--Experts in AI/ML, edge computing, analog semiconductors, and IoT bring engineering acumen, operational excellence to analogML pioneer

PITTSBURGH—August 17, 2021—Aspinity, the developer of analog machine learning (analogML™) chips that enable near-zero-power always-on sensing for battery-powered devices, has added a trio of industry veterans to its organization. Glen Clark, former corporate vice president and general manager of Analog Products, Cadence Design Systems has joined Aspinity as vice president of engineering along with two high-profile members of the company’s board of directors: Jonathan Ballon, former vice president and general manager, Edge AI and IoT, Intel Corporation, and Stephen DiFranco, whose senior leadership positions in semiconductors span Broadcom, Cypress and AMD.

“Following our fruitful Series A funding round in September 2020 with investors such as Amazon and Anzu Partners, engagement with major product manufacturers, and collaborations with influential industry partners such as Infineon Technologies and STMicroelectronics, we’ve laid the groundwork for the successful market introduction of our first chip,” said Tom Doyle, founder and CEO, Aspinity. “The addition of Glen Clark, Jonathan Ballon and Stephen DiFranco marks the next milestone in our company’s progression. We’re thrilled to have these three powerhouses join Aspinity’s internal and advisory teams.”

During his 21-year career at Cadence, Glen Clark rose from R&D director at Neolinear—which Cadence acquired in 2004—to lead a global R&D team for which he steered product design and development, articulated the roadmap, and directed strategic planning for the company’s industry-leading analog IC platform. Under Clark’s leadership, Aspinity will deliver its chips with an intuitive software development environment that enables customers to create their own application-specific algorithms for the company’s novel analogML core. He will also grow the engineering team to accelerate commercialization and support the company’s expanding list of customers and partners worldwide.

“I’m thrilled to be part of Aspinity’s talented and driven team,” said Glen Clark, vice president of engineering, Aspinity. “Living in the world of analog semiconductors for most of my career has shown me analog’s advantages in power, performance and reliability, which is why I’m so excited about our analogML core. Capturing the built-in benefits of analog architectures for machine learning, the analogML core enables near-zero power in always-on-listening products, making it a breakthrough technology for the hundreds of millions of IoT devices and small consumer electronics that run on battery. The other game-changer is its ease of programmability for digital and analog engineers alike.”

Aspinity’s two new board members are accomplished senior executives who cumulatively bring more than 50 years of semiconductor expertise to Aspinity. While at Intel Corporation, Jonathan Ballon steered a multibillion-dollar global product line and organization responsible for various AI/ML and edge computing segments, leading ecosystem and channel development for the group, and aggressively accelerating revenue growth by 14% year on year—which was double the market rate. He also pioneered the development of new AI/ML hardware and software tools and scaled operations in China, significantly expanding regional profitability.

Stephen DiFranco works with teams around the world to identify how the next generation of AI technologies will create competitive advantage, impact outcomes, and streamline IoT services. His passion is how IoT and AI companies change offerings, implement go-to-market strategies, and create new customer opportunities. DiFranco is currently an executive partner with Gartner’s chief sales officer practice and has held executive in residence (EIR) seats at Plug&Play, Silicon Catalyst, and the IoT Advisory Group. He is currently an advisor to three start-ups and a board member of a private company that automates medical endpoints. Previously, he held executive positions at Broadcom, HP, Lenovo, and AMD. At Broadcom, DiFranco first managed the IoT group in enabling clients to create some of the world’s first connected devices. He then led the sales of the Broadcom IoT Group to Cypress Semiconductor.

Together, Ballon and DiFranco’s extensive relationships in the complex IoT and edge computing ecosystem—as well as their expertise in shepherding semiconductor chips from R&D to multibillion dollar product lines—will prove pivotal for Aspinity’s growth as the company introduces its products to market.

About Aspinity
Aspinity is the world leader in the design and development of analog processing chips that are revolutionizing the power- and data-efficiency of always-on sensing architectures. By delivering highly discriminating analog event detection, Aspinity’s ultra-low power, trainable and programmable analogML core eliminates the power penalty of moving irrelevant data through the digital processing system, dramatically extending battery life in consumer, IoT, industrial and biometric applications.

For more information on Aspinity, stay in touch on LinkedIn and Twitter: @aspinity, email: [email protected] or visit https://Aspinity.com.

