ITC: From Austin to Santa Clara
Rick Nelson, Chief Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 12/21/2005 12:51:00 PM
From "survival" to "thriving"--those terms represent the journey test technology might follow over the next year as the International Test Conference itself moves on from the Austin, TX, site of the 2005 conference, the first ITC to be held west of the Mississippi River. Continuing its move westward, the 2006 ITC will be held October 22-27 in Santa Clara.
While "survival of the fittest" was the theme of the 2005 convention, the 2006 promises to focus on "getting more out of test."
As for survival, 2005 ITC keynoter John Kibarian, president & CEO of PDF Solutions described various challenges electronics manufacturers face as they compete in today's market. Chief among them, he said, is the torrid pace of new product development and production. Manufacturers took 10 years to produce the first million color TVs, he said during his November 8 address, whereas PlayStation 2 production tops 1 million units in two days.
To deal with the pressures of the high-volume production of high-quality products, he recommended partnerships among his company and the various other participants in the product development and production cycle. Such partnerships, he suggested, could help test and diagnostic methods evolve. Traditionally, he said, the yield-metrology function--involving "microscopes looking at wafers"--has been a zero-value-added step in IC production. To add value, he said such functions need to generate information that can contribute to an improved "learning rate," where manufacturers learn how to optimize their processes based on measured results. When you are producing 1000-die $4000 wafers in 60-nm technology and trying to ship 1 million parts per month, he said, a small change in learning rate can provide huge financial gains.
At a November 9 press conference, Anne Gattiker, 2005 program vice chair and 2006 program chair, commented on how the 2006 ITC will help attendees accelerate their yield-learning process. ITC 2006, she said, will emphasize how yield learning, volume diagnostics, failure analysis, design debug, design validation, and statistical and adaptive test techniques can contribute to getting more out of test.
ITC's move westward suggests a focus by its IEEE organizers to locate the show where a significant number of potential attendees live and work. According to Scott Davidson, 2005 general vice chair and 2006 general chair, the move to Austin from the 2004 Charlotte, NC, venue brought the opportunity for convenient participation by test professionals in the Austin area and for those who could combine ITC attendance with visits to Austin-based affiliates and customers.
Jill Sibert, exhibits chair, presented evidence that the westward moves are popular at least among exhibitors. The 2005 show, she said, included 73 exhibitors up 22% from 2004. That total includes 36 exhibitors who did not exhibit in 2004, 27 of whom had never exhibited at an ITC. She also reported that exhibit space is 70% filled for 2006.
Santa Clara should represent an even more attractive sweet spot for test engineers. The challenge, Davidson said, is to ensure that attendees don't slip off back to work. To meet that challenge, he said, the 2006 organizers are working to ensure there is "never a dull moment."
Read our Dec. 2005/Jan. 2006 print coverage of ITC.
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