SUSS MicroTec, a supplier of equipment and process solutions for the semiconductor industry, announced it will be collaborating with BRIDG, a not-for-profit, public-private partnership focused on production process technologies, to create a new applications center in North America. SUSS MicroTec hopes the partnership will help broaden its reach to North American consumers. SUSS equipment, on-site at BRIDG, provides applications in bonding, lithography, and nano-imprinting. BRIDG said that the new equipment will “fill vital needs in BRIDG’s infrastructure for manufacturing and advanced R&D.” On-site support from SUSS MicroTec and technical experts at BRIDG will work together to promote innovations for SUSS customers and BRIDG partners. “Access to high-quality, advanced integration-enabling tools is a key component of the infrastructure BRIDG requires to unlock the next generation of speed, size, weight, and power optimization,” said Chester Kennedy, BRIDG’s CEO. “The unique tools manufactured by SUSS MicroTec will add capabilities to enable our customers to design systems at the absolute cutting edge of performance — faster, smaller, lighter, and using lower power — that allow customers to stay ahead of their competitors while having key systems components manufactured in the United States.” BRIDG is offering product development, prototyping, and early-stage manufacturing services with 200-mm wafer fab capabilities based in a 109,000-sq-ft fab. The fab includes cleanroom laboratory and manufacturing space of approximately 60,000 sq ft. SUSS MicroTec CEO Franz Richter expressed his excitement in partnering with BRIDG, saying the opportunity will allow his company to expand as a systems and solution provider: “Our task is to move closer to our customers, understand their needs, offer solutions, and make those solutions accessible, with the continual support of our knowledge and expertise.” “As a technology innovator, SUSS MicroTec’s decision to select central Florida as the ideal location for hosting its North American customers contributes to the manifestation of the vision for BRIDG and NeoCity,” said Fran Korosec, BRIDG’s vice president of program management, whose company is also based in central Florida. “This partnership will play an integral role in BRIDG’s performance, especially for our recently announced contract with the Department of Defense IBAS program.” Both companies plan to expand the partnership through the installation of SUSS production tools with the goal of offering additional advanced manufacturing capabilities for 200-mm wafer processing. “We are not just offering a new application center for demonstrating SUSS equipment,” said Gary Choquette, SUSS MicroTec’s general manager. “The synergy resulting from our partnership is an enormous added value that our American customers will benefit from. We meet their requirements from A to Z by enabling direct access to facilities, technical innovation, and professional management in a 200-mm manufacturing environment.”