Symposium on Cleantech Energy Conversion and Storage
Advances in Photovoltaics, Hydrogen, Sensors, and Battery Materials and Coatings

Clean technology (Cleantech) is a category of technologies that reduce humankind’s impact on the environment. The availability and cost of fossil-based fuel is becoming critical in the world. The carbon imbalance in the world is straining and altering our environment. Many countries are putting policies in place to follow the Kyoto Protocol and European Trading Scheme for green house gas reduction. This has created a strong environment of commercial investment in Cleantech.

A projection of $10 billion in new venture investments in Cleantech has been predicted over the 2005-2009 period. Major companies such as GE have forecast that 25% of their future equipment sales will be in alternative energies, and Wells Fargo has committed $1 billion to renewables. Cleantech includes any technological or manufacturing processes that will reduce the environmental impact of existing technologies.

Based on the urgency of this topic and given a general interest of the SVC toward vacuum and related processes and technologies, the 2008 SVC TechCon will host a special Symposium on Cleantech Energy Conversion and Storage. It addresses the SVC community in relation to the specific areas of smart materials, optical coatings, plasma processing, large area coatings, tribological coatings, web coatings, emerging technologies and others. The categories of interest within this Symposium include, among others:

Energy Generation
1st, 2nd generation photovoltaics, wafer based and thin films; 3rd generation photovoltaics – organic cells, quantum well structures, hybrid cells, dye-sensitized cells; thermophotovoltaics; and solar thermal, including components for solar cogeneration plants.

Energy Storage and Distribution
Hydrogen generation and storage; materials for the generation of clean fuels; battery materials; fuel cell components.

Energy Infrastructure
Integrated systems to manage energy.

Energy Efficiency
Smart technologies, including smart windows and coatings; Spectrally selective coatings; Sensor technology – local and distributed.

Materials and Nanotechnology
New materials and technologies that are more efficient and more environmentally friendly than conventional materials and technologies.

Water Purification and Recycling
Advanced membrane materials, UV catalytic coatings and ion exchange membranes.

Air Quality
Air purification products, including gas filtration materials and gas sensors. Catalytic films.

Materials Recycling and Recovery
Advanced packaging.

In this Call for Papers original work is solicited that covers topics on coating technology and films for Cleantech applications. Authors are invited to submit papers covering research and development on films and deposition processes for Cleantech. Also, critical reviews of the field are solicited.

Symposium Organizers:
Carl M. Lampert, Star Science (707/794-0333; cmlstar@sonic.net) is the Chair of the Symposium on Cleantech Energy Conversion and Storage.

Organizers of Energy Conversion Materials/Smart Materials:
Ric Shimshock, MLD Technologies (650/938-3705; ricshimshock4-mld@aol.com), Claes G. Granqvist, Uppsala University, Sweden (46/18-4713067; claes-goran.granqvist@angstrom.uu.se), Peter Martin, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (509/375-2076; peter.martin@pnl.gov), Ludvik Martinu, École Polytechnique, Canada (514/340-4099; lmartinu@polymtl.ca), Donald M. Mattox, Management Plus, Inc. (505/856-6810; donmattox@mpinm.com) and Kent Coulter, SWRI (210/522-3196; kent.coulter@swri.org).

Organizers of Organic Photovoltaics: Frederik Krebs, Risø National Laboratory, Denmark (45/46-774799; frederik.krebs@risoe.dk) and Wolfgang Diehl, Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films (IST), Germany (49/531 2155 515; diehl@ist.fraunhofer.de).

Organizers of Deposition Systems: Bernd Szyszka, Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films, Germany (49/531-2155641; bernd.szyszka@ist.fraunhofer.de), Hana Baránková·, Uppsala University, Sweden (46/18-4713118; Hana.Barankova@angstrom.uu.se), and Ladislav Bárdos, Uppsala University, Sweden (46/18-4713034; Ladislav.Bardos@angstrom.uu.se).

