A talk given to the Bay Area MEMS Journal Club

REVIEW:

Thursday, November 14, 2002
7:30 Xerox Palo Alto Research Center Audiotorium
3333 Coyote Hill Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1314

TOPIC:

Memoirs from the front lines: lessons from the optical MEMS world

SPEAKERS:

Rob Conant and Raj Gupta, Society for Microsystems Advancement

ABSTRACT:

In the wake of recent events (Agere shutting down its MEMS operation & Cronos's buyout for $8.5M) and the ongoings of the past year which paint a bleak picture for the fiber-optics MEMS industry in general we think it is worth asking: What happened?

And how did it happen? Should we be concerned about this? How are we affected? How does it affect the MEMS trade? What can we learn from it? And most importantly, what can we do about this?

As former members of optical MEMS companies, Rob Conant and Raj Gupta will present an insider's (potentially controversial) perspective on the rise and fall -- as well as the future -- of the optical MEMS industry. From their discussions with technical and business experts in the optical MEMS world, they will present a history and analysis of the industry from engineering, financial, entrepreneurial, and professional-development perspectives, ultimately offering take-home lessons that should help provide guidance in future MEMS (and non-MEMS) endeavors.