ANN ARBOR—A significant donation of flat panel display manufacturing equipment and intellectual property, valued at $18 million, was presented to the Center for Display Technology and Manufacturing (DTM) at the University of Michigan. U-M officials, along with Michigan Gov. John Engler, accepted the donation from Lucent Technologies during a ceremony held today (July 30) at the U-M.

The donation will reinforce the Center’s position as a world-class research, training and education facility supporting the U.S. flat panel display industry. In addition to the donation from Lucent Technologies, DARPA—the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency—is transferring related equipment, valued at approximately $4 million, to the U-M. The Lucent equipment, formerly part of Bell Laboratories flat panel display research effort, will be integrated into the Center for Display Technology and Manufacturing at the U-M College of Engineering.

The Center, in partnership with its corporate members, is a focal point for research and development within the flat panel display manufacturing arena leading to high equality, low cost displays. These displays have numerous consumer and commercial applications, including automobiles, televisions, airplane cockpits and laptop computers. “The University very much appreciates these significant donations,” said Homer A. Neal, U-M interim president. “The fact that the DTM research center has been chosen by Lucent Technologies and DARPA to receive this equipment attests to the center’s reputation in the flat panel display industry.

Since its creation just three years ago, DTM has emerged as a leader for industry, university and government efforts to address manufacturing issues critical to the emerging U.S. flat panel display industry.” Established in 1993 with a major grant from the State of Michigan, and in cooperation with the federal government and private industry, the U-M Center for Display Technology and Manufacturing conducts a wide range of advanced research in display manufacturing, provides technical employee training in cooperation with Henry Ford, Oakland, and Washtenaw County community colleges, provides technology transfer and commercialization, and sponsors an annual strategic forum to discuss policy and manufacturing issues in the global flat panel display industry.

“It is exciting to see how the Center has expanded and established Michigan as a world leader in the flat panel display industry,” said Gov. Engler. “The additional momentum created by this generous donation from Lucent Technologies and DARPA will increase the Center’s research and development capabilities and provide state-of-the-art job training opportunities for Michigan high-tech workers into the 21st century.”

“The U-M Center for Display Technology and Manufacturing is one of the world’s finest research, training and educational facilities supporting the U.S. flat panel display industry,” said Bill Brinkman, physical sciences research vice president for Bell Laboratories. “With this state-of-the-art equipment, researchers will have the tools they need to develop new manufacturing technologies and materials that will benefit the entire industry.”

“The technical challenges involved in making these displays are tremendous,” said Richard Archambault, vice president of high resolution technology at Lucent Technologies. “A 10″ x 8″ flat panel screen on a laptop computer, for example, could have up to six million transistors that must function perfectly. With this equipment, the U-M will have the finest prototyping capability in the world. The university has all that it needs to research and manufacture transistor arrays for flat panel displays.” “DTM is a perfect example of how industry, government and university resources can be combined in innovative ways for maximum impact on important areas of basic and applied research,” said Stephen W. Director, dean of the U-M College of Engineering. “This significant gift will help our researchers solve the technological and manufacturing problems that limit the potential of this important industry.”

“There is no question these additions will strengthen the Center’s leadership in the global arena and allow us to uniquely respond to the growing needs of the display industry into the next millennium,” Samuel Musa, DTM’s executive director, said. “We want to thank Lucent Technologies very much for their generous gift.” Industrial and non-profit affiliates of the U-M’s DTM Center include: Accudyne Corporation of Palm Bay, Fla.; Air Control, Inc. of Henderson, N.C.; Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. of Allentown, Pa.; Delco Electronics of Kokomo, Ind.; IBM of Yorktown Heights, N.Y.; Optical Imaging Systems (OIS) of Northville, Mich.; Philips Display Components of Ann Arbor, Mich.; Photonics Imaging of Norwood, Ohio; Plasma-Therm IP, Inc. of St. Petersburg, Fla.; Silicon Video Corp. of San Jose, Calif.; Georgia Institute of Technology; and Kent State University’s Liquid Crystal Institute.

Related Links:

• DARPA
• College of Engineering