in the electronics industry. After a while, attendees have to choose between local shows where drayage and employee travel times do not require hotel stays and the larger shows of APEX, SEMICON West, Productronica, and NEPCON Shanghai where travel and coverage prove costly. Fortunately, the IMAPS 2008 show had great international participation, good attendance, and excellent presentations. From keynoters to the technologically cutting-edge educational papers, the show was sound. And it was close to home for SMT editors.
It was Election Day when the IMAPS conference began, and by the second day of the conference, a new President Elect of the U.S. entered the picture. Therefore the first day proceeded without a rush of attendees as expected, but the second perked up with lively conversation and fuller aisles.
John C. Zolper, Ph.D., of Ratheon, formerly of DARPA, gave a broad keynote with lots of technical information on the challenges facing our industry, starting with a bit of history and ending with the latest frontiers. One goal is to develop design process technology for true 3D ICs with multiple active layers. He also talked about getting more power out of the same footprint, and the thermal management challenge. Zolper set an agenda including nanostructure materials and their flexibility, light weight, and ability to change material properties that will be used in the future. He reviewed the integration of MEMS devices into all types of applications from air bag accelerators to consumer video games and ink jet printers. Zolper indicated that businesses in the U.S. need collaborations with those doing leading-edge technology research to stimulate the marketplace.
The hottest topic in our industry right now is how to get on the alternative energy wagon, and here IMAPS had it covered, with an end-of-day event called "Alternative Energy Options: Supply Chains and Industry Trends." Many talked about how distributed the solar energy market seemed and how the lack of policies and incentives to develop this area is holding the U.S. back. Alan J. King of Evergreen Solar said that he was encouraged that President Elect Obama already has identified energy independence as a goal for the U.S. Right now, with regards to the solar market: Germany leads at 45% of the global market; Spain has 25%; Japan holds approximately 15%; and the U.S. trails at 8%. Continual change in government regulations has hindered U.S. market growth in this area; however, in Germany, the market has been subsidized for 15 years for those investing in solar cells. "We can drill as much as we want, but there is not enough sustainable fuel to support the need," said King. "Yet enough sunlight reaches the earth every hour to provide the earth's needs for a year," he added. Many of the other presenters talked about what the electronics industry is doing to progress the technology and create new jobs in this field, in which the market is expanding at 40% per year.
IMAPS also had presentations on where the organization fits in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) and other roadmaps in all areas. The ITRS is a roadmap that concentrates on the front-end wafer fabs with a focus on top-level industry segments via their product emulator groups (PEGs). PEGs include consumer, office systems, medical, automotive, and defence and aerospace markets. iNEMI focuses mainly on board-level assembly roadmapping with a chapter on semiconductor assembly and packaging. ITRS and iNEMI are working together to align their semiconductor and packaging roadmaps with many of the same people on both teams. IMAPS focuses on semiconductor assembly and packaging. According to Laurie Roth, co-chair of IMAPS Global Business Council, IMAPS will focus on the gaps in these roadmaps, supporting the ITRS and iNEMI updates with input and communication on issues and trends. Recommended areas of focus for IMAPS include developing feasible embedded components, developing enhanced materials to enable wafer-level packaging (WLP), resolving thermal management issues, developing new materials to deliver necessary performance; closing the gap between chip and substrate interconnect density; and resolving the issues that low-k materials and copper bring to packaging. In many instances, today's packaging costs exceed die fabrication costs. In board and package areas, profit margins must be maintained so that the industry can thrive.
We left IMAPS this year packed with new ideas and filled with a determination to go through the conference technical papers in detail. This year's conferences are where the new ideas abound. All in all, IMAPS was a gem.
Gail Flower, editor-in-chief