As the semiconductor equipment and materials industry ages, some of the institutional memory of the sector's earliest days has started to fade. One worthy project dedicated to capturing and recording first-person accounts of the tool and materials industry's history is SEMI's Oral History Interview project, led by Craig Addison. The latest installment---21st in the series---features Craig's conversation with Ed Segal, industry veteran, former head of Metron Technology and founder of Transpacific Technology back in the day.

Here's a sample from Ed's interview, where he's talking about major shifts in the industry: "People say that we’re not going to have all these small companies in the equipment business. There’s still room for companies that can develop technology. But they’re going to play a different role. It [used to be] develop the technology, develop a good business and take your company public. I think that’s changed a lot. I think the idea of taking smaller companies public is going to be very limited because they’re going to have to have very, very powerful businesses because the cost of being public today is just too enormous with the advent of Sarbanes-Oxley."

Other luminaries interviewed for the series include Jim Morgan, David Lam, current SEMI president Stan Myers, Ken Levy, and Shoichiro Yoshida. Three of those interviewed--Applied Materials founder Mike McNeilly, James Gallagher, and Nicholas DeWolf--have passed away, making their words all the more poignant and valuable.  

I spoke with Craig about the interview series, and he told me he is continuing to conduct interviews and has six or seven more in the can waiting to be transcribed and published.