CleanRooms articles from October 2006

CleanRooms archives from October 2006

They still don't get it.(Editorial)
October 1, 2006... Last June, I wrote an editorial entitled "Why doesn't the food industry get it?," in which I made the case that expecting the entirely voluntary application of modern contamination control standards and practices to ensure a safe food supply...

Contamination control challenges extend beyond fabs to toolmakers.(Deep Photonics)
October 1, 2006... It was after production units started shipping that the contamination problems cropped up, says Kimberly Subrahmanyan, engineering director for the semiconductor link processing group at Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (ESI; Portland, OR)....

Sealing manufacturer opens new facility in Shanghai.(news)(The Trelleborg Group)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... The Trelleborg Group, developer of high-performance sealing and damping solutions, recently inaugurated its newly constructed manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China. According to the company, the increased production capacity from this...

Laminate manufacturer upgrades Singapore facility.(news)(Isola Group)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Isola Group, SARL (Chandler, AZ; www.isola-group.com), a designer, developer and manufacturer of high-performance base materials for the printed circuit board industry, recently announced extensive upgrades to its Singapore manufacturing...

East meets west: CleanRooms China and Product Display 2006 sees high attendance.(news)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... The CleanRooms China Conference and Product Display 2006, organized by CleanRooms China magazine, took place September 20-21, 2006, at Shanghai's Riverfront Business Hotel. More than 250 attendees convened for the networking event, where the...

Microcontamination control company announces organizational changes.(news)(Particle Measuring Systems)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Particle Measuring Systems (PMS; www.pmeasuring.com), an industry leader in particle monitoring and microcontamination control, recently announced organizational changes to the company. Kristi Urquidi, a PMS employee for eight years, has...

New hybrid membrane technology.(news)(E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... DuPont has introduced its Hybrid Membrane Technology (HMT), a new offering for air and liquid filtration that is designed to fill the performance gap between traditional nonwovens and microporous films. The material comprises continuous...

New space for growing engineering firm.(PARTICLES)(Evergreen Engineering)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Evergreen Engineering (Eugene, OR; www.evergreenengineering.com), an engineering consulting firm serving industries such as bioscience, clean manufacturing, and semiconductor, has leased 8,133 square feet of office space in Hillsboro, OR, in...

FDA issues guidance for cGTP.(Food and Drug Administration)(current good tissue practices)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Following serious allegations of safety violations against two cell manufacturers, the FDA last month issued a guidance to industry aimed at reminding manufacturers of human cells, tissues, and cellular- and tissue-based products (HCT/Ps) of...

IEST WG-CC036: testing fan filter units; Working group aims to develop uniformity in FFU testing parameters and reporting data.(Fan filter units)(IEST Working Group)
October 1, 2006... Fan filter units (FFUs) are being used more frequently for air recirculation systems in cleanrooms and minienvironments. These units are usually easily installed and allow for control of local air cleanliness and/or air velocities within a...

Continued growth in 2007 for cleanroom products and services.
October 1, 2006... The world market for cleanroom consumables in 2007 will be over $5 billion, while the amount spent on new rooms will be $3.6 billion (see Table 1). Both of these sectors will represent growth over 2006 and records for the industry. The...

CleanRooms[R] Europe 2006.(conference preview)
October 1, 2006... October 24-27, 2006 * Brno Exhibition Center--Brno, Czech Republic CleanRooms Europe--A focal point for the contamination control industry Now in its 20th year of service, the CleanRooms family of international publications and trade...

CleanRooms[R] Puerto Rico, 2006.(conference preview)
October 1, 2006... November 7-9, 2006 * Wyndham Condado Hotel and Casino--San Juan, Puerto Rico CleanRooms Puerto Rico Bringing the latest contamination control developments to one of the world's largest bio/pharmaceutical manufacturing centers The...

Hospitals need to do more than "make us better": at a cost to the industry of more than $5 billion annually, hospital-acquired infections are responsible for at least 90,000 deaths each year.(Cover story)
October 1, 2006... Improving patient health and well-being is obviously the prime directive for any healthcare organization, but the dramatic rise in the rate of hospital-acquired infections means that hospitals often do the patient more harm than good....