Press Contacts:
Marcie Weinstein
Aspinity
Email: marcie[at]aspinity.com

Maria Vetrano
Vetrano Communications
Email: maria[at]vetrano.com

• Read more about Aspinity Expands Executive Team and Board of Directors in Go-to-Market Drive for AnalogML

MRSI Systems (Mycronic Group) will exhibit at the 23rd China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE) at the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center from September 1-3, 2021. MRSI will be conducting live product demos of the MRSI-HVM die bonder with conveyor at MRSI’s booth #14B79. MRSI will also present at the Infostone Optical Communication Market and Technology Conference (IFOC).

The MRSI-HVM with a conveyor is designed specifically for tray-based applications such as die attach, passive UV lens attach, and in-situ UV curing. It is proven for its’ speed, zero-time tool change between dies, and About MRSI Systems
MRSI Systems (Mycronic Group) is the leading manufacturer of fully automated, high-speed, high-precision and flexible eutectic and epoxy die bonding systems. We offer solutions for research and development, low-to-medium volume production, and high-volume manufacturing of photonic devices such as lasers, detectors, modulators, AOCs, WDM/EML TO-Cans, Optical transceivers, LiDAR, VR/AR, sensors, and optical imaging products. With 30+ years of industry experience and our worldwide local technical support team, we provide the most effective systems and assembly solutions for all packaging levels including chip-on-wafer (CoW), chip-on-carrier (CoC), PCB, and gold-box packaging. For more information visit www.mrsisystems.com

About Mycronic
Mycronic is a Swedish high-tech company engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of production equipment with high precision and flexibility requirements for the electronics industry. Mycronic’s headquarters are located in Täby, north of Stockholm and the Group has subsidiaries in China, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, United Kingdom and the United States. Mycronic is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. www.mycronic.com

• Read more about MRSI opens a new Product Demo Center in China, will present at the Infostone Conference and attend CIOE with live demos

FREMONT, Calif. – Aug 9, 2021 – YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.), a leading manufacturer of process equipment for semiconductor advanced packaging, life sciences and “More-than-Moore” applications, today announced its first shipment of the VertaCure™ XP vacuum curing system to a China-based OSAT customer. The system will support high volume manufacturing of flip chip and wafer-level packaging (WLP) applications. Multiple repeat orders are expected from this customer for delivery in 2022.

During the evaluation process, the OSAT was able to validate the VertaCure XP’s technical superiority over competing options – 5x less outgassing, 25-30% process time reduction and significant CoO (cost of ownership) improvement – for a variety of polyimides including the Hitachi Dupont HD-4100 series, Asahi BM-300 and BL-301, Fujifilm, and more. In addition, the VertaCure XP's vacuum technology provided excellent particle performance and allowed for a wider range of processes with which to create new applications.

“OSATs are increasingly critical to the supply chain as advanced packaging technology requirements evolve,” explained Alex Chow, Asia Sales President & General Manager at YES. “This major win further confirms YES’s ability to support OSATs globally with the operational flexibility, technology leadership and high economic value that they require. We look forward to helping these key customers create innovative solutions for the vibrant semiconductor market.”

“Advanced packaging is a fundamental building block for innovation in the semiconductor industry. YES's leadership position is based on providing superior on-wafer results coupled with low cost-of-ownership. This order solidifies YES's growing role as a trusted global partner in the production of leading-edge technologies,” said Rezwan Lateef, President of YES.

About YES
YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.) is a preferred provider of high-tech, cost-effective equipment for transforming surfaces, materials and interfaces. The company’s product lines include vacuum cure ovens, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems, and plasma etching tools used for precise surface modification and thin-film coating of semiconductor wafers, semiconductor and MEMS devices, and biodevices. With YES, customers ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies can create and volume-produce products in a wide range of markets, including Advanced Packaging, MEMS, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and Life Sciences. YES is headquartered in Fremont, California, with a growing global presence. For more information, please visit www.yieldengineering.com.

• Read more about YES Delivers First VertaCure™ XP to Leading Chinese OSAT Customer

WILMINGTON, Mass., Aug. 3, 2021 -- Energetiq Technology, a world leader in high brightness broadband light sources, is celebrating the launch of the Chromatiq Spectral Engine (CSE™).

The CSE allows users to emulate real-world lighting conditions, combine spectra from multiple sources, and create unique, dynamic spectra to fulfill demanding applications. It offers unparalleled spectral match accuracy, spectral resolution, and repeatability across an unmatched dynamic range. The CSE has been developed with automated calibration workflows in mind and easily integrates into any optical test protocols.

