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Editorial: How to Hasten the Adoption of Solid State Lighting
... As you can see in the current issue of LIGHTimes, Lamina just signed on as a sponsor of RPI's Lighting Research Center (LRC) LED Lighting Institute. That news makes one wonder... Are other countries besides the USA offering similar hands on learning centers? If they aren't, they should, because...
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ICSCRM Expects Record Attendance in Pittsburgh
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 15, 2005...ICSCRM,
the International Conference on Silicon Carbide and Related Materials 2005
gets underway in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA Sept. 18th. The week long event
is regarded as the preeminent technical forum to discuss new research results
and assess the true “state of the art” for silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN),
and other related wide bandgap semiconductors. General Chairperson for this
year's event, which is held ever other year, alternating venues in the USA,
Europe and Asia, is Ms. Laura Rea of Wright Air Force Labs. Ms. Rea is a familiar
and especially popular person in the compound semi industry. She has been a
longtime technology champion for the wide bandgap semiconductors and has spoken
extensively inside and outside the USA government on the merits of utilizing
leading edge compound semi materials and components for defense-related and
commercial applications.
According to Ms. Rea, 550 international technologists are already pre-registered
for the event, and organizers expect another 100-150 to register on-site next
week. "This is about the same size as ICSCRM '99 in North Carolina
(which was the last time the event was held in the USA). As always, it will
be a truly international conference, with approximately two thirds of the attendees
from Europe and Asia. The conference banquet will be held at the Carnegie Museum
and Music Hall and will be a wonderful opportunity for international colleagues
to relax and catch up on the latest news." As those of us who attended
past ICSCRM (pronounced "ice cream") events know, Cree traditionally
hosts a significant social event every year at ICSCRM, and 2005 will be no different.
"Details are still a surprise," says Ms. Rea, "but
if the event in 1999 was any indication, ICSCRM attendees can expect lots of
fun." Cree, considered an industry leader in SiC and GaN technology
creation and deployment for a variety of electronic and light emitting applications,
hosted a huge blowout party in '99 for all attendees when ICSCRM was held in
their home territory in North Carolina, and Cree's party in Washington DC in
'93 and later in Japan remain memorable to veteran attendees (as do the collector-item
T-shirts).
Other companies will be hosting special events as well. Dow Corning, for example,
will be hosting an innovative railroad theme RSVP party called "Follow
Our Signal" at the Gandy Dancer Restaurant Monday, Sept. 19th. The complete
technical program for this year's ICSCRM and other pertinent information can
be found on the ICSCRM
website.
Super Vision Taps Mike Bauer as Pres/CEO - Brent Kingstone to ChairmanSeptember 15, 2005...On the heels of losing a major IP-related litigation summary judgment to one of the SSL industry's leading advanced LED systems integrators, Color
Kinetics (ref: Aug.
22 coverage), news out of Super Vision of Orlando, Florida USA is that
the founder, president and CEO, Brent Kingstone, will step away from the command
position January 1, 2006 and move to chairman of the board of the company. Kingstone
is being replaced by Mike Bauer. According to information in the company
news release, Mr. Bauer has led the lighting sales and marketing efforts
for several Fortune 500 companies. Previous positions include VP of sales for
Cooper Lighting, VP of sales for Lighting Corporation of America, director of
marketing and product development for Lumark/McGraw-Edison and "cross functional
experience" with GE Lighting Systems. Toshiba Claims Best Performing GaN Power FET at 6GHz
Scott McMahanSeptember 15, 2005...Toshiba has announced the development of a Gallium Nitride (GaN) power field
effect transistor (FET) that achieved 174W of power output at 6GHz. The company
claims that the device out performs all other devices for power output at 6Ghz.
In addition the company says it has eight times the power density of gallium
arsenide (GaAs) FET’s widely used in base stations for terrestrial and
satellite microwave communications.
The company says it optimized the epitaxial layer and chip structures for 6GHz-band
operation by adopting a four-chip combination structure to minimize heat build-up.
Toshiba says it will continue to refine the technology for the target of sample
releases next year. The new FET is expected to become a key component in microwave
communications replacing the GaAs devices. The new GaN power FET and its technology
will be presented at the International Conference on Solid State Devices and
Materials (SSDM), from September 12 to 15 in Kobe, Japan. Company
News Release
In other company news, Hitachi Ltd said it's in talks to set up a plant by
2007 with Toshiba, Japan's second-biggest chipmaker, and other electronics companies.
Toshiba's spokesman Keisuke Ohmori declined to comment at that time, according
to a Bloomberg article. Toshiba Corp chairman Tadashi Okamura said
in the article that it's "too early" to discuss starting
a made-to-order semiconductor factory in Japan.