Ionizer pin cleaning maintains performance: avoiding contaminant build-up is critical for controlling electrostatic charge.(ionizer performance)
October 1, 2006... Emitter electrodes in ionizing systems for electrostatic charge control will become contaminated with environmental residues over time and these residues will compromise performance by reducing ion density and by generating particles. This...

PAT, tougher standards push improved microbial air monitoring: increased attention to microbiological contamination forces a greater focus on air sampling technology.(Process Analytical Technology)
October 1, 2006... Improvements in environmental air monitoring technology are becoming increasingly important to the pharmaceutical industry. The latest ISO 14698 standards have served to underline the increased focus on air monitoring being shown by regulatory...

AC fan-driven cleanroom fan filter units benefit from TRIAC and network control: AC control options and networked solutions offer advantages and cost savings.(fan filter units)
October 1, 2006... Cleanrooms utilizing fan filter units (FFUs) have experienced rapid growth. Enabling this growth has been the flexibility to provide controls to clean environments, from minienvironments as small as workbenches to ballroom-sized clean spaces....

Defect analyzer.(inventor's corner)
October 1, 2006... Engineers need to analyze defects and other failures during microfabrication in order to troubleshoot, adjust, and improve microfabrication processes. Unfortunately, the defect characterization provided by conventional systems (e.g., optical...

Cost control for microelectronic, MEMS and nanotechnology facilities: understanding total costs early on is key to successful cost control.(cost control)
October 1, 2006... Managing the design, construction, and operations costs of microelectronics, MEMS, and nanotechnology facilities is never easy. But it is likelier to be achieved if all stakeholders--owner, user, operator, design team, and builder--understand...

Doors and pass-throughs: the transfer of product or equipment from one area to another presents a prime opportunity for a contamination event to occur. Doors and pass-throughs specifically designed for clean processing environments can help maintain necessary cleanliness levels.(product spotlight)
October 1, 2006... Pass-throughs and trolley hatches The PBSC pass-through chamber is used for passing product, equipment or even paperwork between sterile/clean areas and nonsterile/dirty areas. PBSC's use of innovative materials and construction techniques...

Stainless-steel pry bar.(new products)
October 1, 2006... Steritool has expanded its line of critical industry-specific stainless-steel tools with the introduction of their new stainless-steel pry bars in three sizes. Designed for applications where contamination from ferrous tools is a critical...

Body box for garment testing.(new products)
October 1, 2006... Technovation has introduced its ISO Class 2 or Class 3 Body Box[TM] with HA3S[TM] (High Accuracy Averaging Aerosol Sampler), which meets or exceeds IEST-RP-CC003.2. The HA3S sampler has an almost unity calibration factor, even when tested with...

Split-configuration fluid processor.(new products)(Microfluidics Corp.)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Microfluidics has introduced the Split System Microfluidizer[R] Processor for all M-700 Series models. In this split-configuration version of the processor, the Power Module, which contains the electric motor, cooling fan, hydraulic oil...

Portable air filtration unit.(new products)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... XenGenn introduces MEDIQAIR, a self-contained, portable air filtration unit made especially for ISO 14644-1 controlled environment facilities. The unit cleans and removes particles from the surrounding air by capturing and holding contaminants,...

Industrial vacuum cleaners.(new products)(Nilfisk-Advance America Inc.)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Nilfisk-Advance America has launched its newest line of industrial vacuum cleaners, the SL Vac series. Designed to meet cost and performance concerns, the SL Vac features solid construction and strong performance. Through its high efficiency...

Cleanroom plenum sections.(new products)(Clean Air Products Technology)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Clean Air Products introduces Series 150 Vertical Flow Modular Plenum Sections. These cleanroom components combine functionality with flexibility to create modular systems that meet cleanroom application needs. The Series 150 consists of...

High-purity water production.(new products)(Christ Water Technology Group)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Ultrapure water specialist Christ, Member of the Christ Water Technology Group, introduces the Osmotron Inject for the production of high-purity water (HPW) by means of two reverse osmosis stages and electrodeionization. The safe, closed system...

Calendar.
October 1, 2006... OCTOBER 12-13 PDA/EMEA Joint Conference and Exhibition, "Understanding the European GMP environment." Sheraton Park Lane, London, U.K. For more information: www.pda.org/pdaemea2006 OCTOBER 15-18 49th Annual Biological Safety...