FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: Kristine Martin
March 24, 2004	202-466-7391 x 124

NEMI and IEEE CPMT Society Join Forces in Strategic Partnership

HERNDON, Va. — March 24, 2004 — The National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI), an industry-led consortium focused on strengthening the global electronics supply chain, and the IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology Society (CPMT) have entered into a formal agreement that outlines key areas of collaboration between the two organizations.

One of the primary collaborations under this new agreement will be roadmap development, beginning with the 2004 NEMI roadmap. The roadmaps, created every two years, map the future manufacturing needs of the electronics industry in order to identify the key technology and infrastructure developments required to assure leadership of the global supply chain over the next decade. It helps companies anticipate shifts in product requirements and provides an early warning of changes in technology or infrastructure.

The CPMT Society’s members are technical professionals whose fields of expertise complement and substantially overlap with NEMI, and many CPMT Society members have represented their respective employers in the development of previous NEMI roadmaps. With more than 40 percent of the Society’s members outside the United States, the CPMT Society is committing experienced professionals from Europe, Asia and North America to many of the NEMI roadmap chapter committees. Involvement of this broad-based group will help NEMI in its efforts to globalize the scope of the 2004 roadmap.

Other areas of collaboration include NEMI involvement in CPMT Society-sponsored conferences, workshops and refereed publications, and CPMT Society coordination with the NEMI Technical Committee on development of R&D priorities.

“We have worked informally with the CPMT Society for many years, but wanted to form a more structured relationship with planned activities that would allow us to work together rather than just doing things on an opportunistic basis,” said Jim McElroy, Executive Director and CEO of NEMI. “The two organizations share many areas of focus and activity, and we feel there are a number of synergies to be gained by collaborating.”

“NEMI has been involved with deriving roadmaps for important cutting-edge technologies and we are excited to be partnered with this prestigious organization,” said Phil Garrou, CPMT Society President. “CPMT’s partnering with NEMI in the roadmapping activity will hopefully produce an even better forecast of future technology directions,” he adds.

Rolf Aschenbrenner, Vice President of Technical Activities for the CPMT Society notes, “We also look forward to NEMI members presenting their work at CPMT Society workshops and conferences as well as soliciting papers for IEEE CPMT Transactions journals. In fact, we are already coordinating a NEMI tin whisker workshop as part of our Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC) in Las Vegas this June.”

The two organizations will begin their partnership at NEMI’s 2004 roadmap kick-off meeting, March 24 – 25 in Newark, Calif.

About the CPMT Society
IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology (CPMT) Society is the leading international forum for scientists and engineers engaged in the research, design and development of revolutionary advances in microsystems packaging and manufacture. Members include world-renowned authorities in microelectronics, optoelectronics, semiconductor processing, materials and connector technologies at companies, universities, government research centers and allied enterprises around the globe. The CPMT Society promotes technical excellence and professional development, information exchange and networking opportunities through its journals, conferences and workshops, committee activities, chapter events, educational programs and awards.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE), CPMT Society's parent organization, is the world's largest international technical professional society with more than 360,000 members in over 150 countries. For additional information, visit www.cpmt.org.

About NEMI
The National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative’s mission is to assure leadership of the global electronics manufacturing supply chain. Based in Herndon, Va., the industry-led consortium is made up more than 60 manufacturers, suppliers, industry associations and consortia, government agencies and universities. NEMI roadmaps the needs of the electronics industry, identifies gaps in the technology infrastructure, establishes implementation projects to eliminate these gaps (both business and technical), and stimulates standards activities to speed the introduction of new technologies. The consortium also works with government, universities and other funding agencies to set priorities for future industry needs and R&D initiatives. For additional information about NEMI, visit www.nemi.org.