CAMM research hub opens in Endicott
4/3/2008 (Source: Press & Sun Bulletin)

The Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing, inaugurated Monday in Endicott, will function as a research and development hub where industry and academia come together to build new types of electronic systems, tools and processes for use in areas such as the military, homeland security and solar energy applications.

The Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing, inaugurated Monday in Endicott, will function as a research and development hub where industry and academia come together to build new types of electronic systems, tools and processes for use in areas such as the military, homeland security and solar energy applications.

CAMM has the potential to create "huge numbers of jobs," U.S. Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey, D-Hurley, said.

The center's projects have "the capacity for enormous new economic development," he said.

The facility occupies about 10,000 square feet of Endicott Interconnect Technologies' Building 258 on Oak Hill Avenue in Endicott. The space is distributed over three labs: a chemical lab, clean room and panel lab, CAMM Director Bahgat Sammakia said.

Prototype manufacturing of flexible, lightweight electronic components -- most likely distributed sensors for chemical processing or homeland security, to name some examples -- is expected to occur over the next year, Sammakia said.

EI is providing the space as part of its collaboration with Binghamton University and Cornell University. Equipment is accessible to both the university community and private industry, which participates in CAMM through paid membership fees and funded research programs.

CAMM's corporate members include EI, General Electric, Kodak, Corning, Texas Instruments and Samsung Electronics. Additional partners and supporters include NASA, the Army Research Laboratory and New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation.

Membership is expected to grow significantly over the next year as CAMM establishes itself, Sammakia said.

CAMM researchers on site include about 15 university students and about 15 faculty members, he said. Additional researchers conduct basic research for CAMM on BU's Vestal campus. The numbers will vary depending on what projects are being funded at any given time.

BU said CAMM is an integral part of its New York State Center of Excellence in Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging. The six centers of excellence in the state support high technology ventures through a collaborative approach among the state, academia, private venture capital companies and other private- and public-sector parties.

Plans for CAMM were initiated in 2005 when the United States Display Consortium selected BU to manage the initiative. The USDC provided $12 million in equipment to establish CAMM.

CAMM facilities now include an integrated roll-to-roll flexible electronics prototype manufacturing line, microfabrication lab, vacuum coaters, an in-line defect inspection capability and more.

Currently, most advanced electronics components are produced on silicon or quartz wafers, or on plates of specialized glass in a batch process, BU said. A R2R process integrates electronics on flexible plastic. Components manufactured via R2R are expected to be produced more efficiently and at higher yields and lower cost.

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