Endicott collaborates with Binghamton and Cornell Universities to pioneer microelectronics manufacturing research and development
(Technology News, 23 Jun 2008 )
Endicott Interconnect Technologies’ Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing (CAMM) – a collaborative effort between the company and Binghamton and Cornell Universities, with funding from the United States Display Consortium (USDC) – will pioneer microelectronics manufacturing research and development in a roll-to-roll (R2R) format. These efforts will result in flexible, rugged, lightweight electronic components and innovative products that will be critical to next- generation applications in areas such as military and homeland security, lighting, energy and power generation, displays, and product identification and tracking.
During a visit by Congressman Michael Arcuri, representing New York’s 24th district, and Binghamton University President Lois DeFleur on Thursday, May 29th, James McNamara, President and CEO of EI, discussed the company’s growth since its inception and outlined measures being taken to remain competitive in business segments that are continually moving offshore.
“R&D is our engine for the creation of new products and intellectual property as well as an important tool for solving today’s manufacturing issues,” he said. “This collaboration between industry and academia has resulted in a truly impressive CAMM facility that will be the backbone of tomorrow’s electronics and helps to support our long range technology efforts.”
EI’s CAMM will also provide large-scale testing whereby academic and industrial research groups can test their work for manufacturing applicability without the high costs and risks typically associated with such activities.
About R2R Technology Currently, most advanced electronics components are produced on silicon or quartz wafers, or on plates of specialized glass in a “batch” process that has traditionally been the backbone of the integrated circuit (IC) and flat panel display (FPD) industries. The R2R process, which integrates electronics on flexible plastic, means, in theory, that components can be produced more efficiently, at higher yields and at a lower cost than is common practice today and opens up potential new application areas for flexible electronics.