Organizers of Contributions from the Large Area Coating TAC: Michael Andreasen, NxEdge, Inc. (707/365-7433; mandreasen@nxedgeinc.com) and Johannes Strümpfel, VON ARDENNE Anlagentechnik GmbH, Germany (49/351-2637350; struempfel.johannes@vonardenne.biz).

Organizers of Contributions from the Vacuum Web Coating TAC: Charles A. Bishop, C.A. Bishop Consulting Ltd., UK (44/1509-502076; CABishopConsulting@cabuk1.co.uk).

Organizers of Contributions from the Optical Coating TAC: Ulrike Schulz, Fraunhofer IOF, Germany (49/3641 807344; ulrike.schulz@iof.fraunhofer.de), Bryant Hichwa, Sonoma State University (707/664-2256; bryant.hichwa@sonoma.edu), and James N. Hilfiker, J. A. Woollam Co., Inc. (402/477-7501; jhilfiker@jawoollam.com).

Organizers of Contributions from the Tribological & Decorative Coating TAC: Roel Tietema, Hauzer Techno Coating b.v. The Netherlands (31/77-3559741; rtietema@hauzer.nl), Gary Doll, Timken Research (330/471-3522; gary.doll@timken.com), and Jolanta Klemberg-Sapieha, École Polytechnique, Canada (514/340-5747; jsapieha@polymtl.ca).

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Hot Topic Session on High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS)

HIPIMS is a new technology for physical vapor deposition (PVD) and is characterized by high power density (>3 kWcm-2) dissipated on the cathode, and a high degree of metal ionization. The technology is rapidly developing in all of its production stages with several machine configurations available on the market. HIPIMS has been gaining a strong momentum due to its high potential to produce superior quality films with dense and defect-free microstructure for applications in the areas of hard, wear resistant, corrosion resistant and optical coatings both on laboratory and industrial scales.

Following the success of this Hot Topic session over the past three years, a forum is provided for discussion of the latest innovations and contributions are solicited in the field of HIPIMS, including, but not limited to the following topics:

• Plasma and discharge characterization – in situ plasma diagnostics, experimental and modeling approaches
• Coating and materials characterization
• Hardware development – power supplies and magnetron configurations
• Process development
• Substrate pretreatment prior to coating deposition
• Quality and performance assessment for different industrial applications:
• Wear protection: tooling, tribological, and biomedical
• Environmental protection: oxidation and corrosion
• Optical properties
• Electronic properties
• Sensor materials

Session Organizers:

This Hot Topic session is organized by Arutiun Ehiasarian, Sheffield Hallam University, UK (44/114-2253646; a.ehiasarian@shu.ac.uk) in collaboration with the the Plasma Processing, Tribological and Decorative Coating, and Optical Coating TACs.

• Plasma Processing TAC
  Scott Walton, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (202/767-7531; sgwalton@ccs.nrl.navy.mil)
• Tribological and Decorative Coating TAC
  Jolanta Klemberg-Sapieha, École Polytechnique, Canada (514/340-5747; jsapieha@polymtl.ca) and Roel Tietema, Hauzer Techno Coating b.v., The Netherlands (31/77-3559741; rtietema@hauzer.nl)
• Optical Coating TAC
  Ulrike Schulz, Fraunhofer Institute, Germany (49/3641-807-344; Ulrike.Schulz@iof.fraunhofer.de) and Ludvik Martinu, École Polytechnique, Canada (514/340-4099; lmartinu@polymtl.ca)

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Hot Topic Session on Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications of Vacuum Processes and Coatings

If you have attended the Hot Topic Sessions on Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications of Vacuum Processes and Coatings for the past two years, you’ll know what an exciting and rapidly changing area it is. Opportunities for vacuum coating and processing abound and the related technologies are finding increasing use in the medicine, medical instrumentation industry and in pharmaceutical products. Coatings and treatments for cell growth, wear and friction minimization, surface protection and functionalization, biocompatibility and sterilization are just a few examples. Major device manufacturers and drug companies are discovering the importance of vacuum processing in achieving their goals. This year, as in the past, this session will be anchored by excellent, carefully selected, invited speakers. We are soliciting papers in relevant areas including, but not limited to:

