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The 2001 University/Government /Industry Microelectronics Symposium (UGIM) will be held in Richmond, VA, June 17-20, 2001. UGIM'01 will be the fourteenth in this series of biennial symposia that bring together educators and researchers to discuss activities related to micro- or nano-fabrication technologies and programs. Representatives of university programs ranging from new fledgling labs to nationally recognized facilities attend to exchange information. Government agencies such as NSF, NIH, NIST, Sematech, SRC, DARPA, and ONR regularly participate with co-authored papers and updates on funding opportunities. Industry interactions with universities (often with government support) make up the other corner of the triangle that is UGIM. Talks on technology transfer, collaborative research, and training efforts have been strongly represented. The UGIM Symposia are sponsored by the Electron Devices Society of the IEEE.
The UGIM Symposium has been hosted by universities with strong microelectronics research and education programs, such as Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, North Carolina State University, and the University of Minnesota. By moving the symposia to a different host school each time, attendees benefit from seeing how each host school's education and research programs are structured. The similarities and differences serve as a backdrop for the discussions held at the symposia. The attendees also get to see how the research laboratories and cleanrooms are constructed, maintained, staffed, and funded. At UGIM 2001, Virginia Commonwealth University and the State of Virginia will be highlighted. In the 1990's Virginia's state and local governments embarked on a mission to transform Virginia into the "Silicon Dominion". Major DRAM manufacturers such as Infineon Technologies (formerly WhiteOak Semiconductor) and Dominion Semiconductor have fabrication facilities in Virginia and both have announced major expansions. Additionally, a group of Virginia Universities known as the Virginia Microelectronics Consortia (VMEC) will be represented at the symposium. Various schools will describe their efforts at microelectronic education, research and collaboration under the consortia.
This year's host for the symposium is Virginia Commonwealth University's Microelectronics Center. The sessions will be held in the new VCU School of Engineering building, which is two blocks from the historic Jefferson Hotel. An outstanding program is planned with about 60 papers from each of the groups, universities, government and industry. The UGIM symposium traditionally covers a broad range of topics. Papers range in focus from descriptions of microelectronics programs through detailed research papers. The largest session is usually devoted to reporting on the progress of microelectronics educational and research programs at various educational institutions. Technology computer aided design (TCAD) new process or device modeling and simulation are also usually strongly represented, as are papers concerning devices and systems. Materials and processing papers from both standard silicon and compound semiconductors will be presented, along with process equipment development, manufacturing, statistical process control and design of experiments. Processing results often involve equipment that is also found at other universities and can be beneficial to attendees with similar interests to use in their own research programs or at the least expand their knowledge
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) focused papers have been increasing in number and a session or two devoted to all aspects of MEMS will be held. Topics include simulation, processing, packaging and testing. The confluence of biotechnology and micro-fabrication is an additional subject area for which papers are expected. The UGIM symposium, in particular, is a good place to discuss the co-existence of MEMS processes and microelectronics in a facility. UGIM has traditionally been a good forum to report on efforts that tie together universities with government and industry programs. Typical interactions include distance learning and re-training, technology transfer and industrial implementation of new ideas. As the amount of funding available for traditional microelectronics research tightens, university research programs are stretching out to new areas. New applications such as FRAM, information storage, "bio-chips", displays, and advanced sensors bring new challenges and opportunities.
While the technical sessions begin on Monday, June 18, on Sunday afternoon, June 17, the VCU Microelectronics Center will host an open house. The open house will consist of an informal discussion session for people managing microelectronics laboratory facilities and tours of the facility. The discussion will focus on issues common to such facilities such as funding, equipment acquisition, maintenance, staff, operational expenses, processing issues, industry interaction, collaborations with other universities, intellectual property and compatibility problems. Tours will be given of the cleanrooms, support areas, and characterization labs. Staff members will be on hand to discuss the operation of the facility and answer questions. Attendees have a unique opportunity to give a short presentation describing their facility and share some of their experience and knowledge about what works and what does not.
Richmond offers a range experiences from the historic to the exciting edge. You can tour Civil war battle sites and museums in the former capital of the confederacy or can take your kayak through class 5 whitewater right downtown. There are river cruises, plantations, Monument Avenue, shopping, dining, the symphony or the ballet. Richmond has been described as "the perfect blending of the past and present". Richmond, being the state capital, also has wonderful science and art museums. Washington D.C., the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach, and the Shenandoah Valley are all nearby as is historic Jamestown and Williamsburg. A block of rooms is available at a reduced rate at the majestic Jefferson Hotel (http://www.jefferson-hotel.com), a national historic landmark, just two blocks from the symposium site.
For more information on the symposium, please visit the symposium website at http://www.vcu.edu/egrweb/ugim2001 , or contact Rob Pearson, Virginia Commonwealth University, 601 West Main Street, Richmond, VA 23284, TEL: 804-827-7627 or E-Mail: repearso@vcu.edu .
Rob Pearson
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA