Despite being the holiday season for much of the world, many of our members have made remarkable progress and celebrated many achievements in December. From groundbreaking technological advancements and well-deserved industry awards to strategic collaborations and significant company developments, our members are continuing to lead the way in their fields. Lets take a closer look at some of the key highlights and achievements from this month.
Technology Development
PLANOPTIK introduced Advanced Connectivity Technology (ACT), a cutting-edge solution for 3D integration and high-frequency applications. Designed to enhance electrical performance and thermal management, ACT combines copper metallization with glass substrates to deliver low-loss, high-density interconnects essential for 5G infrastructure and component miniaturization. Leveraging precised volume laser induced structuring (VLIS) technology, ACT underscores PLANOPTIK’s innovative glass processing solutions, offering ready-to-implement advancements for advanced packaging needs.
Yield Engineering Systems (YES) unveiled its VertaCure XP G3, an advanced curing system designed for the production of artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) semiconductor solutions. This fully automated 6-zone vacuum system ensures precise temperature control, uniform curing, and superior particle performance for advanced 2.5D/3D packaging applications. Optimized for low-temperature curing and high-throughput hybrid bonding, VertaCure XP G3 enhances the thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties of polymers critical for wafer-level packaging.
IBM introduced groundbreaking co-packaged optics (CPO) technology that integrates optical connectivity within data centers, enabling faster, more efficient AI model training and operations. Leveraging polymer optical waveguides (PWG) and high-density optical pathways, this innovation is said to achieve up to 80 times the bandwidth of traditional electrical connections while reducing energy consumption by more than five times. CPO technology accelerates AI workloads, potentially cutting the training time for large language models from three months to three weeks. Designed and tested at IBM facilities in New York and Quebec, this advancement reinforces IBM’s leadership in semiconductor innovation and sustainable data center solutions.
Lam Research Corp. introduced Dextro, the semiconductor industry’s first collaborative robot (cobot) for optimizing wafer fabrication equipment maintenance. Now operational in advanced fabs worldwide, Dextro delivers sub-micron precision to reduce tool downtime, improve first-time-right (FTR) results, and enhance production yield. Designed to assist fab engineers, the mobile robot uses specialized tools to automate repetitive, error-prone tasks, such as assembling components, tightening precision bolts, and cleaning chamber polymers. Dextro’s high accuracy minimizes variability, cuts costs, and supports growing AI-driven demand in semiconductor manufacturing.
Collaboration
SEMI published recommendations for the EU to strengthen its semiconductor ecosystem during the 2024–2029 legislative term. Highlighting the momentum from the European Chips Act, SEMI Europe urges policymakers to advance a “Chips Act 2.0” to secure Europe’s competitiveness. Key recommendations include optimizing funding to achieve a 20% global market share by 2030, aligning economic security measures, integrating semiconductors into the EU Green Deal, addressing the talent gap, and streamlining funding and initiatives like IPCEI. SEMI Europe emphasizes strategic investments, robust policy frameworks, and sustainable innovation to maintain Europe’s global leadership in semiconductors.
Siemens Digital Industries Software announced its collaboration with AI startup PhysicsX to develop next-generation deep physics simulation models for advanced engineering. PhysicsX’s latest pre-trained model, LGM-Aero, leverages high-fidelity simulation data from Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio, including Simcenter STAR-CCM+ and Simcenter Nastran. LGM-Aero, trained on over 25 million geometries and tens of billions of mesh elements, accelerates performance prediction and optimization with minimal simulation requirements. PhysicsX has also launched Ai.rplane, a free public-access tool powered by LGM-Aero, enabling real-time aerodynamic design and performance analysis. This partnership aims to revolutionize AI-driven engineering with transformative solutions.
Event Participation
Brewer Science, Inc., a leader in advanced packaging materials, presented new research at the Electronics and Packaging Technology Conference (EPTC) in Singapore, December 3–6, 2024. Collaborating with ITRI, they showcased a photosensitive polymer addressing hybrid bonding scalability challenges, including cost, temperature, and defectivity. Partnering with EV Group and AMS-Osram, they also introduced BrewerBOND C1301-50, a high-temperature stable bonding material compatible with IR LayerRelease laser debonding, expanding wafer processing capabilities. These innovations aim to overcome key industry limitations and enable advanced device manufacturing.
Onto Innovation held its inaugural Executive Supplier Conference in Santa Clara, California, in December, themed “Accelerating Innovation Through Collaboration.” The event featured programs and breakout sessions on industry trends, supply chain challenges, and the importance of partnerships in semiconductor advancements. The Supplier Excellence Awards were presented to honor exceptional achievements in collaboration, with winners including SaiGon Fabrication.com (Quality), C-Hawk Technology International (Strategic Partnership), MKS Newport Corporation (Innovation), and RORZE CORPORATION (Collaboration). Onto Innovation looks forward to continuing its supplier partnerships in 2025 and beyond.
Awards
ASE was honored with the TSMC Open Innovation Platform’s Partner of the Year Award 2024 in the 3DFabric OSAT category. This recognition highlights ASE’s commitment to supporting TSMC’s mission of accelerating innovation, efficiency, and productivity in the semiconductor ecosystem. ASE expressed gratitude for the award, thanking TSMC and acknowledging the engineering teams for their continuous innovation. Mark Gerber accepted the award on ASE’s behalf. ASE’s strong collaboration with TSMC enables the delivery of cutting-edge solutions for AI and beyond.
Congratulations to Tim Olson for being recognized as one of Arizona’s 16 Top Leaders of 2024. His impactful work with Deca Technologies and Arizona State University in advancing the development of an advanced packaging ecosystem in Arizona has earned him this well-deserved honor.
Edwards received the ESG Collaboration & Production Support Award at the 2024 TSMC SCM Forum on December 2nd, 2024. The company was recognized for its innovative vacuum and abatement technologies that enhance operational efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. Edwards’ hydrogen recovery solution (HRS) was praised for recovering 80% of used hydrogen from EUV tools, making processes greener without sacrificing performance. The award acknowledged Edwards’ commitment to energy saving, waste reduction, and production support, and the company pledged to continue creating sustainable value for the semiconductor industry.
Amkor Technology, Inc. was recognized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Portugal with the prestigious “Game Changer Company” award. This honor was given in recognition of Amkor’s outstanding achievements in semiconductor engineering and development. José Moreira da Silva, Senior Vice President of Research and Development, accepted the award on behalf of Amkor and highlighted the company’s innovative contributions to the semiconductor industry.
Leadership Changes and Career Opportunities
Indium Corporation announced leadership changes, with Greg Evans transitioning to executive chair and Ross Berntson appointed CEO while continuing as president. Evans will guide strategic initiatives and support operational execution, building on his tenure of driving growth and fostering a strong company culture. With more than two decades at Indium Corporation, Bernston will focus on innovation, global expansion, and nurturing employee creativity, continuing the company’s legacy of growth from a single facility to 16 worldwide with nearly 1,500 employees.
Onto Innovation is currently hiring for a Senior Director of Intel Account in its Hillsboro, Oregon office. The Senior Director is responsible for developing a deep understanding of Intel’s long-term roadmap, mapping Onto’s process solutions roadmap against Intel’s priorities, identifying opportunities based on a clear definition of high value problems and initiating, owning and driving effective short- and long-term technical programs. Learn more here.
That wraps up our member activities for 2024! We are accepting new members through January 2025. Learn more here.