• Surface treatment for enhanced biocompatibility
• Surface cleaning
• Sterilization
• Hard and protective coatings for medical implants and medical devices
• Tribological phenomena in a biological environment
• Corrosion resistance and accelerated screening tests
• Optical coatings for biomedical devices and instrumentation
• New processes for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications
• Surface and interface analysis of biomedical products
• Systems for drug delivery and sensing
• Porous and micro/nanostructured films
• Bio-MEMS
• Photocatalytic effects and materials
• Patterning for biomedical devices
• Packaging of biomedical and pharmaceutical products
• Adhesion and interfacial phenomena
• New organic and inorganic thin film materials
• Compatibility with FDA standards
• Equipment scale up and process economics

Session Organizers:

This Hot Topic session is organized by David Glocker, Isoflux Incorporated (585/349-0640; dglocker@isofluxinc.com) in collaboration with Hana Baránková, Uppsala University, Sweden (46/184713118; hana.barankova@angstrom.uu.se), Jolanta Klemberg-Sapieha, École Polytechnique, Canada (514/340-5747; jsapieha@polymtl.ca), and Ludvik Martinu, École Polytechnique, Canada (514/340-4099; lmartinu@polymtl.ca), and the TAC Chairs of Tribological and Decorative Coating, Plasma Processing, and EmergingTechnologies.

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Emerging Technologies

The Emerging Technologies Session at the 2008 SVC TechCon will focus on new technologies and on future trends in surface processing and coating.

Papers are solicited in, but not limited to, the following topics of interest:

• High-density plasma sources and processes
• Hybrid technologies, new principles in evaporation and sputtering
• Low-cost large area PE CVD, large area microwave, and RF plasmas
• Cold atmospheric and sub-atmospheric plasma applications
• Plasma treatment of textile
• Fuel cell related technologies
• Nanotechnology: processing at nanoscale, nanoparticles and nanostructures, nanocomposites, nanopaints, selective nanostructure growth
• Structure, surface and interface engineering: multilayers, dispersed systems, superlattices
• Coatings for automotive applications, for renewable energy production, for hydrogen fuel injectors
• Corrosion and oxidation resistant coatings
• Photocatalytic coatings and devices
• Coating technology for sensors
• Flexible microelectronic devices and displays, atomic layer deposition
• Coatings for orthopedic implants and osteointegration
• Coatings for space applications, energy and data storage and communications
• Coatings for thin film batteries and active RF identification
• Biologically active coatings and composites, biological to non-biological interfaces

Papers from all other areas, bringing novel approaches in coating and surface treatment, are most welcome. Hear about new ideas, solutions and developments in technology and coatings.

Hana Baránková, Uppsala University, Sweden (46/18-4713118; Hana.Barankova@angstrom.uu.se) and Carlo Misiano, Romana Film Sottili S.r.l, Italy (39-329-8273187; carlo.misiano@libero.it) are the Emerging Technologies TAC Co-Chairs.

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Large Area Coating

In the coating world “large area” is defined to mean coating substrates generally larger than will fit in a typical 1meter x 1meter box coater. A few familiar products of large area coating processes are architectural windows, automotive windshields, mirrors, solar power equipment, photovoltaic cells, active window systems and LCD and plasma displays. The technologies, processes, equipment and support infrastructure continually evolve and improve and innovations are eagerly adopted by the coating community.
The Large Area Coating TAC seeks to assemble a program for the 2008 TechCon that will define today’s technologies, provide solutions to challenges, and forecast trends of the future. The TAC is soliciting innovative topics and in particular, presentations from corporate, government and academic sources addressing topics such as the following in the large area field:

• “Cleantech” as it relates to thin film photovoltaic and solar energy-related coatings, equipment, and technologies
• New coatings and improvements to current functional coatings to include but not be limited to:
  • Display
  • Temperable and bendable coatings
  • Easy-clean and microbiological coatings
  • Surface modification coatings
  • Thermal control
  • Anti-reflection, mirror and barrier coatings
  • Conductive coatings (TCO and other)
• Advances in high-rate coating processes, coaters, power supplies, pumps, and other critical equipment
• Innovations – improvements in target technologies for large area sputtering processes
• Improvements in coating uniformity, edge-effect, yield, and efficiency & economics
• Ion beam processes applied to large area
• Atmospheric plasmas applied to large area coating
• Preparation and characterization of glass surfaces for efficient coating
• Modeling and simulation of large area coatings, processes and equipment
• Reverse engineering of coatings
• On-line monitoring and defect analysis
• Coatings, processes, and equipment for non-glass substrates
• Patent and legal strategies for thin film coatings in today’s world
• Problems and challenges encountered and solved in large area coatings

Michael Andreasen, NxEdge, Inc. (707/365-7433; mandreasen@nxedgeinc.com), is the Large Area Coating TAC Chair, and Johannes Strümpfel, VON ARDENNE Anlagentechnik GmbH, Germany (49/351-2637350; struempfel.johannes@vonardenne.biz), is the Assistant Chair.

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HEURÉKA!
Post-Deadline, Recent Developments Session

The “HEURÉKA!” session is the season “beyond deadlines.” It spreads new knowledge, experience, newest results and inspiring ideas, hottest developments, inventions and stimulating achievements in the field of vacuum coating and related technologies. Over the years, “HEURÉKA!” has become a prestigious, very well attended and popular evening session, run independently of all other TechCon sessions. It takes place in a relaxing atmosphere with refreshments that are generously provided by industrial sponsors. Over the years it has also proved to be an extremely important forum for presentations and discussions of late-breaking results and “hot-off-the-press” achievements. Some abstract submissions must be delayed due to patenting procedures, specific strategy, or business reasons, but are important for new advances in coating technology and for future business. The “HEURÉKA!” session invites presentations about new ideas, products, developments and future trends in coating technology, surface engineering and thin films. Individual topics in the program are usually diverse, which is always inspiring and interesting for the audience.

Abstract Deadline for HEURÉKA! Session has been Extended to March 31, 2008!

Ladislav Bárdos, Uppsala University, Sweden (46/18-4713034; Ladislav.Bardos@angstrom.uu.se), and Hana Baránková, Uppsala University, Sweden (46/18-4713118; Hana.Barankova@angstrom.uu.se) are the HEURÉKA! organizers.

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Optical Coating

This conference, like its predecessors, meets every year to survey and capture advancements in the broad area of optical coatings. This meeting serves as a focal point for global technical interchange in the field of optical interference coatings. It will include papers on research, development of optical coating (such as fundamental and theoretical contributions in the field), practical techniques and applications.

For the 51st SVC Annual Technical Conference authors are encouraged to submit papers on new and novel applications in optics, optoelectronics and photonics. Such actual applications for optical coatings include: OLED´s, LCD´s, Head-Up displays, MOEM´s, fs-laser, new telescopes, and space applications. In 2008 the Optical Coating Sessions will particularly focus on nano-optics and the coatings associated with them, optical applications of atomic layer deposition (ALD), coatings for the extreme ultraviolet region, antireflection solutions by applying effective media and coatings, and measurement systems for the infrared spectral range.

In addition, papers are solicited on new deposition technologies for optics. This includes all procedures which help to control the coating processes, as well as including monitoring and simulation processes. Evaluation of film stability and integrity in harsh physical and chemical environments, their compatibility with novel substrate materials (including organic polymers), business aspects, experimental designs, and industrial scale-up are important as well. Submissions, which stimulate important developments in the physics and technology of optical coatings, are especially encouraged.

