SAN JOSE, USA: SEMICON West, North America's largest event dedicated to the global semiconductor, PV and microelectronics manufacturing supply chains, will return to the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, July 15-17, co-locating with Intersolar North America, the inaugural solar energy and PV technology event.

Focusing on three main themes—"Semiconductors in Transition," "The Mobile Electronics Revolution," and "Integration of Design/Production/Test" — SEMICON West 2008 will feature the most comprehensive program to date, bringing together companies from all parts of the industry.

Presentations at this year's exposition will focus on topics that are changing the face of advanced manufacturing for 32 and 22 nm processes, Design for Manufacturing (DFM), advanced packaging, etc. The following executives will be delivering keynotes at SEMICON West:

* Yukio Sakamoto, president, representative director and CEO of Elpida Memory
* Bernie Meyerson, vice president for Strategic Alliances, CTO and IBM fellow, IBM Systems and Technology Group
* Gadi Singer, vice president, Mobility Group and general manager of the System-on-Chip Enabling Group at Intel
* Grant Seiffert, president of the Telecommunications Industry Association
* Jim Miller, executive vice president, Products and Technologies Organization at Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

"Unprecedented levels of innovation in the semiconductor industry make SEMICON West absolutely critical for companies in packaging, test, wafer processing, and lithography," said Victoria Hadfield, president of SEMI North America. "Couple this with a wide range of new photovoltaic technologies, and numerous sessions focusing on industry challenges, opportunities and innovations, and you have the most comprehensive event of its kind in North America."

In addition to the existing events, a number of new program offerings take place at SEMICON West 2008. Highlights include: the SEMICON West Packaging Summit focusing on Through Silicon Via (TSV) technology; a panel focusing on the transition to 450mm wafer transition, and the ITRS Summer public conference; and the SEMI/Gartner Market Symposium. A forum entitled "How to Breath Life into New Fabs" will address both fab productivity and fab life-cycle transition opportunities, including secondary equipment markets, factory automation strategies, fab agility, and MEMs manufacturing.

The TechXPOT (Tech Spot) concept returns for the third year with Emerging Markets; Test, Assembly and Packaging; and Device Scaling TechXPOTS. The TechXPOTS will address critical issues in semiconductor manufacturing today such as advanced processes and materials for 32 nm and 22 nm nodes, lithography at 22 nm, high density packaging, functional test challenges, and yield management. New and emerging markets and technologies will address solid state lighting, nano fuel cells and energy harvesting, and printed/flexible electronics.

Also new this year, SEMICON, in agreement with Intersolar organizers Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co (FWTM) and Solar Promotion GmbH will debut Intersolar North America. The new exposition will be the largest trade event serving the full solar energy supply chain in the United States, and will be held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on July 15-17, 2008, in conjunction with SEMICON WEST.

SEMICON West 2008 will feature about 1,200 exhibiting companies, representing 23 countries, and is the largest and most influential event of its kind in North America.