Latest TRP picks skewed toward assembly & packaging

Electronic News, Oct 31, 1994 by Jim DeTar

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.--The Department of Defense last week disclosed that another 39 proposals, out of more than 230 submitted, were selected for negotiations and funding under the 1994 fiscal year Technology Reinvestment Project (TRP). The electronics projects selected by DoD involve flip chip assemblies and other packaging concepts, flat panel displays (FPDs), infrared (IR) sensors and printed wiring boards (PWBs), plus there were winning software proposals on data communications protocols and reusable object-based programming.

Some 224 companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, National Semiconductor and Hughes Microelectronics--along with universities, and state and local government organizations--will receive $202.2 million in government funding and all funding will be at least matched by participants. Final funding negotiations between the DoD and project winners began immediately.

The disclosures were made by the new Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology, Paul Kaminski, at the 17th Annual Systems & Technology Symposium, here. He was sworn in to his new position at the Pentagon on Oct. 3 and is responsible for all matters relating to DoD acquisition.

The projects were chosen to create new "dual-use" technologies with both military and commercial applications, and help deploy technology and best practices to small manufacturing firms. Of the selections, 30 are for technology development and nine are for manufacturing extension centers. The awards bring to $820 million the total amount of federal matching funds awarded under the TRP. President Clinton unveiled the TRP as part of his defense reinvestment initiative in March 1993.

The Administration also recently announced the start of a third TRP competition, which is expected to award an additional $415 million in matching federal funds. This new competition will seek proposals in 13 technology development areas ($250 million available) and manufacturing education and training efforts ($30 million available). Approximately $20 million has been allocated for Small Business Innovation Research proposals.

Included among the last week's winners were the following companies and projects:

* Hewlett-Packard of Palo Alto, Caif., and partners--which include Air Communications, Aptos Corp., Delco Electronics, Hughes Missile Systems, National Semiconductor and Sundisk--have the objective of developing technologies and capabilities necessary for the delivery of lowcost flip-chip assemblies. Flipchip assemblies are projected to replace wire banding as a predominant method of connecting to high performance, high pin-count ICs. The team will develop solder bumping capability, test and handling processes and hardware, substrates optimized for flip-chip interconnect and other technologies. Total projected cost of the two-year project is $20.5 million. TRP share was not immediately available.

* Planar Systems Inc. of Beaverton, Ore., thought to be the industry's largest manufacturer of electroluminescent (EL) FPDs, will lead a consortium chartered to improve thin-film EL technology suitable for head-mounted and miniature displays. DoD already relies heavily on EL displays, and military demand for them is expected to increase because of this technology's ruggedness, wide range of viewing angles and ability to operate in extreme temperatures. The TRP will fund about half of this two-year project, estimated to cost $29.2 million.

* Silicon Video Corp. of Cupertino, Calif. will undertake development of a 10-inch diagonal FPDs using high voltage field emission technology. Commercial suppliers will customize the display technology for cockpits and other defense purposes. This project is part of the larger initiative by the DoD to foster a domestic manufacturing capability in FPDs, with U.S. companies giving the military assured access to producers that can meet defense needs. Total estimated costs for this 18-month project are $67.2 million; TRP will contribute about a third.

* Texas Instruments of Dallas, Tex., will partner with Delco and others in an effort to develop uncooled IR sensors with widespread commercial and military uses. Cryogenically-cooled IR sensors are the basis for night-vision equipment. Although it is now in use, the high cost of these sensors has prohibited wider use by combat troops and police, and for drivers' aid. Total estimated costs for this two-year project are $25 million, with TRP contributing about half.

* Bellcore of Morristown, N.J., along with Tektronix and other partners, will attempt to create an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) testbed to develop tools, procedures and standards to promote interoperability among ATM products. This is one of five TRP projects designed to ensure that the "National Information Infrastructure" is based on open, nonproprietary standards in areas critical to DoD. Total costs for this two-year project are projected to be $12.7 million, and the TRP will fund about half.

* I-Kinetics Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. and its partners are planning to develop a package of reusable software components, or objects, using emerging industry standards for object-based software. DoD said it is the world's largest single consumer of software, most of which is customized. This project is one of three that the TRP is funding in object-based software. It is expected to radically reduce the time and cost to develop new software programs, and the resulting software will be dual-use. The project team plans to demonstrate its military application to a Naval Sea Systems Command management information system, and its commercial application to a Pratt & Whitney concurrent engineering program. Total calculated costs for this two-year project are $8 million, and the TRP share will be about half.