The topics of solicited papers include, but are not limited to:

• New deposition processes
• Process monitoring and control
• Novel coating materials
• Unusual substrate materials
• Optical coatings with multifunctional properties (scratch resistance, wettability)
• Novel design techniques
• Metrology of optical films (new instrumentation and approaches)
• Optical coatings for integrated photonic devices
• IR coating and metrology
• Atomic Layer Deposition and other CVD processes
• Antireflection by Sol-Gel coating and nanostructures
• Coatings for short wavelengths (UV, VUV, DUV, EUV, X-rays, neutrons)
• Coatings for energy control and solar power
• Coatings for laser applications, including laser damage
• Coatings for display
• Coatings for MOEM´s
• Coatings for aerospace application
• Coatings for fs - laser
• Coatings on polymers

Ulrike Schulz, Fraunhofer Institut für Angewandte Optik und Feinmechanik IOF, Germany (49/3641 807321; ulrike.schulz@iof.fraunhofer.de), Bryant Hichwa, Sonoma State University (707/664-2256; bryant.hichwa@sonoma.edu), and James N. Hilfiker, J. A. Woollam Co., Inc. (402/477-7501; jhilfiker@jawoollam.com) are the Optical Coating Co-Chairs.

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Plasma Processing

Plasmas are fundamental to many materials processing applications ranging from deposition, to etching, to surface functionalization. In all these applications, a basic understanding of the plasma properties is critical to a successful process. With the rapidly evolving demand for high performance materials, the developments in plasma source technology, diagnostic capabilities, and modeling complexity have advanced to keep pace. To follow these developments, the TAC invites you to participate in the Plasma Processing sessions at the 2008 TechCon. Presentations are solicited from corporate, government, and academic laboratories with research in both fundamental and applied plasma science, associated with plasma-based materials processing.

Papers are invited from the following technical areas:

• Plasma diagnostics (Langmuir probes, mass spectrometry, residual gas analysis, laser spectroscopy, optical emission/absorption spectroscopy)
• Plasma-based deposition and processing platforms (PVD, reactive ion etching, and PECVD)
• Atmospheric plasma processing techniques
• Micro discharges for materials processing
• New and innovative plasma and ion sources.
• Novel plasma processing (nanomaterials, biomaterials, plasma assisted ALD, adaptive materials, materials for power generation).
• Plasma, plasma/surface interface, and system modeling.

The Plasma Processing TAC is a co-organizer of two Hot Topic sessions – High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS) and Biological and Pharmaceutical Applications of Vacuum Processes and Coatings.

The strength of the Plasma Processing sessions has always been the diversity in content and strong relationship between diagnostics and processing. Presentations of this nature are encouraged.

Scott Walton, US Naval Research Laboratory (202/767-7531; scott.walton@nrl.navy.mil) is the Plasma Processing TAC Chair. Arutiun Ehiasarian, Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom (44/114-2213048; a.ehiasarian@shu.ac.uk) and Mariadriana Creatore, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands (31/402 474 223; m.creatore@tue.nl) are the Assistant TAC Chairs.

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Process Modeling and Control

This Technical Advisory Committee was formerly called “Process Control and Instrumentation,” but due to the expansion of the 2008 session, it now includes “modeling techniques” and is now called “Process Modeling and Control.”

Process modeling is frequently incorporated into process development as a means of predicting and controlling process results. This allows for shorter development times by optimizing conditions for initial process setup, evaluation of process stability and reproducibility, as well as reducing costs. There are many emerging applications requiring an increasing amount of process control and modeling, both from the points of view of mathematical and computer approaches, instruments, and interfacing strategies. Applications in highly expanding areas such as thin film solar, display, industrial web, optical, manufacturing and numerous others, have created a great demand for additional advanced techniques for controlling, in real time, the process, film and surface characteristics, film thicknesses and its uniformity, etc.

