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Repurposed Oudenaarde fab to become GaN epicenterLeveraging gallium nitride research from Imec and decades of experience in power semiconductor R&D and manufacturing, Onsemi carve-out Belgan in Oudenaarde is looking to become the beating heart of Europe’s “GaN valley.” |
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Forget AI, start with data scienceAre artificial intelligence and machine learning hypes? Consultants and specialists promise you the world, but in the day-to-day life on the factory floor, those predictions rarely pan out. Omron’s Tim Foreman has experienced hands-on where things go wrong and now knows how to do it right. |
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First Liteq deliveries in increasingly competitive back-end litho marketKulicke & Soffa has shipped its first Liteq systems for back-end lithography. One to an Asian customer, the other one was delivered to I3 Microsystems, a US-based high-performance microsystem supplier. |
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The EU’s Chips Act is a huge disappointmentFor two years we’ve been hearing about how the EU is going to be a major player in the semiconductor industry again, only to find out that the financial backing of the plans falls woefully short. |
In other news |
| René Penning de Vries new chairman of the Novio Tech Campus board (press release) |
| ASMI finishes strong year with record high orders (press release) |
| Besi reports strong results despite strong headwinds (press release) |
| Eurocell to build battery ‘gigafactory’ in Europe (Electrive) |
| Electric flying cars are just dirty old helicopters, rebranded (Bloomberg) |
| Virgin Hyperloop to focus on cargo, not people (BBC) |
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Good managers don’t always answer questions straight awayWaiting to get more context before answering a question is harder than it seems, finds Hans Odenthal. |
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Platform lesson #9: Be careful to open up to third partiesAlthough many platforms benefit from opening up, it’s important to be careful and strategic. Grow your customer base to a sufficient size first before experimenting with different approaches to opening up and only then hitting the accelerator. |