“Designing the CSE around Energetiq’s unique Laser-Driven Light Source (LDLS™) and applying an innovative, proprietary optical architecture, results in a product with robust spectral stability and a combination of throughput, resolution, and dynamic range unmatched in the market,” says Don McDaniel, Ph.D., VP of Research & Development. “We are providing our customers the ability to emulate near-infinite combinations of light sources ranging from incandescent to highly structured light sources such as CFLs with extremely fast switching necessary to support high-throughput testing."

Target applications:
Calibration and test of ambient light sensors
Cameras/image sensors/CMOS
Colorimetry instrument calibration
Light sources for spectroscopy
Any application where the ability to generate a custom spectrum is important

Energetiq will present the Chromatiq Spectral Engine at the SPIE Optics + Photonics taking place August 3-5, 2021. For more information, visit www.energetiq.com/chromatiq.

About Energetiq Technology, Inc.
Energetiq, a Hamamatsu subsidiary, introduces breakthrough products using patented, ultra-bright Laser-Driven Light Source (LDLS™) and Electrodeless Z-Pinch™ EUV technologies. These sources are used in a variety of markets, primarily in high-end semiconductor manufacturing, sensor testing for mobile devices, academic research and in a variety of drug discovery and medical applications. For more information visit www.energetiq.com.

• Read more about Create unique, dynamic spectra with the Chromatiq Spectral Engine™, the newest innovation from Energetiq Technology

YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.), a leading manufacturer of process equipment for semiconductor advanced packaging, life sciences and “More-than-Moore” applications, today announced that one of its customers has been awarded a multimillion-dollar contract by the US’s National Institutes of Health to manufacture a new COVID testing device for mass distribution. The award was made possible through the NIH’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADxSM) initiative.

Key to the customer’s product is an innovative technology that enables instant-read accuracy rivalling that of conventional PCR testing, which can require a day or more to provide results. Scaling this promising new device to high production volumes will leverage the capabilities of YES’s EcoCoat™ HVM molecular vapor deposition system.

The YES EcoCoat HVM system and manufacturing process applies a highly uniform surface-transforming film coating to the customer’s devices. This molecular monolayer coating provides a functional interface between the device surface and COVID-specific biomolecular recognition elements applied later in manufacturing. The high-capacity vapor phase coating system and automated substrate load/unload capabilities provide throughput enabling millions of individual detection devices per month.

“YES is honored that our process equipment was chosen to help get this novel diagnostic technology into the hands of millions of people, as the worldwide battle against COVID-19 continues,” said Rezwan Lateef, President of YES.

About YES
YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.) is a preferred provider of high-tech, cost-effective equipment for transforming surfaces, materials and interfaces. The company’s product lines include vacuum cure systems, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems, and plasma etching tools used for precise surface modification and thin-film coating of semiconductor wafers, semiconductor and MEMS devices, biosensors and medical substrates. With YES, customers ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies can create and volume-produce products in a wide range of markets, including Advanced Packaging, MEMS, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and Life Sciences. YES is headquartered in Fremont, California, with a growing presence globally. For more information, please visit http://www.yieldengineering.com.

• Read more about YES EcoCoat™ HVM to Help Customer Fulfill Large NIH Contract for Rapid COVID Antibody Testing Devices

Don Foldenauer Joins YES as Vice President of Operations

FREMONT, Calif. – July 19, 2021 — YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.), a leading manufacturer of process equipment for semiconductor advanced packaging, life sciences and “More-than-Moore” applications, today announced that Don Foldenauer is the company’s new VP of Operations.

“I am very pleased to welcome Don to our executive staff,” said Vinod Mahendroo, Senior VP of Operations at YES. “I expect that his extensive industry experience and proven track record of building and managing high-functioning teams will be considerable assets to YES as we continue our rapid growth and transition to a world-class, global manufacturer.”

Mr. Foldenauer began his career as a design engineer of semiconductor manufacturing equipment systems and has been awarded multiple patents. He spent more than 15 years in Field Operations management at Applied Materials and KLA-Tencor. His resumé also includes over 15 years in Manufacturing Operations management at Applied Materials, followed by VP of Operations roles at three contract manufacturers: Jabil, Celestica, and Ultra Clean Technology. In addition to holding bachelor’s degrees in electronic engineering and business management, and an MBA from San Jose State University, he is a regular guest lecturer at Stanford University on the topics of photovoltaics and semiconductor manufacturing.