September 15, 2005...Bookham Inc. headquartered in San Jose, California USA, has completed the sale
of vacant land in Wiltshire, United Kingdom to Abbeymeads LLP for $15.5 million.
"This transaction is another step in Bookham's continuing execution of its
financing plan," said Dr. Giorgio Anania, president and chief executive officer
of Bookham, Inc. In addition to the land sale to generate money, the company will sell 9.2 million
shares of common stock at the price of $4.12 per share. (Ref: SEC form
S-3 ), Company
News Release Cree Awarded Air Force Contract
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 14, 2005...Cree has been awarded a five-year, $15 million contract from the Air Force
Research Laboratory to develop processing techniques to switch from 3-inch to
100mm (4-inch) substrates for silicon carbide (SiC) microwave monolithic integrated
circuit (MMICs). The larger wafers will reduce the cost of production, the company
said. According to the company, the research will build on the completed phase
I of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA’s) Wide Bandgap
Semiconductor Technology Initiative and its recently started phase II in which
the company has demonstrated success working on 100 mm high purity SiC substrates.
(Ref: article)
"By increasing yields and moving to larger wafer formats, Cree is leading
the effort to significantly reduce production costs of SiC MMICs for military
applications as well as discrete SiC MESFETs for commercial applications such
as WiMax," notes John W. Palmour, Cree's executive vice president of Advanced
Devices. “Cree's previous work on a 3-inch SiC MMIC program for the Office
of Naval Research, announced in 2002, resulted in the launch of the world's
first SiC MMIC foundry service, which is now being used by multiple defense
contractors for the realization of wide bandwidth high power amplifiers,”
he said. Company
News Release Lamina Signs On as Sponsor for LRC's LED Lighting Institute
LIGHTimes StaffSeptember 13, 2005...Lamina Ceramics of Westampton, New Jersey USA has become a a sponsor of
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's (RPI) Lighting Research Center (LRC)'s LED Lighting Institute, the next session of which is slated for September 21-23, 2005, at RPI. In
addition to sponsoring the LED Lighting Institute, Lamina will also donate its
super-bright LED light sources for use in the design of architectural lighting
fixtures. Lamina joins a prestigious cadre of sponsors that includes: Color Kinetics, GELcore, Lumileds Lighting, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Nichia America, Opto Technology Inc., Osram Sylvania, PolyBrite Intl., and the US DoE. Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... Japan Steps-up Energy Conservation MeasuresSeptember 12, 2005...As oil prices rise around the world, many countries have stepped-up their conservation efforts. Many governments like Japan, subsidize energy saving measures. Japan’s Environment Ministry will offer subsidies to pay for up to one-third of the costs of installation incurred by companies and stores that switch to LEDs for their lighting needs starting fiscal 2006, according to Nikkei Net Interactive. In a separate effort, Japan’s Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI) has recently extended its energy conservation government subsidies to include transport companies. Companies receiving the subsidies will be required to meet carbon dioxide reduction targets. According to the article Japan’s energy consumption is up 19% from its 1990 levels. The industrial sector reported a 14% increase. The transport industry had a 19% rise. TFS Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 12, 2005...In an attempt to stay in business, Three Five Systems (TFS) has filed a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the US Bankruptcy Court in Arizona. The company said it plans to sell off its assets and subsidiaries. According to the company, its foreign subsidiaries are not part of the bankruptcy filing. Its TFS Electronic Manufacturing Systems already filed bankruptcy. There is no word yet on the court supervised “reorganization” of the company’s contractual and debt obligations.
The company reports that it is working with potential interested buyers for the company’s assets, and therefore does not expect to need post-petition financing. TFS does not plan to file Form 10-Q for the period which ended June 30. At the end of April and again at the end of May Three Five Systems received a notice of delisting from the New York Stock exchange because its stock price fell below the minimum $1.00 per share. Then the company’s common stock was delisted from the NYSE on June 10. The stock was then listed on the OTC bulletin board. TFS Electronic Manufacturing Services, Inc. (TFSEMS), signed a definitive agreement to sell the assets of its electronic manufacturing services (EMS) operations in Redmond, Washington, to Catalyst Manufacturing Services, Inc. in August.
Company News Release JDSU Acquires Agility Communications; Adds Digital Signal Analysis Products
Scott McMahanSeptember 9, 2005...JDS Uniphase has signed an agreement to acquire Agility Communications, Inc.,
a provider of tunable lasers and transponders. JDSU says the acquisition will
help give it a broad, end-to-end optical network portfolio. Agility communications
is a privately held company with about 90 employees in Santa Barbara, California.
