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Thursday, April 26, 2018

VOLUME - NUMBER

WACKER Posts Record Sales, Focuses on Digitalization and Sustainability

By Steve Leberstien
Munich, Germany — With 23 production sites worldwide, WACKER Chemie AG has developed a world-class supply chain. The company's polymers division, for example, operates five sites across Germany, the U.S., China and Korea. The company has focused on improving productivity and optimizing ...

	Riding the Quantum Magnetic Wave


	Salt Lake City, UT — In 1991, University of Utah chemist Joel Miller developed the first magnet with carbon-based, or organic, components that is stable at room temperature. It was a great advance in magnetics, and he has been exploring its applications ever since.

	New Battery to Power Renewable Energy


	Lawrence, KS — Any resident of the Great Plains can attest to the massive scale of wind farms that increasingly dot the countryside. In the Midwest and elsewhere, wind energy accounts for an ever-bigger slice of U.S. energy production. In the past decade, $143 billion has been invested in new wind projects ...

SHENMAO Expands Globally, Sees Strong Year Ahead

San Jose, CA — Taiwanese solder materials manufacturer SHENMAO Technology is strengthening its global position with new quality accreditations and facilities in Thailand, Germany and the U.S.

"Since the company was established 45 years ago, SHENMAO has been dedicated to the manufacturing of solder and soldering materials. As the company grows, these products remain our most important," says Watson Tseng, general manager, SHENMAO America. "Quality is our first priority without compromise."

	Heraeus Secures Rights to Sulfur-Containing Alloys


	Hanau, Germany — With support from Heraeus, researchers at Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany, have developed a new class of amorphous metals. These titanium-sulfur alloys are almost twice as strong as conventional titanium-based metals and are excellent for lightweight aerospace components. ...

	Startup Accelerates Deep Neural Network Learning


	West Lafayette, IN — Purdue-affiliated startup, FWDNXT, is designing next-generation hardware and software for deep learning, aimed at enabling computers to understand the world in a way similar to human understanding.

	2017 Saw Five-Year High in Global Semi Spending


	London, U.K. — In a clear sign of recovery from a disappointing downturn two years ago, global spending on semiconductors rose to a five-year high in 2017. The growth was spurred by a hike in the pricing of memory components, as well as by solid growth in chip spending across all technology markets. ...

Cogiscan and MIRTEC in Industry 4.0 Partnership

Bromont, Quebec, Canada — Holding fast to the company's goal of providing seamless connectivity, track, trace and control (TTC) systems provider Cogiscan has partnered with MIRTEC to develop an Industry 4.0 solution for MIRTEC's suite of visual inspection machines and software. Cogiscan's Co-NECT ...

Specialized Coating Services to Open Facility

Fremont, CA — Specialized Coating Services is expected to open a second facility in Billerica, Massachusetts, in mid-February of 2018. The 13,000 ft² (1,208m²) facility is designed to meet the demand for professional conformal coating and potting services on the U.S. East Coast ...

	SEMI: New Highs in Fab Spending


	Milpitas, CA — The year-end update to the SEMI World Fab Forecast report reveals 2017 spending on fab equipment investments will have reached an all-time high of $57 billion. High chip demand, strong pricing for memory and fierce competition are driving the high level of fab investments, with many companies ...

	Organ-on-a-Chip Models Heart Disease


	Washington, D.C. — When studying diseases or testing potential drug therapies, researchers usually turn to cultured cells in Petri dishes or experiments with lab animals, but recently, researchers have been developing a different approach: small, organ-on-a-chip devices that mimic the functions of human organs ...

Omron Acquires Microscan to Complete Machine Vision Portfolio

By Jacob Fattal, Publisher
Renton, WA — Following the recent additions of Delta Tau Motion Control and Adept Robotics, Omron Corporation has acquired industrial traceability and inspection provider Microscan. By adding Microscan to the Omron Group, Omron further advances its interconnected, industrial Internet ...

	Light Spin = Incredible Chip Sensitivity


	State College, PA — In London's St. Paul's Cathedral, a whisper can be heard far across the circular whispering gallery as the sound curves around the walls. Now, an optical whispering gallery mode resonator developed by Penn State electrical engineers can spin light around the circumference of a tiny sphere ...

Fully-Integrated Circuits Printed on Fabric

Cambridge, UK — Researchers have successfully incorporated washable, stretchable and breathable electronic circuits into fabric, opening up new possibilities for smart textiles and wearable electronics. The circuits were made with cheap, safe and environmentally-friendly inks, and printed using conventional ...

	Using Light to Assemble Electronic Components


	Washington, DC — An international team of researchers has developed a light-based manipulation method that could one day be used to mass produce electronic components. The micromanipulation technique might also be used to create a safer and faster-charging replacement for mobile device batteries.

Comet Opens Cooperative Brainstorming Lab in Silicon Valley

By Michael Skinner, Associate Editor
San Jose, CA — Brainstorming has never gone out of style, but it takes on a new urgency as the centerpiece of Comet's new state-of-the-art laboratory in Silicon Valley. The Comet Group, which comprises Comet Plasma Control Technologies (PCT), YXLON and ebeam, has opened Comet Lab ...

	Better Rechargeable Batteries Coming Soon?


	Troy/Ithaca, NY — Lithium electrodes coated with indium could be the basis for more powerful, longer-lasting, rechargeable batteries. The coating hinders undesirable side-reactions between the electrode and electrolyte, provides a more uniform deposition of lithium when charging, and augments storage in the ...

	Air-Sensitive Semiconductors in Nanoelectronics


	Tomsk, Russia — A research group of scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University, Germany and Venezuela have proven the viability of a two-dimensional semiconductor gallium selenide (GaSe) in air. This discovery will allow the manufacturing of superconducting nanoelectronics based on GaSe, which, reportedly ...

	World's First Molecular Robot


	Manchester, UK — Scientists at the University of Manchester claim to have created the world's first "molecular robot" capable of performing basic tasks, including building other molecules.

Hanwha Techwin Establishes SMT "Basecamp" in California

By Michael Skinner, Associate Editor
Cypress, CA — One of the largest conglomerates in South Korea, Hanwha Group has a long history of building everything from security cameras to jet engines and self-propelled howitzers. The company now plans to channel this expertise into the North American SMT market.