NEC provides high-precision support to students in Micro-E

Moving a grand piano or even an elephant across country would be easier than shipping three one-ton steppers from Roseville, Calif., to RIT. The steppers won't go in the Student Life Center though (they're not the aerobic variety). These steppers—with a purchase price of $1.1 million each—are high-precision cameras that project circuit images onto silicon wafers, donated by NEC Electronics Inc. to RIT's Microelectronics Department.

At 6 feet wide, 5 feet deep and 6 feet tall, the steppers, NEC Corporation's first major gift to RIT, align 15 to 20 silicon layers on each computer chip to the precision of one micron—150 times thinner than a strand of hair.

"NEC believes in investing in microelectronics education," says Russell Childs, associate vice president of administration for NEC Electronics. "RIT provides advanced engineering studies with the capability to technically maintain and support the equipment."

Because of the sensitive nature of the lens and optics, the steppers traveled to RIT in a temperature- and climate-controlled truck from California. Nikon Corporation helped package the steppers for shipment and will install and maintain the equipment at RIT.

"Nikon really helped solidify the donation," says Joan Tierney, director of corporate giving, RIT's University Relations Division. "NEC wouldn't have donated the steppers if Nikon didn't agree to help support the equipment. Nikon played a huge role in making this work out for our Microelectronics Department."

"The steppers will modernize and improve our capability to make micro-chips in our student-run factory," says Lynn Fuller, department head and Motorola Professor of Microelectronic Engineering at RIT. "Our students will be better prepared to work in semiconductor manufacturing."