(July 17, 2008) SAN FRANCISCO — Once again, SEMICON West provided the perfect backdrop for Advanced Packaging Magazine to announce the recipients of the 8th annual Advanced Packaging Awards, recognizing excellence in industry innovation. During an elegant celebration and ceremony held at the St. Regis Hotel, Wednesday, July 16, 2008, Gail Flower, editor-in-chief, Advanced Packaging talked about hope, and commended this year's participants, saying that it takes courage to be innovators in these tough times. "Tonight, the Advanced Packaging Awards (APAs) recognizes winners and finalists tonight as the real hope for the future," she said.

Winners and finalists alike were recognized for their achievements. For some, the recognizable crystal statue will join a growing collection in the lobbies of their company headquarters. For others, it was their first trip to the stage to collect the coveted prize. The field of recipients spanned the globe, once highlighting international participation in a critical space of semiconductor manufacturing.

All in all, 27 companies were recognized in 19 different categories, several receiving multiple awards in different categories. ASM Pacific Technologies lead the field, proclaimed the winner in Dispense, Encapsulation, Molding and Underfill Equipment and Materials, and Die-Attach Equipment and materials; and named first runner-up in the Wire Bond Equipment and Materials category. Kyzen Corp. captured a win and runner up statue in Cleaning Equipment and Flip Chip Equipment and materials, respectively, while Aqueous Technologies walked away with Cleaning Equipment, and Environmentally Friendly Materials.

A Semiconductor Assembly and Test Service category was added to the list of categories this year, to recognize not only the equipment and materials providers, but also the companies who put it all together. Freescale Semiconductor won the award for its MEMS production line, while NBS took first runner up for its manufacturing test services.

FCategory by category, those who made it to the winner's circle are as follows:
circle is as follows.

3D Packaging
fcPiP — STATS ChipPAC

Cleaning Chemistries
Aquanox A4241 — Kyzen Corp.

Cleaning Equipment
Trident — Aqueous Technologies

Die Equipment and Materials
MCM12 — ASM Assembly Automation LTD

Dispensing/Encapsulation/Molding/Underfill Equipment & Materials
IDEALcompress — ASM Technology Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Environmentally Friendly Materials
Trident — Aqueous Technologies Corp.

Flip Chip Equipment & Materials
8800 CHAMEO — Datacon Technology GmbH

Handling Equipment/Fixtures
Slic Stencil — FCT Assembly

Inspection Equipment & Services
NSX Automated Inspection System — Rudolph Technologies, Inc.

Novel Package Design
OptiML_ Wafer-Level Camera (WLC) —Tessera Technologies, Inc.

Package Design Software & Equipment
Architect Scene3D — Coventor, Inc.

Reflow Equipment
Pyramax 100 — BTU International

Semiconductor Assembly and Test Services (SATS)
Freescale Advanced 200-mm MEMS Product Line — Freescale Semiconductor

Surface Treatment Equipment & Materials
EVG150 NanoSpray — System EV Group (EVG)

Testing Equipment & Services
MultiWave Instrument for Diamond — Credence

Thermal Management Technology
Thermal Copper Pillar Bump — Nextreme Thermal Solutions

Wafer Dicing/Thinning Equipment
IX-4100 ChromaDice — J.P. Sercel Associates (JPSA)

Wafer-level Packaging Equipment & Materials
VectorGuard Platinum — DEK International

Wire Bonding Equipment & Materials
IConn^PS Kulicke & Soffa