ABSTRACT

Chip fabrication requires multiple disciplines including the training of a Chemical Engineer. There are unit operations and unit processes, process design and optimization principles, factory architecture, as in conventional Chemical Engineering. Because of the unique application possibilities of Chemical Engineering fundamentals to chip processing, opportunities exist in developing process and equipment packages which in turn can lead to business ventures. This seminar presents the Chemical Engineering principles used in the manufacture of micro/nano electronic chips. A case study will be briefly described where an equipment patent is being turned into a business venture.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Gangadhara Mathad completed his undergraduate studies at UICT, India and received his M.S and Ph.D. in ChE from Kansas State University, USA. During 40+ years of his career, he has worked for Du Pont in the area of synthetic fibers, IBM for 30 years in semiconductor technology areas (chip packaging, furnace design, plasma reactors/processes, thin film deposition and metal interconnects), and Siemens/Infineon of Germany as technology transfer specialist to factories in Germany, Taiwan and UK. Dr. Mathad currently runs his own consulting business, Semiconductor Tech Consulting, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA. He is currently a partner in a start-up company to commercialize a low energy electron etching system. Dr. Mathad has been active in The Electrochemical Society, Inc. He has 19 patents to his credit and has presented/published several papers and three book chapters. A recipient of IBM corporate Invention and Achievement awards, he has been cited in New York Times Science Section for his work on Laser Etching and Who’s Who in Semiconductor Technology (1987). He has taught Plasma Technology courses at IBM, Polytechnic Inst. USA, and ISTC, Shanghai, China. He was an Exchange Professor of Chemistry at State University of New York, a technical mentor at MIT, Cornell University, University at Albany, NY, and University of Idaho. He has been a member of Technical Advisory Board of the French Vacuum Society (’87-’96), France; SEMI-CSTIC, China (‘’07-present); and Systine, Inc. USA (present).