|
| News |
|
| PRESS RELEASE - 10/06/08 |
MEMS Pioneers Knutti and Allen Launch
Acuity Incorporated |
 
Fabless Company Partners with Semefab for
Next Generation Pressure Sensors
FREMONT, Calif., June 10, 2008 - MEMS industry veterans Jim Knutti and Henry Allen today announced Acuity, Incorporated, a fabless semiconductor company bringing to market a line of high performance, MEMS-based pressure sensors. The company already has a production agreement with the MEMS foundry Semefab, where fab evaluation and qualification runs are complete and first product wafers are in process.
Acuity was established as a pure product company that can rapidly leverage technology from the extensive MEMS manufacturing infrastructure developed over the last several years. The company's products take advantage of stable and fine tuned processes that allow the production of ever smaller, high-performance microstructures and integrated electronics.
"In order to answer the industry's need for both improved functionality and high reliability we needed to seek out a foundry partner with a high level of commercial experience," said Jim Knutti, president and co-founder, Acuity. "We selected Semefab based on the advanced MEMS technology already in production there and its reputation as a "working fab" that could support us with the most current flexible MEMS processes and tool sets."
"We feel that Acuity is an ideal match for Semefab - it has the product design and market knowledge to take full advantage of our MEMS foundry capabilities," said Ian McNaught, MEMS Business Manager, Semefab. "They represent a new wave of nimble, fabless MEMS companies who are listening to customers and seeking out the best tools and technologies to incorporate the required functionalities into the manufactured product.
About Acuity Incorporated
Acuity is a fabless developer of high-performance MEMS-based pressure sensors and other MEMS devices that offer expanded capabilities, reliability, and a solid source of supply. Founded in 2007, and based in Fremont, Calif., Acuity targets a range of markets including industrial, medical, and consumer applications.
For more information contact:
|
| PRESS RELEASE - 04/02/08 |
Semefab & LIONAX |
 Semefab (Scotland) Ltd. and Lionax Inc. announce a collaboration to develop a next-generation tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS). Semefab and Lionax have collaboratively reviewed a product design and defined a MEMS process for induction at Semefab, Glenrothes, Scotland.
This project aims to produce a higher performance, lower cost product compared to existing technologies; pressure sensor technology has traditionally used either Piezo-resistive or capacitive MEMS technology, whereas the new Lionax patented digital pressure sensor will utilise a revolutionary Ring Oscillator technology.
The TPMS market has become even more lucrative since the introduction of the T.R.E.A.D. Act in America, which mandates that all new passenger vehicles and light trucks manufactured after Sep 2007 be equipped with TPMS. This has opened up a potential £3 billion OEM TPMS marketplace.
Allan James, Joint Managing Director of Semefab said,
"We are very excited to work with Lionax on this project. Ring oscillation is a unique design that is not currently available in the market. Semefab will dedicate resource and expertise to make it happen in 2008".
James Yang, CEO Lionax Inc. & Kysonix Inc. said,
"It is a great honour to work with a renowned company like Semefab to commercialise our technology. We are confident that this new digital pressure sensor will enhance our leadership position in the TPMS market and will bring additional applications beyond the automotive industry".
For all enquiries please contact:
Nina Ni
T: +44 1592 630630
E: nina.ni@semefab.co.uk / www.semefab.co.uk
About LIONAX:
The Company, listed on Euronext, the Paris stock exchange with stock symbol "MLION", designs and develops innovative Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) and digital pressure sensor for automotive industry. LIONAX's products help its customers to enhance safety, save money and meet regulatory requirements affordably. LIONAX makes this possible through technology innovation, manufacturing excellence, research leadership and best-in-class team of scientists, engineers and management based in China and the USA.
For all enquiries please contact.
James Yang
CEO
Lionax Inc. & Kysonix Inc.
