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FOUPs and fabs make campaign appearance in California midterm elections |
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Oct 31, 2006 at 04:08 PM |
A few weeks ago while idling in front of the TV, I was snapped out of my lethargy by an unusual political commercial.
Who was this guy strolling through tables stacked with front-opening unified pods---the industry's beloved FOUPs---with what appeared to be a 300-mm fab line through the glass behind him?
The candidate is Steve Poizner, the Republican nominee running for California insurance commissioner in next Tuesday's general election. Poizner has a tech background---he founded SnapTrack, a global positioning device company---but he is not exactly a wafer-processing wonk (even if the ad gives the impression that he is). So I asked myself, in which company's 300-mm facility did they shoot the ads?
 
Da Poiz and da FOUP (photos courtesy of joinsteve.com, Entegris)
Since I surmised that it had to be a Silicon Valley facility, that narrowed down the options to Applied Materials, Cypress, Novellus, and a few others. I suspected that Applied's Maydan Tech Center might have provided the backdrop. I had the right company but the wrong location. One of my AMAT sources confirmed that the ads were shot at one of its sites, but not the Maydan building.
Keep in mind that Becky Morgan, the mover-and-shaker wife of company chair Jim Morgan, has been a political and community force in the valley for years, having served as a Republican state senator at one time. So Applied playing politics, albeit indirectly, should not surprise informed observers.
I do have to laud Poizner for using images of state-of-the-art chipmaking in his ads as symbols of what he calls "the power of new ideas." Nothing says advanced thinking like techs in bunnysuits, some well-placed wafer pods, and a glimpse of process tools in a cleanroom.
To check out Poizner's two FOUPish campaign ads---the newer "Compare" and the original spot, "The Power of New Ideas"---go to http://www.joinsteve.com
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