How to cope with semiconductor fab tool obsolescence: ConFab preview

Sanjay Rajguru, director of ISMI, will present “Tool Obsolescence and the Impact on 200mm Manufacturing” at The ConFab 2012’s final session, Maximizing the Longevity of Investments.The ConFab is an invitation-only event for the semiconductor industry, June 3-6 in Las Vegas. Rajguru will join John Frank, SVP Industrial and Advanced Technology, CH2MHill; Gary Robertson, division GM, KLA-Tencor; and Mike Barrow, EVP and COO, International Rectifier, in the session.Moore’s Law dictates that some portion of our semiconductor product base becomes obsolete every year, Rajguru points out. A growing list of 200mm manufacturing parts also becomes obsolete every year. Tool obsolescence is possibly the most critical problem faced by legacy manufacturers.To help identify the root cause and possible solutions to obsolescence, ISMI conducted over a year’s research. Rajguru will cover tactical and strategic methods that semiconductor manufactures in the mature production sector can use for dealing with tool obsolescence.Sanjay Rajguru is the director of International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI), responsible for the consortium’s manufacturing technology programs. His role includes leading ISMI’s Manufacturing Capabilities and Mature Fabs programs, which are focused on the systematic improvement of manufacturability: factory and equipment stability, productivity and cost improvements, and equipment lifecycle management. He also oversees the ISMI ESH Technology Center, a global collaborative research organization including chip manufacturers and equipment and material suppliers devoted to collectively finding and implementing the most cost-effective, environmentally friendly manufacturing processes and procedures. Prior to joining ISMI, Rajguru was a fab manager at National Semiconductor for 13 years and held various engineering and management positions with Nortel Semiconductors...more........ This Article Originally Came From The Internet 

Pressure builds on Facebook as SEC, FINRA call for review

Two top U.S. financial regulators called for a review of the initial public offering of Facebook last week, putting fresh pressure on the company, its embattled lead underwriter and the Nasdaq.

After Friday's nearly flat close and Monday's 11 percent plunge, Facebook shares were down 8 percent at $31.28 in late afternoon trading on heavy volume of 88 million shares. At that price the company has shed more than $17 billion in market capitalization from its $38-per-share offering price last week.

Investors were still shaking their heads over the botched opening trading of Facebook when Reuters reported late Monday that the consumer Internet analyst at lead underwriter Morgan Stanley cut his revenue forecasts for Facebook in the days before the offering, information that may not have reached many investors before the stock was listed.

JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, which were also underwriters on the deal, each revised their estimates during the road show as well, according to sources familiar with the situation.

"The allegations, if true, are a matter of regulatory concern" to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and to the SEC, FINRA's Rick Ketchum told Reuters.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro said investors should be confident in investing, but she conceded there were questions to answer.

"I think there is a lot of reason to have confidence in our markets and in the integrity of how they operate, but there are issues that we need to look at specifically with respect to Facebook," she told reporters as she exited a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

With Facebook shares all but impossible to sell short, investors have sought out almost any related vehicle to bet against the social network. Over the past three trading days, prices plunged on two closed-end funds that owned pre-IPO shares. Firsthand Technology Value Fund and GSV Capital Corp both dropped more than 25 percent even though their Facebook holdings make up only a small fraction of assets.

"Until investors can actually short Facebook, they have to keep shorting other things that can give them some sort of proxy for Facebook," said Thomas Vandeventer, manager of the Tocqueville Opportunity Fund, which owns shares of both the battered closed-end funds.

Brokers who over-ordered shares in the expectation that supply would be limited continued to complain they received too much stock to handle and were left in the dark about forecast changes.

One Morgan Stanley Smith Barney adviser also cited the fact that institutional investors received information that retail investors did not, calling it "a huge issue for the entire industry....more

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Bio-diesel - Future Fuel

Bio-Diesel - Future Fuel

Deep beneath the earth's crust, there existed a vast ocean of black gold, the fuel that revolutionized the way machines worked and the way people traveled. Since the discovery of vast oil reserves, people had begun exploiting these wells without even thinking that it cannot be replenished. Man had become so dependent on this fuel that he began wondering what will happen when the last drop of it is used up. This is when the scramble began to find out alternative fuels and one of the results was Bio-diesel.

