I discuss counter-intuitive solutions to the cost of test in my presentation Semiconductor Wafer Test Technology and Trends: Lessons for MEMS Test Engineers from the MEMS Testing and Reliability 3rd Annual Conference. There has been lots of progress in test technology over the last fifty plus years and many creative solutions. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices are facing test challenges similar to semiconductors as they are being deployed in a rapidly growing number of applications. Read more including the presentation here.

All of my summaries of this year's IEEE Semiconductor Wafer Test Workshop are now posted on my blog hightechbizdev.com. I find with a little bit of time to lend perspective, I've had a few more "ah ha" moments reviewing some of them again. How about you?

The Conference Index has also been updated.

This year's IEEE Semiconductor Wafer Test Workshop (SWTW) just wrapped up on Wednesday. Once again, this was an excellent conference if you are involved in test and wafer probing. As a presenter I outlined how critical it is for a company's health to understand the true cost of a product's architecture. You can read about my presentation Probe Card Cost Drivers from Architecture to Zero Defects on my blog hightechbizdev.com. I will also be posting additional thoughts and summaries of the presentations in the next few weeks.

As the new year starts and the probe card companies announce their results for the last quarter of 2010, it time to update your market model and planning. Here is what my model says: Yes, 40%, Most Likely. To learn the questions and why you need to predict click here.

Silicon Valley Test Conference - Something New & Overdue

Kudos to Nick Langston for creating last week's Silicon Valley Test Conference. With twenty-six solid presentations on everything from ATE software to wafer probing it was the place to be as a test professional. If you weren't there you not only missed meeting the ATEForum staff, you also missed an excellent keynote by Jim Healy and a lively panel discussion on ATE market drivers.

Read more details about the Silicon Valley Test Conference - Something New & Overdue

To avoid oversimplifying FormFactor's current challenges like an unnamed "industry insider", it is important to understand the impact of fab utilization on a business. Key to this is knowing why some variable costs are almost fixed costs when a fab is involved and why it is not easy to make significant cuts in expenses quickly.

Read more in How to re-FORM or refill a fab...