China T: 0086-791-8383365, F: 0086-791-8383292
U.S. T: 001-408-730-6883, F: 001866-516-9888
M: 0086-13870856828
E: jyang@lionax.com / www.lionax.com
|
| PRESS RELEASE - 07/01/08 |
MEMS Fab 2 |
On the 29th December 2007, during the holiday shutdown, a fire broke out in Semefab’s MEMS fab 2. Fortunately nobody was hurt in the incident but the wafer fab did sustain some damage.
The fab 1 operation is unaffected by the fire and remains fully operational, as does the STS Pegasus DRIE capability.
Semefab shall now embark upon a rebuild program of its fab 2 MEMS operation.
The previously acquired adjoining 3,000m2 building shall be used to execute a rapid rebuild of fab 2 and to construct the 871m2 fab 3.
Semefab’s MEMS fab 2 operates both a development and volume foundry model and, with some industry collaboration, it is envisaged that Semefab shall complete the current development projects and sustain the volume demand whilst fab 2 is rebuilt. The rebuild timeline is actively being defined and at this point a period of 6-9 months is anticipated.
Allan James, Chairman of Semelab Group PLC, commented:
“This is a significant set back but not a disaster. Semefab will still expand output and increase revenue during 2008 by at least 12 per cent, although we are having to revise our profit forecast as a result of business interruption. The vast majority of our customers are unaffected and every effort is being made to resume business as usual”.
Further updates shall be issued on a periodic basis.
For all enquiries relating to this matter please contact:
Ian McNaught
T: +44 1592 630630
Mobile: +44 7778 132964
E: ian.mcnaught@semefab.co.uk |
| PRESS RELEASE - 15/08/07 |
Further Expansion at Semefab |
Semefab (Scotland) Ltd. has operated its semiconductor Wafer Fab 1 in Glenrothes, Scotland, UK since 1986 fabricating CMOS, ASIC and Discrete process technologies.
The company expanded in 2000 adding Wafer Fab 2 for the fabrication of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and now supports a global customer base.
In November 2006 Semefab, under the SemeMEMS banner, was awarded Scottish Enterprise and UK Department of Trade & Industry funds to create the UK’s primary wafer fab node for Micro and Nanotechnology (MNT).
A £6.6m publicly funded capital expenditure investment, matched by a further £6.6m contribution directly from Semefab, created a forward looking strategy to regain the UK’s position as a leading force in MEMS technology.
Executing the first phase of the investment, Semefab has expanded fab 2 by 29% and is presently installing new MEMS fabrication equipment with a scheduled fully operational date of February 2008. SemeMEMS is already enabling customer innovation throughout the feasibility, proof of concept and prototype technology stages.
Such an “open-access” service supports UK, Mainland Europe, North America and Israeli companies and academia.
With 21 years of process development and fabrication expertise, SemeMEMS is a capable partner progressing its customer’s technology from a basic concept to demonstrating prototypes, thus allowing its customers to execute market penetration and pursue future funding rounds.
Technology projects can seamlessly transition from SemeMEMS to Semefab in order to ramp a customer’s demand from development to volume manufacturing.
In August 2007, Semefab (Scotland) Ltd. acquired the building adjacent to its Fab 1 & Fab 2 operations.
This acquisition enables the next expansion phase allowing Semefab to create an 871m2 cleanroom floorspace
(3000m2 total) for MEMS front end processing. Wafer Fab 3 is scheduled to be operational by January 2009.
This significant acquisition allows expansion on the same site as Fab 1 & Fab 2 and also provides additional office space for Semefab’s growing team of personnel.
With an existing foundry product portfolio of pressure sensors, gas sensors, temperature sensors and thermopiles, SemeMEMS / Semefab has a strong foundation on which to realise its objective of regaining the UK’s position as a leading force in MEMS technology.
Combining a MEMS development and production operation with an existing CMOS / ASIC operation enables process integration and a diverse range of opportunity.
With a healthy pipeline of projects, SemeMEMS is active in membrane sensors, inertia sensors, renewable energy, microfluidics, medtech and energy harvesting amongst others.
The combined foresight of Scottish Enterprise, the UK Department of Trade & Industry and the Semefab management team offers Semefab (Scotland) Ltd. an exciting and challenging future. |
|
|
|
|