Bio-diesel is nothing but trans-esterified lipids, or in layman terms, vegetable oil or animal fat based diesel fuel. It is generally prepared chemically by reacting oil with an alcohol. This fuel can be used as it is in diesel engines or can be modified by blending it with existing fuels to create a better and a cleaner fuel. This article is a brief description about Bio-diesel, its advantages as an alternative fuel and the positive effect it has on the environment.

Bio-diesel can be basically made from almost any plant derived oil or animal fat. It can also be made from soyabean or any other vegetable oil. The chemical separation of glycerin from these vegetable oils produces methyl esters or bio-diesel. Even though, bio-diesel can be used in its purest form, blending it with regular fuels is its most common usage in the current market. In its purest form, referred to as B100, the current diesel engines require a slight modification. But blends of 20 percent of bio-diesel with petroleum diesel can be used in existing diesel engines with no modifications.

The applications of bio-diesel are many. Apart from using them in on road diesel vehicles, trains and air crafts have also started using blends of bio-diesel. This includes the world’s first commercial news making flight of United Airlines, which used 40 percent bio-diesel blended with 60 percent conventional jet fuel. The famous park trains of Disneyland run on bio-diesel manufactured from cooking oils used by them. Many of the domestic and commercial boilers also use a mix of bio-diesel with heating oil as heating fuel. This is often referred to as bio-heat.

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you need a QR code reader in your smartphone

you need a QR code reader in your smartphone

Benefits of QR codes
A new coffee house opens and they have a huge advert. To get the location and directions to get there is just a click away.

The features of the code can allow the restaurant owners to integrate its directions into it, they load into the phone’s GPS and there...you get your directions.

For clients that visit a store regularly to make the same purchase each time, all one has to do is scan the code on the product pack and repeat purchase. For that order in the directory or on the online catalogue, scan and you are automatically connected to the customer agent on the other side and it can be delivered to your doorstep.

Transmission of data is made simple and the cost... well not so much.

For those without smartphones, the code can be broken down to a sequence of numbers that can be sent as a text message.
The data can be stored on a cloud to allow for its alteration without having to change the codes.

It is environmentally-friendly. Instead of handing out flyers, or walking around with tens of business cards, all one needs is one card or flyer, which people can scan and all the data is downloaded into the phone for access at any time. That saves on paper and also the hundreds of business cards stashed away in a box somewhere.

Shortcomings of QR codes
The more the data stored on the code , the more intricate the design. This is a problem to phones with lower camera pixel quality. When they try to pick up the code, they cannot distinctly identify the pattern and are therefore unable to read.

This Article Originally Came From The Internet

Chevrolet EN-V Concept

Chevrolet EN-V Concept
Manufactured by General Motor, the EN-V Concept is a two-seater vehicle with a highly futuristic and unique design. This car was launched at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. It offers hand-free controls as it is controlled by a GPS-enabled core which drives it autonomously. The sensors used in this eco friendly concept vehicle allow it to navigate through the streets. The range of the battery is 40km and it can be charged using normal household power source. This car is still a concept but it is expected that General Motors would soon test it.

Light Tree

Designer Omar I. Huerta Cardoso has beautifully amalgamated hydroponic techniques with the latest solar cell technology to form a street lighting solution. Dubbed the “Light Tree”, the concept is an innovative tree-like street lamp that uses nanotube solar cells to light up the ultra-bright LEDs at night. It has water inside that not only conduces the light generated by the LEDs, but also feeds the seeds placed at the top extremities of the concept that will grow to become healthy plants, offering the real tree look to the concept.

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Android-Controlled LED Light Bulb

Android-Controlled LED Light Bulb

Now, an Android device can help you control a LED light bulb via an OS wireless networking protocol. Lighting Science Group and search giant Google together worked over this technology to create a LED bulb equivalent to 60 watt light bulb which can be controlled via an Android device such as a tablet, laptop or phone. The bulb can be dimmed or brightened up with just a tap.

The creation of this LED light system marks a new wave of revolution amongst energy efficient devices. This protocol can even be put to use for controlling appliances and thermostats as unveiled in a San Francisco conference. Artificial lighting systems present within our residences make up for 11 percent of our overall home energy use. Smarter lighting systems will surely help our planet by conserving environment and reduce energy consumption.

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