Newswise — Tessera Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSRA), a leading provider of miniaturization technologies for the electronics industry, today announced that it has completed a successful chip-scale packaging (CSP) technology transfer to North Dakota State University (NDSU) and has partnered with NDSU in the development of a fully functional microelectronics center at the university. As part of a multi-year government program sponsored by the Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA), Tessera has licensed its MicroBGA® CSP technology to NDSU and has provided the university with the technical knowledge and training necessary to package and assemble semiconductor chips, such as EEPROM, DRAM and Flash memory. These semiconductor devices are widely utilized in defense, medical, wireless, consumer and computing electronics to meet next-generation miniaturization, performance and reliability requirements.
Today's announcement marks the culmination of a joint effort by Tessera and NDSU to create a regional microelectronics center supporting the manufacturing needs of government agencies while facilitating the growth of technology companies.
"We are very excited about our partnership with NDSU in developing a world-class microelectronics packaging R&D center," said Nicholas Colella, senior vice president of the Product Miniaturization Division at Tessera. "NDSU gains a new resource for winning advanced development funding, while advancing its educational and research facilities. Tessera gains access to an academic community that will be applying new materials to chip-scale packaging. We hope to use this successful technology transfer as a model for future government and academic programs."
"The technology NDSU licensed, coupled with the packaging and assembly knowledge we've gained from Tessera, brings exciting new entrepreneurial and educational opportunities to NDSU faculty, students and business partners," said Philip Boudjouk, vice president for research, creative activities and technology transfer at North Dakota State University. "Having a commercially viable semiconductor packaging and assembly capability on campus is a strong indicator of NDSU's commitment to the pursuit of engineering excellence."
With fully qualified Class 10,000 and Class 100 clean rooms in place, NDSU is now ready to realize the benefits of its efforts, including new manufacturing relationships with its existing business and research partners, and eligibility for additional government funding. The Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering at NDSU conducts electronic miniaturization research and fabrication for micro-sensors and nanotechnology, using traditional semiconductor processes. The Class 100 rooms include an Alien Technology® Corporation NanoBlock™ fabrication line. The Class 10,000 rooms house a chip-scale packaging fabrication line.
The work completed by NSDU and Tessera was sponsored by the DMEA, an arm of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). NDSU is currently in the process of fabricating chip-scale packaged devices to be used in the DoD-DMEA's Chameleon program, which aims to develop wireless, low-observable surveillance sensors combined with a high-sensitivity base station receiver to provide a method of collecting more accurate intelligence information for enhanced security and safety, effective military engagement and rapid dissemination of intelligence data to decision makers.
About NDSU
With a reputation for excellence in teaching and multidisciplinary research, North Dakota State University, Fargo, links academics to real world opportunities. Marrying discovery with development, researchers at NDSU partner with business to discover unique approaches, create marketable applications and build economic opportunities. At the 55-acre NDSU Research & Technology Park on the NDSU campus, faculty, staff and students work side-by-side with private sector researchers on cutting-edge projects. As a metropolitan land grant and intensive research institution with more than 12,000 students, NDSU offers more than 190 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs to provide a superior learning environment in and out of the classroom.
About Tessera Technologies, Inc.
Tessera Technologies, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Tessera, Inc., is a leading provider of miniaturization technologies for the electronics industry. Tessera enables new levels of miniaturization and performance by applying its unique expertise in the electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of materials and interconnect. As a result, Tessera's technologies are widely adopted in high-growth markets including consumer, computing, communications, medical and defense. Tessera's customers include the world's top semiconductor companies such as Intel, Samsung, Renesas, Toshiba and Texas Instruments. The company's stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol TSRA. Tessera is headquartered in San Jose, California. http://www.tessera.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ significantly from those projected. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in Tessera's operating results due to the timing of new license agreements and royalties, Tessera's ability to protect its intellectual property and the risk of a decline in demand for semiconductor products. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. Tessera's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed for the quarter ended June 30, 2005, include more information about factors that could affect the company's financial results.
Note: The NDSU/Tessera effort described here is sponsored by the Defense Microelectronics Activity. The content of the information does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Government, DoD or DMEA, and no official endorsement should be inferred.
Note: Tessera, MicroBGA and the Tessera logo are registered trademarks of Tessera, Inc. All other company, brand and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
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