INDUSTRY NEWS

DISKCON USA '99

Emerging technologies, contamination, ESD share spotlight at 'Comdex of the storage world'

A three-day technical conference will focus on emerging technologies, and five new technical education classes will debut at Diskcon USA '99. One of the new courses will focus on hard-disk-drive (HDD) contamination. The 13th annual trade show and conference is expected to attract more than 15,000 data storage professionals to the San Jose Convention Center September 20—24. More than 400 exhibitors will display their wares in approximately 1000 booths.

Yield improvement concerns will be an integral part of the show because of the industry's need to rein in costs, asserts Larry Eischen, president of the International Disk Drive Equipment and Materials Association (IDEMA), the trade group that sponsors the annual event. "A good share of the activity at Diskcon will be directly related to cost reduction—slash—yield improvement," says Eischen. "In a general sense the emphases on cost reduction and yield increases are related. One leads into the other."

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Within the past year IDEMA members have approved several microcontamination standards, including a recent benchmark on measuring extractable anion contamination levels on drive components using ion chromatography. Most recently, the committee established a cleanroom contamination subgroup, which is developing guidelines for contamination control in disk-drive cleanrooms and controlled environments.

The new technical course on HDD contamination is titled "Hard Disk Drive Contamination: A Functionality and Reliability Issue." The class will examine the physical and chemical nature of drive contaminants, their sources, and the mechanisms that transport them to the drive and within the drive itself. The course will also attempt to foster an understanding of how contaminants affect drive performance and cause errors. The other new courses are "The Head-Disk Interface: First Contact," "What Kind of Cable Is This Anyway? An Introduction to Disk Drive Interfaces," "Understanding and Solving ESD Problems in Magnetic Recordings," and "Leveraging Your Presentations."

The three-day technical conference starting September 21 will address new applications with the potential to drive industry growth such as TV set—top boxes, handheld PCs, and digital cameras. Four conference sessions will cover the following: "Advanced Technologies for Future Storage," "Magnetic Component Technologies—An Industry Analysis," "Evolving HDD Designs for the Millennium," and "The Design of an HDD—An Integrator's Viewpoint."

Titled "Wall Street Perspective," the fifth and final conference session will explore the current business status and future of the HDD and storage component markets. Financial experts on the panel will also analyze industry revenue and future business opportunities. The first two technical sessions will be held September 21 and the second two September 22. The business session will be held on September 24.

Eischen says the disk-drive industry has probably suffered more than the semiconductor industry during the worldwide business slump. "There have been various layoffs in the industry all the way up and down the food chain. That's a direct result of selling technological marvels for not a lot of money." The chip industry "at least in the equipment area has turned the corner," says Eischen, adding, "we're kind of at a level pace in the storage world now."

The relatively rapid evolution of the industry will be evident on the show floor, says the executive, particularly at the technology showcase. An annual exhibit, the showcase is a museum-style exhibit depicting how the disk drive has shrunk as the industry developed the technology to store more and more data on smaller and smaller substrates. Notes Eischen: "The 39-in. platter wasn't that long ago."

Despite IDEMA-sponsored shows in Tokyo and Singapore, the San Jose event "is the major focus of the industry," Eischen asserts. The IDEMA president maintains that Diskcon "is rapidly becoming the Comdex of the storage world."

Registration information on Diskcon USA '99 is available at www.idema.org.

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