By Dave Mount
The ConFab staff is presently lining up speakers and VIPs for our 2018 Agenda/Program and networking event, which will be held May 20-23 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Many different topics have been considered for the talks and keynote addresses, as there are many new drivers and technologies for the semiconductor industry to be considered. Exploring the “Hot” topics, consider that EUV Lithography has been long awaited, but is finally here. George Gomba, VP of technology research at GlobalFoundries, has been working very diligently with the researchers at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, in the CSNE –Albany, and lithography tool suppliers to develop the processes and equipment for EUV lithography. George will deliver a talk on that research program that has finally found its way into advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) is another hot-topic area, where Dr. Kou Kuo Suu, of ULVAC Japan will deliver a talk on manufacturing various types of NVM memory chips, including Phase-Change memory (PCRAM).
Given that there is presently considerable M&A activity in the semiconductor industry: with large companies merging, larger companies acquiring smaller companies, and considerable numbers of start-up companies receiving funding, we have enlisted an old friend and Industry expert, Dan Armbrust, the Founder and director of Silicon Catalyst, the world’s first incubator focused exclusively on semiconductor solutions startups, who will speak on the factors and drivers fueling M&A activities and startup launches.
Smart manufacturing ecosystems based on big data platform, predictive analytics and IoT will be addressed by Tom Sonderman, President of Sky Water Technology Foundry.
We are very pleased to have Rama Divakaruni, an IBM distinguished Engineer deliver the opening Keynote Talk on how artificial intelligence is driving the “new” semiconductor era. In this new era we are seeing a robust Automotive Market Segment for semiconductor devices, a rapidly growing MEMS and Sensors Market Segment, and Advanced Packaging continues to grow in revenue generation and technical importance.
Quantum Computing will also be an important market driver. In the very near future we will be announcing speakers and naming panelists for these very interesting topics. Stay Tuned!