These process controls, modeling activities, and the required instrumentation will be the featured topics of discussion for the 2008 PMC session. Presentations are solicited on the following topics:

• Downstream pressure control for deposition processes
• In situ film thickness monitoring in web coating and large area systems
• Real-time plasma characterization using different diagnostics approaches such as wafer-mounted plasma density probes, spectroscopies, and other contact and non-contact methods
• Modeling and experimentation results of film index and stoichiometry
• Mathematical methods for the analysis of systems with a large number of variables
• Design of experiments
• Feedback loop control

Applications of modeling, predictive tools, and process control in research and production are of particular interest. This session will provide a forum in which to share solutions to these and many other process modeling and control-related topics with colleagues throughout the industry as well as those in university and government laboratories.

If you have a new or unique method for process modeling or control, plan on attending the 2008 SVC TechCon to share your approach with others.

Colin Quinn, Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (970/407-6167; colin.quinn@aei.com) is the Process Modeling and Control TAC Chair.

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Tribological and Decorative Coating

The SVC sessions on Tribological and Decorative Coating aim to integrate research and applications of thin film deposition and advanced surface modification techniques. This aim will be reached by attracting many excellent industrial and application-oriented talks. The SVC conference is the premier international meeting in the field promoting global exchange of information among scientists, technologists, and manufacturers with a main emphasis on leading industrial applications.

Market trends are welcomed in talks, since these trends are fundamental to coating developments and to the feasibility of coating applications. Asian industrialists are encouraged to present their work at the SVC TechCon on the growth of surface technology in the Asian markets, and their achievements in coating applications. Many automotive engine parts are already coated in Japan, Europe and elsewhere.

The Tribological and Decorative Coating TAC is a co-organizer of the Hot Topic sessions on HIPIMS and the Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications of Vacuum Processes and Coatings in 2008. Presentations on aerospace applications constitute one of the major topics that interest the TAC members. Representatives from the aircraft and the spacecraft industries are invited to talk about applications where coatings are involved. Thermal barrier coatings are important applications included in the field of aerospace, but this also fits in the field of power generation applications. New developments in tool coating applications are another field of interest for the Tribological and Decorative coating session. New coating systems can be considered, like cBN coatings that can be produced in thicker layers. Presentations about machining applications involving new materials are also of interest. An example is the machining of composites and AlSi alloys with high Si contents. Metroloogy of tribological and erosion mechanisms is also a field of interest.

Decorative coatings are used in combination with other technologies – enabling many different applications for coatings on plastics. Papers on regulations from the environmental point of view that address the subject of eliminating wet chemistry coatings, thus promoting PVD, are very important topics that fit well in the decorative coating sessions. In addition, papers on regulations, that drive the automotive industry and will initiate trends in coating technology, are of great interest.

Decorative and EMC coatings are wide spread in microelectronics. Corrosion protection is also one of the fields of interest for decorative applications, corrosion sensitive applications, and biomedical applications.

Roel Tietema, Hauzer Techno Coating b.v., The Netherlands (31/77-3559741; rtietema@hauzer.nl) is the Tribological and Decorative Coating TAC Chair. Gary Doll, Timken Research (330/471-3522; gary.doll@timken.com), and Jolanta Klemberg-Sapieha, École Polytechnique, Canada (514/340-5747; jsapieha@polymtl.ca) are the Assistant Chairs.

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Vacuum Web Coating

The Vacuum Web Coating Technical Advisory Committee (WebTAC) is soliciting papers for the 2008 TechCon on the following topics.

• Barrier & active packaging
• Medical and biomedical sensors
• Security coatings & devices
• Energy – including insulation, solar cells, batteries, heaters, fuel cells
• Environmental
• Optical & opto-electronics
• Transparent conductive, anti-reflecting, display films
• Alternatives to ITO
• Thin film magnetics
• Materials for web coating including boats and source materials
• Substrates, handling & quality control, contamination, defects & cleaning
• Process control and quality control
• Equipment advances
• Competing technologies to Vacuum Web Coating i.e. Inkjet Technology in Flexible Electronics, atmospheric plasma

