Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test


Dutch tech industry group FME called for the European Commission to draft a position on whether and how to restrict computer chip technology exports to China, saying "more unified and powerful action" was needed from Europe, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he saw gradual progress in talks with the U.S. over potential new restrictions on exporting chip-makin... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Packaging and test Advantest and PDF Solutions have launched their first jointly developed offering since forming a partnership in 2020. The new product is called the Advantest Cloud Solutions Dynamic Parametric Test (ACS DPT) solution. It integrates PDF Solutions’ Exensio portfolio of data analytics with Advantest’s V93000 Parametric Test System. The ACS DPT solution is designed to op... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 26


Jumping films Riken and the University of Tokyo have developed a tiny autonomous actuator. The actuator, which is based on a special material, can automatically curl up or straighten out when exposed to ambient humidity. And in certain conditions, the film can even jump into the air by itself. A video can be seen here. Researchers placed a material called guanidinium carbonate into a hig... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Feb. 3


Robotic plants In 2012, the European Commission launched the so-called Plantoid project. In the project, researchers hope to devise synthetic robotic plants. Inspired by plant roots, the robots could be used for soil monitoring and other applications. The group is devising so-called artifacts. These components resemble plants and plant roots. The new technologies expected to result from the... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Tesla Motors plans to build a new 35-GWh, lithium-ion cell production facility for its electric vehicles. It sounds like a good idea. But the factory will bring about only a modest reduction in battery costs, and could create significant overcapacity in the arena, according to Lux Research. “The Gigafactory will only reduce the Tesla Model 3’s cost by $2,800, not enough to sway the success ... » read more