Product category: Design Services
News Release from: Qinetiq
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 21 March 2006
Programme aims to
cut costs of microsystems
A new three year programme funded by the European Commission aims to reduce the costs and risks associated with designing, prototyping and manufacturing integrated microsystems
Known as Integramplus, this new Framework 6 integrated project will be co-ordinated by the UK's Qinetiq and draw on the complementary expertise and facilities of ten partners from seven different European countries. The application of microsystems in emerging markets, such as biomedical and healthcare, environmental and security monitoring, and communications, requires increasingly complex levels of integrated functions.
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 21 March 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Japanese alliance to spread GPS applications
Portable electronic devices such as mobile phones could soon incorporate Qinetiq's award-winning GPS technology following the signing of an agreement with C and N, based in Tokyo, Japan
DTI and MoD fund printed circuit research
Qinetiq is researching the potential for printing complete electronic circuits, including transistors, resistors and capacitors, with separate backing from both the DTI and the MoD
Future products are likely to require a combination of fluidic, optical, mechanical, electrical and biological functions, and no system based on a single material technology (ie silicon, polymer or glass) can provide this complexity in a cost-effective way.
Integramplus will adopt a multi-technology, multi-domain approach, with a focus on integrating silicon-based MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) components, which provide smart functionality, with polymer backplanes and platforms which provide additional functions, packaging and interfacing to the macro-world.
Three proof-of-concept demonstrator components will be developed and will include a biodiagnostics sensor based on customer requirements to be determined as part of an extensive survey of end users in the healthcare market.
Integramplus builds on the successful Europractice project, Integram, also led by Qinetiq, which focused on silicon sensors and electronics.
The ultimate goal of Integramplus is to stimulate take-up of micro- and nanotechnologies (MNTs) by end users by providing flexible design and prototyping services, based on standardised modules, with a route to manufacture for highly integrated microsystems.
Further reading
GBP 300,000 defence contract signed
A GBP 300,000 contract will allow Plextek to research an MoD proposal for technology which will allow improved communications between military vehicles and convoys
PCB design bureau expands DFM checking
Freedom CAD has standardised on Valor Enterprise 3000 to perform over 700 design for manufacturability verification checks on every design
Alliance to accelerate product development
Fluffy Spider Technologies and Bayly Design Associates will work together on product development services for global OEMs
At present the take-up of novel integrated products is not maximised because many SMEs and industrial players do not have access to production facilities with sufficient expertise in multiple technologies or the ability to take technology from the design process to manufacture.
Integramplus, with its unique combination of pan-European capabilities and supported by an extensive network of supply chain partners, aims to provide European industry with a world-leading facility to stimulate take-up and accelerate time to market of smart mixed-technology components and products.
'Design for manufacturing' principles, based on state-of-the-art simulation tools, will be used to reduce risk via virtual manufacturing design studies.
Welcoming the launch of Integramplus, Marcel Hugen, Project Officer for the European Commission, sponsor of the programme, said: 'Micro- and nanotechnologies are increasingly being exploited across a wide range of markets with many European companies and institutes demonstrating world-class capabilities'.
'Integramplus will be a flagship Service Project of the EC, combining the expertise of its partners for the benefit of European industry, from design and proof of concept, to manufacturing and system integration'.
'This will ensure the continuation of the well known Europractice Initiative in the domain of micro- and nanosystems'.
Qinetiq's Dr Chris Pickering, the Integramplus Co-ordinator, said: 'The demand for increasingly complex microsystems requires a combination of technical expertise that is best delivered by pulling together talent from across Europe'.
'I believe that this group of partners, together with the extensive network of supply chain associates, is a powerful consortium able to minimise risk and cost of entry to development of novel MNT-based products'.
'I am delighted that Qinetiq will play a central role in this important programme and look forward to working with partners and customers towards the shared goal of fully exploiting the benefits of microtechnologies across a broad range of markets'.
In addition to Qinetiq, the Integramplus consortium comprises: Coventor (France), CSEM (Switzerland); Epigem (UK); IMM (Germany); IMT (Romania); ITE (Poland); Silex Microsystems (Sweden); University of Lancaster (UK); and Yole Developpement (France).
• Qinetiq: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• NEW
• Electronicstalk Home Page
Related Business News
Vista Partners Updates Coverage on TXP...
...Corporation; Maintains $0.80 Price Target. Vista Partners announced today that it has update coverage on TXP Corporation . Vista Partners provides equity research to institutional and individual investors, with a focus on publicly traded small capitalization companies.
John Eargle, 76; award-winning audio engineer
John Eargle, an award-winning audio engineer who wrote technical books on sound recording and worked as a consultant for electroacoustical product development, was found dead May 9 at his home in the Hollywood Hills. He was 76.
Eurocopter looks back at the Bo108...
...- predecessor of the EC135. May 2007 - Today a best seller among the Eurocopter range, the EC135 has established itself as a leader on the light twin market, with operations spanning from emergency medical services to corporate transport , offshore, police missions and military ope
Buses boost follows complaints
A £24m public transport interchange opens in Barnsley this weekend as part of a long-term strategy to reverse the decline in bus passenger numbers in South Yorkshire. (17/05/2007 08:39:28)
Arts Council to hold grants review...
...in Beaver Bay April 21, public invited. The Arrowhead Regional Arts Council will review applications to its Rural and Community Art Grant program at its board meeting, Saturday, April 21, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Beaver Bay Community Center located at 711 Macdonald Ave. in Beaver Bay.
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
