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Santa Barbara, CA, 1 December 2005
MEMS manufacturer Innovative Micro Technology (IMT)
of Santa Barbara, CA, today announced the formation of a Division
to develop new biosensor technologies using its advanced MEMS expertise.
The Silicon Biosensor Division’s initial aim is to develop
resonating beam sensors in partnership with Professor Scott Manalis
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The work will
be funded by a $2M grant awarded to MIT and IMT by the Institute
for Collaborative Biotechnologies (ICB), a partnership among universities,
industrial partners (including IMT), and the Army. The three-year
project will focus on detecting pathogens at extremely high sensitivities
for food safety applications.
Dr. Ken Babcock, Division President and the Food
Safety project’s Principle Investigator, commented, “The
Silicon Biosensor Division energizes IMT’s efforts in the biomedical
area and applies its MEMS manufacturing expertise to commercial-grade
sensors of unprecedented sensitivity. The Division also fuels a
strong partnership between the Manalis lab at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, which has been innovative in this area,
and IMT’s world-class manufacturing infrastructure. The initial
Division project in food safety represents a great start, and we
anticipate future projects aimed at detecting biomolecular interactions
for protein chemistry and medical diagnostics.”
Dr. John Foster, IMT’s CEO, added, “The
new Division fits well with IMT’s focus on key markets, including
Biomedical. The Division will also encourage strong collaborations
between IMT and many outstanding groups, such as the Manalis Lab
and the ICB, of which we are proud to be an Industrial Affiliate.”
According to Prof. Scott Manalis, “working
with IMT is very exciting for us as it provides a strong bridge
from laboratory innovation to world-class manufacturing capabilities.
And, IMT’s unique breadth of expertise gives us confidence
that a wide range of sensor technologies can be made a reality.
This connection will be vital for long term success and widespread
use of these sensors in real-world applications.”
About Innovative Micro Technology
IMT was formed in 2000, specifically to produce MEMS (micro-electromechanical
systems) devices. IMT’s overriding goal is to partner with
companies to develop products based on MEMS technology. Its 130,000
sq ft facility contains a 30,000 sq ft clean room/fab, the largest
and best-equipped independent MEMS fab in the world. The company
was built for high-volume manufacturing, and provides full foundry
services from design through production. IMT currently has >100
employees and >20 customers in diverse applications, including
drug discovery, drug delivery, biomedical implants and cell purifiers,
microfluidics, inertial navigation, printing, various sensors, night
vision, IR emitters, telephone/DSL switching, RF devices, power
management, and several others. Contact Monte Heaton: phone (805)
681-2852; fax (805) 967-2677, email monte@imtmems.com, or visit
www.imtmems.com.
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