U.S. unveils $30M-$40M packaging industry kitty

Electronic News, April 4, 1994 by Bernard Levine

WASHINGTON--A plan to provide $30 million to $40 million to improve the competitiveness of the U.S. electronic packaging industries was unveiled by the Clinton Administration in a report last week. Bolstering Sematech's packaging programs is also included among several key initiatives.

The report, which says the U.S. now lags in key packaging technologies, contains an action plan calling for a new Defense-led R&D program on low-cost electronic packaging to be usedin both military and commercial applications. Because the $30 million to $40 million program is cost-shared with industry, this should stimulate at least $60 million to $80 millioin in new technology investments, according to Defense Secretary William Perry and Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.

The interagency initiative is led by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (0RPA) and administered through the Technology Reinvestment Project (TRP). All packaging alternatives proposed by industry-led team committed to high-volume domestic manufacturing will be considered.

The report's action plan also says, "The Administration will establish an interagency specialists' group, chaired by DOD's ARPA, to work with industry to develop a set of national R&D priorities and a technical roadmap that will lead to U.S. leadership in electronic packaging...the government will work with the semiconductor industry to expand the Sematech consortium's electronic packaging programs to address a broader range of nearer term packaging priorities. The Administration will support the expansion of the supplier qualification program established by Sematech to adress all areas of electronic packaging critical to the semiconductor industry.

"The Administration will continue to support ongoing federal R&D programs that are maintaining U.S. leadership in high-performance packaging technologies as well as critical enablers such as design, test and reliability. It will also continue support for basic materials and process R&D which are essential for long-term technology leadership.

"The Administration will work with industry to eliminate any artificial barriers between the defense and commercial markets. This will assure that U.S. vendors have maximum access to the defense markets and R&D and will allow the DOD and other government customers to take advantage of the economies of scale and increased efficiency provided by the commercial market."

In response to a request from President Clinton in October,1993, an interagency working group was established to develop a national strategy and action plan that would help make the U.S. electronic packaging industry more competitive.

The interagency group, led by DOD and Commerce, included the Department of Energy, NASA, the U.S. Trade Rep. the office of Management and Budget, the Council of Economic Advisors, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Security Council, and the National Economic Council.

Defense Secretary Perry said last week, "Defense needs are best served by ensuring that the U.S. maintains a viable domestic electronics packaging industry." Commerce Secretary Brown noted, "This initiative is an important step in building the strategic alliance between government and industry that will enable U.S. leadership in technologies critical to U.S. competitiveness."

SIA President A.A. Procassini commented that, "The approach set forth in the Administration plan appears to be consistent with the National Semiconductor Roadmap and should complement the activities under way at Sematech."

The government action comes just days before next week's '94 International Conference and Exhibition on Multichip Modules in Denver, where cost tradeoffs between MCMs, are among key issues to be debated in a frenzy of technical papers.

With adoption of the technology slower than expected, many papers set for the conference offer suggestions to nudge MCMs into the industry mainstream. Many argue that MCMs are actually less expensive than they firsst appear, once total system cpsts are factored in.

The conference and exhibition, sponsored by ISHM, IEPS, EIA and IEEE, which also includes participation by SEMI and IPC, is set for Wednesday-Friday April 13-15 at Currigan Hall, Denver. Exhibit hours are Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.