The
Flexible Display Center at ASU
The FDC, which received a $43.7 million five-year
contract from the U.S. Army to develop flexible technology, has come a
long way since its informal opening one year earlier.
Over 300 military
personnel, technology companies and community leaders attended the grand
opening of the Flexible Display Center on February 4, 2005 at the ASU
Research Park. The theme was
the urgent need for flexible displays and the development of this ground
breaking technology to benefit the soldier. Within its first year, the Center has already established a fully
operational 6-inch thin film transistors (TFT)pilot line and full R&D
laboratory able to transition to larger displays, which is the goal in two
years. The eventual goal is
the creation of truly flexible
display devices that are capable of withstanding repeated flexing and
implemented in a wide variety of applications.
The building in which the
Center is housed, recently christened the MacroTechnology Works Building
at the ASU Research Park, also has two new tenants, EV Group and Ito,
which are members of the FDC partnership. EV Group, an Austrian based company, has set up its North American
headquarters at the center and will supply tools that will be used to make
the prototype screens and technology for the bonding and debonding
process. Ito America
Corporation is a technical import/export consulting firm that specializes
in the information display, medical device and flipchip semiconductor
packaging industries.
Other members of the
consortium include: Center for Applied NanoBiosciences, E Ink Corporation,
General Dynamics, Honeywell International, Kent Displays Incorporated,
United States Display Consortium, and Universal Display Corporation.
ASU
Research Park teams with Technopolis for Sneaker Tour
On April 8th over 50 guests joined the
Research Park and Technopolis to hear presentations and tour three of the
Research Park's technology tenants.
Attendees met for morning
networking and breakfast and received an overview of the ASU Research Park
and its tenants, existing space and available ground lease sites from the
Park’s Executive Director, Michele Pino. Terree Wasley, the co-host of the event from Technopolis, presented
an overview of their programs and benefits to start ups, and
entrepreneurs.
The technology portion of
the tour began with Greg Raupp, the Director of the Flexible Display
Center at ASU, who discussed the concept behind the MacroTechnology Works
building and the partnership between the technology tenants and then
toured the guests through the 275,000 square foot facility (see article on
FDC above). Attendees then
“sneakered” across the Park to visit two of the Park’s growing
technology companies, Phoenix Analysis and Design Technologies (PADT) and
CMC Interconnect Technologies (CMC).
PADT is a 50 person
engineering firm that designs, fabricates, and tests electromechanical
systems for customers in the aerospace, medical, semiconductor, thin film
technology, energy and consumer product fields. Guests on the tour were able to see injection molds using tooling
created in less than a week, and lasers creating parts impossible to make
with human hands. In
addition, guests viewed a prototype assembly line of hydrogen and air
handling equipment for fuel cell cars and clean room facilities for
assembly of semiconductor and surgical equipment. For more information on
PADT, their website address is www.padtinc.com.
CMC is a company
specializing in analytical testing, failure analysis, reliability testing,
thermal/electrical characterization and technical consulting. Their testing capabilities include: SEM/EDS, thermal/electrical
measurements, mechanical testing and thermal/environmental stress
evaluations. CMC’s material
experience includes organics, plastics, ceramics, metals and related
plating and interconnection. For
more information on CMC, their website address is www.cmcinterconnect.com.
“We frequently hold
seminars at the Park”, said Michele Pino, Executive Director of ASU
Research Park, “because when people visit the park they see first hand
what a attractive environment it provides for technology collaboration and
work. It sells itself”.
ASU Research Park Board Elects
New President
Chuck Backus, most recently vice president and provost
of Arizona State University’s East campus, has been elected president of
the board of directors of the ASU Research Park in Tempe. He succeeds Jack
Pfister, who retired after 12 years as board president.
Backus’ career at ASU has been
significant. A former
Associate Dean for Research in the Engineering
College at the Tempe campus, he was responsible for the development of
ASU’s East campus from its inception to its current period of dramatic
physical and programmatic growth. The campus enrollment has grown from
1,106 in 1996 to more than 4,000 today, and the number of academic
programs has grown from 8 to 24.
Backus holds a
master’s and doctoral degrees in nuclear engineering, and has focused
his research on solar energy. He is one of the founders of the
photovoltaic field and has published more than 90 articles and books on
solar energy.
Backus was
also involved in the ASU Research Park’s inception in the College of
Engineering, overseeing the Park when it was an experimental farm. “In
1979, the
regents told ASU to get out of production agriculture and to dismantle the
farm. We made the decision to
convert it to a Research Park to complement the university. It is an honor to be asked to serve as the new President of the
Board over twenty years later. It feels like “coming home.”
Pfister, a native Arizonan, served as
General Manager of the Salt River Project during a period of significant
growth. He was on the faculty of the ASU School of Public Affairs for 11
years and did special projects for President Lattie F. Coor. In his final
year at ASU, he was the Vice President of Institutional Advancement. During
his watch, the Park gained financial solvency and economic success.
"I am pleased to turn over the Park Presidency to Dr. Backus at a
time when the Park is on a solid footing," said Pfister.
ASU President Michael Crow says Backus will
provide the knowledge and leadership to augment the Park’s efforts in
fostering sustained social advancement and economic growth through
research.
“It is necessary to balance the need for
continuing fundamental discovery with a research agenda focused on
addressing actual and immediate problems,” he says. “Chuck Backus
recognizes this need and the Park’s potential to generate more research
and development partnerships toward meeting societal needs.”
324-acre ASU Research Park, set along the Science and Technology Freeway
Corridor, is home to more than 30 research and development companies, and
corporate and regional headquarters, and more than 3,000 employees. There
are 1.6 million square feet of existing facilities on 181 acres, with 58
acres of land remaining available for lease.
Oversight of the Park is provided by a 16-member board composed of community leaders, deans from various ASU
academic disciplines and senior ASU administration.
ASU
Cycling Club holds Sun Devil Criterium Race
Over 250 cyclists gathered at
the Park on Sunday, February 27 to compete throughout the day in
eleven different categories. The
course was held at the north end of the Park on River Parkway and Research
Drive.
John
Menard, former President of ASU Cycling Club, said, “The Park was a perfect
location for our first annual race. After the race, the attendees were able to enjoy the
amenities of the Park such as relaxing near the lake. We were really impressed with the turnout. ”
The
ASU Cycling Club is a student run organization devoted to furthering the
development of the cyclist, both competitive and non-competitive. They are
committed to developing the individual, on and off the bike; as cyclists
and student leaders. It is their goal to positively impact ASU, Tempe, and
the cycling community. For
more information, please visit their website at www.asucyling.com
For more information contact
Park office at 480-752-1000