The deal is expected to close in the fiscal quarter ending December 2005. The
terms of the agreement were not disclosed. JDSU says that unlike alternative architectures,
Agility offers the only proven architecture capable of full tunable laser integration
with a modulator using a highly scalable semiconductor wafer process. According
to the company, the platform also offers switching speeds of less than 10 milliseconds,
and is less sensitive to shock and vibration than other solutions, thus enabling
deployment of robust, highly reconfigurable, and scalable optical networks.
"We believe the shift to tunables is inevitable and that the transition
will be rapid," said Mike Ricci, vice president of JDS Uniphase's
Component and Modules Group. "Agility's single chip monolithic platform
is capable of addressing the entire market and is not limited to a single form
factor. Agility's proven architecture, coupled with JDS Uniphase's scalable
manufacturing capability, paves the way for high volume, tunable, pluggable
solutions." Company News Release
In other company news, JDSU added Multicast Analysis capabilities to its DTS
digital video services test and measurement solution.
In a related bit of news, Australia Broadcasting Corporation has upgraded its
digital signal analysis and measurement tool to the JDSU’s DTS-200. The
JDSU DTS-200 adds several features the previous test solution the DTS-100 including
MPEG analysis for bandwidth efficiency and more advanced audio analysis tools.
Another company, Harmonic, a provider of broadband optical network and digital
video systems, has also chosen to upgrade not the DTS-200 and DTS-330. The DTS-330
is reportedly the company’s “one box” solution offering several
different combinations of MPEG (digital video broadcast, or DVB, and advanced
television systems committee, or ATSC) transport stream generation, capture,
creation, and analysis. The DTS multicast analysis feature will be on display
at International Broadcasting Convention 2005, September 8-14, Amsterdam, Netherlands,
RAI Convention Center, Hall 8, Booth 8.314. Cree to Open Asia-Pacific Subsidiary Headquarters in Hong Kong
LIGHTimes StaffSeptember 8, 2005...Cree Asia-Pacific Limited, a subsidiary of Cree Inc. of Durham, North Carolina
USA, will open its new headquarters in the Hong Kong Science Technology Park on
September 12, 2005. Cree Asia-Pacific was formed to increase customer and technical
support in the region while also serving as Cree’s product innovation center
for the region. The company says it will host a dedication ceremony to introduce
its new Asian customers and prospective customers to the new staff and facility. Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... Our news features are reported
by the CompoundSemi News staff writers.
For submissions or content suggestions, you can contact us using
editor -at - compoundsemi.com
For more information and to reserve promotion space contact
Info7 -at - compoundsemi.com
or call +1 (512) 257-9888 |
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The
McDonald Report
Commentary & Perspective...
How to Hasten the Adoption of Solid State LightingSeptember 13, 2005...As you can see in the current issue of LIGHTimes,
Lamina just signed on as a sponsor of RPI's Lighting Research Center (LRC) LED
Lighting Institute. That news
makes one wonder... Are other countries besides the USA offering similar
hands on learning centers? If they aren't, they should, because the more
of these type learning situations there are, the quicker the world will adopt
solid state lighting (SSL) solutions.
I haven't done my homework yet to see which countries and which catalysts offer
programs similar to LRC's outside the USA, but I will. If you want to beat me
to it, a good place to start is Sandia's website that has a fairly current list
of worldwide links.
Whatever you find out, please let me know and we'll share your discoveries in
these pages. But since I know something about how to get balls rolling in courts
never before played on, I thought you might like to hear more about what LRC
is doing and how you might get something started in your part of the world.
LRC's next three day LED Lighting Institute is slated for September 21-23 at
RPI in Troy, New York. It's a bit pricey, but in this case, you really get a
lot for your money. The full fee is $1,750, which includes meals and all course
materials and manuals. The LRC will also supply all lighting equipment... thanks
largely to the sponsors. In the case of Lamina, for example, they're donating
their super-bright LED light sources for use in the design of architectural
lighting fixtures. The part I like best is the fact that The New York State
Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has volunteered to help
fund partial scholarships for this course for New York State residents. A state
like New York obviously wants to help its citizens, especially lighting designers,
get smarter faster about advanced LEDs.
If you were to put together a similar program to LRC's, in addition to finding
the right entity to conduct such an extraordinary learning experience, sponsors
for events such as this are the key to success. As underscored in the news
article, Lamina joins a prestigious cadre of LRC sponsors that includes:
Color Kinetics, GELcore, Lumileds Lighting, the NYSERDA, Nichia America, Opto
Technology Inc., Osram Sylvania, PolyBrite Intl., and the USA's Department of
Energy (DoE). Sponsors are extremely important because they not only help underwrite
said event, they bring toys to the party, like Lamina's super brights.