About YES
YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.) is a preferred provider of high-tech, cost-effective equipment for transforming surfaces, materials and interfaces. The company’s product lines include vacuum cure systems, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems, and plasma etching tools used for precise surface modification and thin-film coating of semiconductor wafers, semiconductor and MEMS devices, biosensors and medical substrates. With YES, customers ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies can create and volume-produce products in a wide range of markets, including Advanced Packaging, MEMS, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and Life Sciences. YES is headquartered in Fremont, California, with a growing presence globally. For more information, please visit www.yieldengineering.com.

• Read more about Don Foldenauer Joins YES as Vice President of Operations

ESPOO, Finland, 28th of July 2021 – Picosun Group delivers cutting-edge Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technology to ams OSRAM for volume manufacturing of optical semiconductor devices.

ams OSRAM has invested in a fully automated PICOSUN® Morpher production cluster, which can deposit multiple materials on a batch of wafers even during the same process run. The flexibility and process variety of the PICOSUN® Morpher system is a key advantage, which enables volume production as well as the testing of new processes for R&D of future products.

Picosun Group and ams OSRAM have collaborated in a public funded project FLINGO (m-era.net project) to develop new ALD materials and processes to improve the characteristics of LEDs, such as efficiency and durability. The collaboration between the parties will continue after the ALD system delivery with activities to further expand the use of ALD in optoelectronic semiconductor processing.

“We have been working with Picosun since 2010 and now with this investment we can bring our collaboration to the next level. We are very excited to have the PICOSUN™ Morpher F cluster platform installed in our cleanroom”, states Dr. Sebastian Taeger, at ams OSRAM.

“The optical semiconductor market is one focus area of Picosun today. It is a fast-growing market where we have a strong presence with our tailored solutions for compound semiconductor-based devices. We have had excellent collaboration with the ams OSRAM technical team during project FLINGO and during the system specification stage. The expertise from both companies has resulted in optimized ALD solutions to boost the performance of the customer’s products.”, continues Dr. Christoph Hossbach, General Manager of Picosun Europe GmbH.

More information:
Dr. Christoph Hossbach, General Manager, Picosun Europe GmbH
Tel. +49 1522 449 49 11
Email: [email protected]
www.picosun.com

Picosun provides the most advanced AGILE ALD® (Atomic Layer Deposition) thin film coating solutions for global industries. Picosun’s ALD solutions enable technological leap into the future, with turn-key production processes and unmatched, pioneering expertise in the field – dating back to the invention of the technology itself. Today, PICOSUN® ALD equipment are in daily manufacturing use in numerous leading industries around the world. Picosun is based in Finland, with subsidiaries in Germany, USA, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, China mainland and Taiwan, offices in India and France, and a world-wide sales and support network. Visit www.picosun.com.

About ams OSRAM
The ams-OSRAM Group, including the listed companies ams AG as parent company and OSRAM Licht AG, is a global leader in optical solutions. By adding intelligence to light and passion to innovation, we enrich people’s lives. This is what we mean by Sensing is Life.

With over 110 years of combined history, our core is defined by imagination, deep engineering expertise and the ability to provide global industrial capacity in sensor and light technologies. We create exciting innovations that enable our customers in the consumer, automotive, healthcare and industrial sectors maintain their competitive edge. We thereby drive innovation that meaningfully improves the quality of life in terms of health, safety and convenience, while reducing impact on the environment.
Our around 30,000 employees worldwide focus on innovation across sensing, illumination and visualization to make journeys safer, medical diagnosis more accurate and daily moments in communication a richer experience. Our work creates technology for breakthrough applications, which is reflected in over 15,000 patents granted and applied. Headquartered in Premstaetten/Graz (Austria) with a co-headquarter in Munich (Germany), the group achieved well over USD 5 billion combined revenues in 2020 (pro-forma).

ams AG is a listed company on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ISIN: AT0000A18XM4). OSRAM Licht AG remains a listed company on the XETRA market in Germany (ISIN: DE000LED4000).

To find out more about us on https://ams-osram.com

ams is a registered trademark of ams AG. In addition many of our products and services are registered or filed trademarks of ams Group. All other company or product names mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice.
Join ams social media channels: >Twitter >LinkedIn >Facebook >YouTube
Join OSRAM social media channels: >Twitter >LinkedIn >Facebook >YouTube

Please note: The ams brand is owned by ams AG, the OSRAM brand is owned by OSRAM GmbH. ams group and OSRAM group are in the process of integration. The combination of the ams and OSRAM brand is not representing a new brand. This is a visual symbol of the two companies coming together, representing the aspiration of our future joined group.

