One of my old conference stomping grounds, the Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference (ASMC), will celebrate its 19th birthday when it convenes in the Boston area on May 5-7, 2008.
I missed this year's event in June, which took place in drop-dead gorgeous (de)Stresa, Italy. The symposium attracted record attendance (for a European sited event) and had no speaker cancellations, according to SEMI show manager Margaret Kindling.
Without much time to bask in the afterglow of the successful ASMC 2007, the conference is already calling for papers for the 2008 edition. Preliminary abstract deadline is Sept. 14. Subject matter sought ranges from the latest in metrology to advanced tools and materials, several productivity-related categories (a particularly strong ASMC topic area), advanced process control, 3-D and other wafer-level packaging, and challenges of analog, high-power, and high-voltage chipmaking. For more info, go to the ASMC site.
On a very different side of the electronics event spectrum is the Flexible Electronics and Displays Conference and Exhibition, taking place near Phoenix on Jan. 21-24, 2008. The emerging flexible, printed, and organics electronics space has started to make some real progress over the past year. Companies like Polymer Vision, Poly IC, Plastic Logic, Thin Film Electronics, Nanoident, and many much bigger corporate entities are pushing into manufacturing of flexible electronics devices. Organic LED pioneer Cambridge Display Technology recently attracted a lucrative buyout from Sumitomo Chemical. This upwardly mobile trend is reflected in the healthy growth in attendance at the event its organizers and aficionados call "Flex."
One call for papers deadline is fast approaching: Flex's academic and fundamental research track needs abstracts in by Aug. 15. Those interested in presenting papers dealing with market outlooks and business practices, materials advancements, manufacturing on flexible substrates, flexible displays, and other flexible-based applications have a bit more time: abstracts for that part of the conference are due Sept. 15. For more info on the Flex show, go to the U.S. Display Consortium site.
I also wanted to point out several new blog and Website links added to Chip Shots. Two come from SEMI: a new site called "FPD Today," which is dedicated to flat-panel displays, and the growing collection of the group's "Voices of the Industry" audiocasts. As part of its newly redesigned site, Semiconductor International has added blogs, featuring several editors' and contributors' comments on what's behind the news. Had to guffaw when I saw that editor in chief Pete Singer named his blog, "Semi-Conscious," a state familiar to anyone who's covered the chip industry for any amount of time.
I also recently discovered the Energy Blog, which covers the "revolutionary changes" shaking that collective sector to the core. In addition to some incisive writing and analysis, a strong suit of the blog is its vast array of links to every part of the energy ecosystem, making it an invaluable resource for those trying to make sense of everything from carbon-based energy to solar, biomass, wind, and other renewables.
To check out these new additions to Chip Shots' blog and Website picks, go to the listings zone over on the right-hand side of the homepage.
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