What do you learn at an educational experience like LRC's? According to their
promos, the 30 attendees (and they keep it limited to that so it's a very
seminar-like experience) will learn about the latest advances in LED technology.
They'll learn about the strengths and weaknesses of LED products, they'll learn
how to actually design lighting installations using LEDs and how to select and
specify LED lighting system components. Attendees get to observe hands-on demonstrations
of a full range of LED technologies used in a variety of applications. They
get to experiment with LED lighting technology by building sample lighting fixtures
(very cool) and how to match application requirements with available technologies.
And they'll learn about the latest LED research and testing. In addition to
getting to hang with all the great instructors, they'll go away with an official
LRC Continuing Education Certificate in LED Lighting, which isn't as cool as
getting to play with the toys, but it'll go far in getting a lighting designer
new clients.
LRC also has some lower budget offerings that look like a good deal, especially
for those new to the SSL field who don't want to admit they don't know much
about it. LRC has an offering called Lighting
Education Online. It's an interactive, Internet-based education program
for building, design, and facility management professionals who want to learn
more about light and lighting. LRC currently has two courses available: Lighting
Terminology (where you can learn what terms like "reflectance"
means) and Lighting Technology. Taken together, these courses, plus new
courses to be added over time, make up a comprehensive professional education
program in lighting. They're only charging $125 tuition and they even give you
a free sample to whet
your appetite.
Nadarajah Narendran and his staff at LRC are to be commended for the excellent
work they're doing. He and the other instructors have bios listed
towards the bottom of the page. One of those professionals, Mariana Figueiro,
was kind enough to come to our original BLUE
2003 event in Dallas, and her presentation cast a totally fresh light (pun
intended) on the SSL field. Mariana is an adjunct assistant professor at
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) which is the university that created,
houses and maintains LRC. She's a program director at the LRC and her research
areas include photobiology, energy efficient lighting (market transformations),
human factors in lighting, and lighting applications. She has written numerous
articles in many lighting, energy, and construction-related magazines. Mariana
worked on the 9th Edition of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America
(IESNA) Handbook, and worked as an experimenter for projects within light and
health. She led the development of guidelines for designing lighting for older
adults: Lighting the Way: A key to Independence, a project sponsored by the
AARP Andrus Foundation.
What Mariana Figueiro reminded us of at BLUE is how far-reaching this
field really is when you take the time to understand what it is and what it
stands for. The SSL field is more than fancy lighting, rock concerts, sexier
buildings and counter displays. Our advanced LED lighting has the power to enhance
the quality of lives for people all over the world. It can make life better
in so many ways that it boggles the mind to comprehend it all.
So what are you doing in your country, city or village to make life better
through solid state lighting? Since our readership represents the primary supply
chain for the field, you're certainly making the core products to do the job.
But are you doing all you can to make sure people know how to use the products?
Are you looking into ways to spread the word thus helping speed the conversion
to SSL? Are you lobbying your city councils for more installed base in city
infrastructure? Are you talking to lighting designers and getting them to take
courses like LRC offers? Are you installing advanced LED lighting products in
your own homes and offices? Are you reading about Mariana's work and seeing
that the older citizens in your life are reaping the benefits of advanced LED
therapy?
This field is more than a job. It's a cause. And I bet you're in it for more
than just a paycheck. See what you can do to get a program like LRC's going
in your country or city. You'll be amazed how much faster the field will develop
by your individual efforts. For truly world class inspiration, take a look at
what Dave Irvine-Halliday is doing with his Light
Up The World Foundation. LUTW is dedicated to bringing ultra-efficient,
durable and near permanent white LED lighting solutions, powered by renewable
energy, to the world's poor in ecologically sensitive and remote rural areas.
LUTW is an international humanitarian organization affiliated with the University
of Calgary in Canada and dedicated to literally and figuratively illuminating
the lives of the world’s poor. It is the first humanitarian organization
to utilize SSL technologies to bring affordable, safe, healthy, efficient, and
environmentally responsible lighting to people currently without access to proper
lighting.
If you have questions about the
solid state lighting and compound semiconductor industries or have news
or views to share, I'm Jo Ann McDonald, Editor of LIGHTimes and CompoundSemi News.
Feel free to contact me directly, anytime. 
My direct tel at the ranch is
+1-325-463-5345
From time to time Jo Ann may comment on companies in which she holds a
modest investment - be sure to read
her disclosure at some point in time... |
