SeptemberOctober 2009

The ESD Association newsletter, published for everyone with an interest in the understanding and control of electrostatic discharge. Volume 25, No. 5 September/October 2009 In this issue www.esda.org From the President David E. Swenson, page 4 Symposium Awards, pages 2-3 IEW Call for Presentations, page 6 Symposium Call for Papers, page 7-8 Standards Activity Update, pages 9-10 Q & A, page 11 ESD on Campus, page 12 Local Sparks, pages 13-14 ESDA Spotlight, page 15 Online Training, page 16 Calendar, page 17 In the next issue of Threshold... It was a great pleasure to be the Gen- eral Chairman of the 2009 EOS/ESD Symposium in Anaheim, California held from August 30th - September 4th, 2009. This year, the EOS/ESD Symposium attendance exceeded 300 people. The conference this year was a lot of fun, with great events, good food, excellent California vintages of wine, and excel- lent assistance from the Disneyland staff. The weather was beautiful, and there were fantastic fireworks every evening after dusk. Some of the highlights of the Sym- posium this year included a Keynote talk in the biomedical field, The Keynote talk given by Dr. Shekar Rao, of Texas Instruments was titled “Emerging Trends of Medical Devices and Opportunities for Semiconductor Chip Technology.” The talk discussed biomedical directions for chip devel- opment. Faculty were invited from four different universities that provide research and development in the field of ESD. Vice President Ker Ming-Dou of I-Shou University (Kaohsiang, Taiwan), Professor J.J. Liou of University of Central Florida (UCF), Professor Albert Wang of University of California Riverside (UCR), and Pro- fessor Kaustav Banerjee of University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) provided lectures on ESD research in their respective research groups. This was a great success, with many stu- dents from these universities attending. In future years, we hope to make this a tradition and have the opportunity to invite more faculty allowing our ESD society to grow. During the Assocation Luncheon a special talk was given by Dr. Jeremy Smallwood, Chairman of IEC TC101 – Electrostatics. the talk was titled “The Strange World of Static Electricity and International Standards” covering some of the strange and humerous affects that ESD has had on industries. This year at the EOS/ESD Symposium, there was significant growth in publica- tions in the area of micro electrome- chanical (MEMs), advanced CMOS devices, and ESD device level testing. In the Exhibit Hall, the latest advance- ment in vendor materials and equip- ment was shown. The exhibit hall was filled with exhibitors from corporations to universities in the ionization, materi- als, conductive polymers, consulting to device-level test equipment. To liven up the event, Disney characters even entered the technical sessions and the exhibit hall, shaking hands, and greeting the attendees. Was this event a good time? Yes! Be- tween the food, the weather, the venue, the staff and a good program to keep us busy, it was a good EOS/ESD event ...a great EOS/ESD event! See you in Sparks (Reno), NV in 2010, at the 32nd EOS/ESD Symposium. The 31st EOS/ESD Symposium is a Success in Anaheim! Dr. Steven H. Voldman ESD Symposium General Chairman 2009 EOS/ESD Symposium featured ten interactive workshops. The topics of the workshops included ESD de- sign, simulation, test, control methods and many others. Symposium partici- pants enjoyed great opportunity for lively discussions and learning from ESD industry experts as well as shar- ing their own experiences. Detailed report on 2009 EOS/ESD Sympo- sium workshops will be published in November/December issue.