Worldwide Semiconductor Leaders Examine Economics Roadmap for the 300-mm and Nanotechnology Era at Albany Symposium on Lake George, Sept. 10-12

---

The semiconductor industry's explosive growth since the 1950s has taken a cyclical path, but the current cycle appears headed toward a crucial juncture. Nanosystems, biochips, MEMS (MicroElectro Mechanical Systems), and other technologies, plus the transition to 300-millimeter wafer chip manufacturing are planting the seeds of new industry and forcing all to respond to increasing consumer demands.

To address these realities, more than 200 semiconductor industry leaders from around the world, joined by key government figures and academicians, will examine the science, the macroeconomics, and the international politics that will profoundly affect the world of semi-conductor industry firms at The Albany Symposium on Global Semiconductor Issues, held at the Sagamore Hotel on Lake George, New York, from Monday to Wednesday, Sept. 10 - 12.

The conference theme is "A Global Semiconductor Economics Roadmap for the 300 mm and Nanotechnology Era."

Co-hosts for the Conference are Albany NanoTech, the university/industry/ government research and development complex run by the University at Albany Institute for Materials - site of the world's first university-based 300-millimeter chip fabrication facility, scheduled to open in 2003 - and the New York Capital Region's Center for Economic Growth.

"A wafer size shift is under way that may alter established supply and demand relationships," says Juri Matisoo, Ph.D., vice president for technology of the Semiconductor Industry Association and the Albany Symposium chairman.

The demand-side factors will result in new product development, which will in turn create an industry/government challenge to tap the intellectual and workforce development potential of research universities. This paradigm will occur at UAlbany's Institute for Materials, whose upcoming Center for Excellence in Nanoelectronics and 300-mm chip-fabrication plant received critical support in 2001 with a $100 million gift from IBM and $50 million from New York state.

"The 300-mm transition is an immediate though unsettled issue that concerns manufacturing economics and profit," said Matisoo. "In contrast, nanotechnology is nascent, warranting consideration because its technological potential is so significant that it could foster a host of new 21st century industries."

"Geopolitics and global economics are resculpting the landscape of international business, forcing local and regional industry into the arena of world trade," he added. A session of the symposium will be devoted to various economic and political dynamics facing industries in North America, the European Community, the Pacific Rim, and "the emerging behemoths," China and India.

Among those scheduled to speak on this topic include Wei-Wen He, economic and commerce counselor for the Peoples Republic of China, and Dr. Shekhar Wadekar, principal of the Royal Bank of Canada Dain Rauscher Wessels.

Special guest speakers for the symposium include Dr. John E. Kelly III, senior vice president and group executive of the IBM Technology Group of Hopewell Junction, N.Y.; Dr. C. Robert Helms, president of International Sematech of Austin, Texas; and Dale W. Jorgenson, Frederic Eaton Abbe Professor of Economics at Harvard University; and George Scalise, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association.

It is also anticipated that the Hon. Sherwood L. Boehlert, chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Science, will address the symposium.

Keynote speaker at Monday's luncheon will be Gov. George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York.

For more University at Albany information, visit our World Wide Web site at http://www.Albany.edu.

September 6, 2001

For more information, view the event's website, at www.albany.symposium.com.

The Symposium schedule may be viewed at http://www.albanysymposium.com/program_agenda.shtml

Its speakers may be viewed at http://www.albanysymposium.com/speakers.shtml

Return to University at Albany Home Page

Return to University News & Information Page