In particular, papers are solicited which describe new applications, new materials, and new processes. It is anticipated that there will be sessions covering the following topics:

• High-tech substrates for challenging applications and also biodegradable substrates suitable for vacuum processing
• Flexible electronics (i.e., conducting polymers, ink jet deposition, flexible photovoltaics)
• Nanoparticles and structures (particle production, substrate patterning, devices using combination structures such as detectors, medical sensors, quantum dots, hydrogen storage, fuel cells)

The inclusion of nanoparticles and structures may at first seem odd but a number of the same techniques that produce particles can also be used to deposit coatings onto webs. It was thought to be worthwhile to at least generate some common ground between these different industrial areas.

Presentations on manufacturing, product development, and the business aspects of web coating are of particular interest. End-users who wish to point out what they desire from vacuum web coating, other than what is currently available, are particularly welcome.

Charles A. Bishop, C.A. Bishop Consulting Ltd., UK (44/1509-502076; CABishopConsulting@cabuk1.co.uk) and Gregory Tullo, SE Associates, Inc. (919/846-5560; gtullo@seassociatesinc.com) are the Vacuum Web Coating TAC Co-Chairs.

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Poster Session
A Popular Informal Forum for Presenting Your Work

For several years the SVC TechCon has featured a Poster Session that provides a great opportunity to presenters to discuss their results with a large number of participants. It allows the authors to address many people over an extended period of time outside of the specific technical session. In fact, the posters are placed at the most visible and “busy” place in the Exhibit Hall, where all participants of the TechCon are attracted by the high technical content, as well as by the bars and food stands.

The Program Committee welcomes poster presentations on subjects of technical interest. Abstracts are welcome on any subject referred to in any of the TAC sessions, Hot Topic sessions and the Symposium on Cleantech Energy Conversion and Storage. As with all other technical presentations, it is expected that the presenter will prepare a manuscript for the archival Conference Proceedings. SVC is offering a $200 cash award for the Best Poster presentation. For the entry to be eligible for the award, a manuscript must be available for review.

Based on the increasing interest in the Poster Session and its growing importance within the SVC TechCon program, we expect to see another strong Poster Session in Chicago in 2008. We encourage you to consider submitting your presentation to the Poster Session.

For more information, contact the Program Chair, Assistant Program Chairs, or any other Technical Advisory Committee Chair.

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Innovators Showcase
Now with Powerpoint Presentations and Live Demonstrations in the Exhibit Hall!

The SVC’s Innovators Showcase has emerged as the premier venue to introduce new products and services to the vacuum coating community. If you are planning to exhibit at the 2008 TechCon in Chicago, then a presentation at the Innovators Showcase is a surefire way to reach your prime audience and increase booth traffic at the show!

This year we are pleased to announce some major changes to the Innovators Showcase that are bound to be a huge success. For starters, the PowerPoint presentations have been moved to the exhibition hall and will be scheduled to coincide with the show hours. This will make it easier for exhibitors to attend the presentations and will also allow folks touring the exhibit hall to “drop in” for a presentation that they find particularly interesting. Once again, the PowerPoint presentations are limited to 10 minutes.

We have also reserved floor space in the exhibition hall for live product demonstrations. Our goal is to offer the exhibitors an opportunity to take “live” hardware and products to the Exhibit in an effort to inform and educate our conference attendees. The initial plan, depending on your response, is to offer the “live” demonstrations on a rotating schedule over the two-day span of the exhibition as opposed to the scheduled, one-time only format of the PowerPoint presentations.

Everyone is welcome to participate! All you need to do is submit an abstract. The SVC’s on-line abstract submission process has made this task easier than ever (please highlight whether you will be doing either a PowerPoint or a “live” product demonstration). Act quickly for we are likely to run short of presentation slots. See you there!

Frank Zimone, Denton Vacuum, LLC (856/439-9100; fzimone@dentonvacuum.com) is the organizer for the Innovators Showcase and Live Demonstration Program.

Abstract Submission Guidelines