Daily News Briefs

The MEMS Industry Group (MIG), a trade association representing the MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) and microstructures industries, has released its "2005 Industry Report -- Focus on Accelerated Lifetime Test (ALT)," on research including ALT findings and recommendations from working groups at its Metric 2004 conference. The groups noted a critical lack of MEMS characterization tools and subsequent impact on the successful commercialization of MEMS devices, especially for smaller companies. An in-depth analysis of an industry-wide MEMS survey on ALT revealed that a vast majority of MEMS designers and suppliers perform ALT, but that most of those tests are custom-designed to meet customer requirements. The report also includes a MEMS case study of Texas Instruments' reliability practices in developing and manufacturing their MEMS products and a state of the industry summation by Marlene Bourne, senior analyst for Reed In-Stat. MIG's quarterly industry statistics surveys found that while most companies are still shipping small units, they are making slightly more revenue from their MEMS products this year and are looking to hire more people in the coming months. For more information, contact MIG at (412) 390-1644; E-mail: fiberprodsinfo@memsindustrygroup.org . . . NuSil Technology, a Carpinteria, Calif., formulator of silicone materials for the healthcare, aerospace, electronics and photonics industries, announced it has added four representatives in Asia to provide sales and support for its Lightspan-brand photonics and low-outgassing electronic materials to customers in electronic and optoelectonic manufacturing sites. The new representatives are K. Ohama, for Japan; QTEM Corp., for South Korea; Fitek, for Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China; and WCM Technologies, for Malaysia.