• Read more about Picosun delivers ALD technology to ams OSRAM

ClassOne Technology (classone.com), global provider of advanced semiconductor electroplating and surface preparation systems, announced that it has received multiple tool orders from one of the world’s largest RF device manufacturers. The orders are for Solstice® S8 systems and include the proprietary GoldPro™ processing chamber for advanced gold plating applications. The announcement was made by ClassOne’s VP Product and Technology, John Ghekiere, and CEO, Byron Exarcos.

"The new Solstice S8s are being used to produce advanced BAW filters for leading-edge 5G communications products,” said Ghekiere. “This customer supplies innovative RF solutions to all the major smart phone manufacturers, so they demand maximum performance for these devices. In particular, they were interested in our GoldPro electroplating chamber for their advanced cyanide gold processes.”

“Our customer is extremely pleased with the Solstice’s process performance, especially its within-feature and wafer-to-wafer uniformity,” said Exarcos. “Plus, they like how quickly it gets them to full production levels. We won this business for several key reasons – electroplating performance, price/performance, CoO, and, very importantly, our level of customer responsiveness and support.”

ClassOne’s Solstice S8 is an eight-chambered, fully-automated single-wafer production tool that delivers high-performance electroplating – as well as wafer surface preparation for a range of processes, including cleaning, metal lift-off, resist strip, UBM etch and more. The Solstice series also includes the fully-automated S4 with up to four processing chambers and the semi-automated Solstice LT with up to three chambers for process development and lower-volume production. The Solstice platform’s unique flexibility, enabling both plating and surface prep processes on the same tool, can serve to streamline production and optimize ROI.

In addition to advanced production equipment, customers depend on ClassOne for a deep level of semiconductor process experience and technical support which can significantly shorten their time from start-up to production. For example, ClassOne routinely provides pre-production sampling through the company’s central Technical Development Center. ClassOne has become known for this combination of world-class technology and customer support around the globe.
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About ClassOne Technology
ClassOne Technology (classone.com) has become the semiconductor industry’s leading provider of advanced wet-chemical wafer processing equipment for ≤200mm wafers. ClassOne’s popular Solstice® plating and surface preparation systems include the S8 with up to eight chambers and the S4 with up to four chambers for high-speed fully-automated single-wafer production. The Solstice LT provides up to three chambers for process development or lower-volume production. Complementing the Solstice platform, ClassOne has developed a series of proprietary chambers, including the GoldPro™ and CopperMax™, to uniquely optimize specific processes. In addition, ClassOne offers the Trident™ product lines of advanced batch-processing spin-rinse-dryers and spray solvent tools. Headquartered in Kalispell, MT, the company has successfully brought new high-performance processing technology to compound semiconductor and many emerging markets that have long been underserved by the older equipment manufacturers. Hundreds of ClassOne tools are now at work in leading fabs and research facilities around the world, producing many of the most advanced devices, from microLEDs and VCSELs to next-generation RF and sensors.

• Read more about Leading RF Manufacturer Orders Multiple Solstice Plating Systems for 5G Devices

YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.), a leading manufacturer of process equipment for semiconductor advanced packaging, life sciences, and “More-than-Moore” applications, today announced that Prabhat Mishra will be the company’s new Vice President of Finance.

“Prabhat joined the company in August of 2019 as our Head of Finance,” said Ramakanth Alapati, CEO of YES. “Over the past two years, his efforts have been instrumental in helping us manage our rapid trajectory from small-scale manufacturer to preferred supplier for the world’s largest technology companies.”

Prior to joining YES, Mr. Mishra was Senior Director of Finance at Macom and Applied Micro, managing the Financial Planning and Analysis function of the company. Before that, he spent 10 years as a finance leader at Intel Corporation, supporting the Mobile Products Group, the Software & Services Group and the Technology & Manufacturing Group. He started his career as an engineer and was an engineering manager at STMicroelectronics, Sun Microsystems and Intel.

Mr. Mishra holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, an MBA from Arizona State University, and Certification in Accounting from University of California, Berkeley.

About YES
YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.) is a preferred provider of high-tech, cost-effective equipment for transforming surfaces, materials and interfaces. The company’s product lines include vacuum cure systems, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems, and plasma etching tools used for precise surface modification and thin-film coating of semiconductor wafers, semiconductor and MEMS devices, biosensors and medical substrates. With YES, customers ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies can create and volume-produce products in a wide range of markets, including Advanced Packaging, MEMS, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and Life Sciences. YES is headquartered in Fremont, California, with a growing presence globally. For more information, please visit http://www.yieldengineering.com.

• Read more about Prabhat Mishra Promoted to Vice President of Finance at YES