Last December, the UCL inaugurated new clean rooms for micro and nano-production and christened them WINFAB (Wallonia Infrastructure Nano FABrication). This infrastructure, built at the cost of 3 million euros, was co-financed by the university and the Walloon Region as part of the NANOTIC Programme of excellence. This programme is aimed at achieving convergence, in terms of applied research on nano-technologies, telecommunications, and medical diagnostics. A recently created MEMS chair appointed to promote micro-systems and to develop innovative sensors and actuators, also participated in this new adventure.
WINFAB vient en support technologique pour les recherches menées dans différentes unités du secteur des Sciences et des Technologies, couvrant des thématiques largement multidisciplinaires allant de la microélectronique aux nanotechnologies et couvrant par exemple les hyperfréquences, les polymères, la métallurgie, la biologie, etc…
WINFAB provides technological support to research projects performed in various units of the Sciences and Technologies sector on mainly multi-disciplinary topics, ranging from micro-electronics to nano-technologies and covering, for example, hyper-frequencies, polymers, metallurgy, biology, etc.
Boasting an area of approximately 1,000 m2, WINFAB is the clean room that offers the largest hosting capacity in the French Community, and it is also one of the largest European academic infrastructures. It hosts Belgian, European and overseas researchers, and will enable incubating spin-offs and companies to set up there in order to perform testing and prototyping.
As from next July, the MINATIS project for micro and nano-production, characterisation and reliability of miniature components’ co-financed by the European Fund for Regional Development and the Walloon Region will be used to further enhance WINFAB’s value to a multitude of companies, for example, by completing the already existing fleet of technological tools with two remarkable extra pieces of equipment: one for micro-machining and structuring circuits for radio frequencies, and the other to deposit nitrides and metallic oxides in vacuum conditions. Furthermore, within the context of the MINATIS project, the equipment will also enable the design of miniature devices (sensors, MEMS, radio-frequency circuits, etc.) and will support employment in view of the R&D support operators as well as equipment managers who will take a careful note of the particular needs identified by industry. There are a large number of industrial sectors potentially interested: IT, materials (metals, glass, etc.), health, environment, and even the aeronautics and aerospace industry.
The June 3, 2008, the clean rooms were visited by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Belgium, HE Mr. Vadim B. Loukov, under Belgian-Russian collaborations in nanotechnology.
Pr B. Nysten (Président Nanowal), Pr J.P. Raskin, Pr L. Francis, N. Burteau (ADRE), Ir. M. Butaye (AWEX),
Pr D. Flandre, R. Delamare, S.E. Monsieur V. Loukov (Ambassadeur de la Fédération de Russie en Belgique),
M. Vanden Bulcke (Gestionnaire WINFAB),A. Bovy (Directrice ADRE), Pr R. Wtterwulghe (Président de VIVES), Ph. Durieux (CEO Sopartec)
M. Vanden Bulcke (gestionnaire WINFAB), Pr B. Nysten (Président Nanowal),
Pr R. Wtterwulgue (Président de VIVES), J.F. Leprince (Investment Manager FEI), Ir. M. Butaye (AWEX),
S.E. Monsieur V. Loukov (Ambassadeur de la Fédération de Russie en Belgique), Ph. Durieux (CEO Sopartec)
Contacts :
Pr Denis FLANDRE, Unit for Electronic Devices and Circuits
Denis.Flandre@uclouvain.be
http://www.dice.ucl.ac.be/
Pr Jean-Pierre RASKIN, Hyper-Frequency Laboratory
Jean-Pierre.Raskin@uclouvain.be
http://www.emic.ucl.ac.be/
Pr Laurent FRANCIS, MEMS Chair
Laurent.Francis@uclouvain.be
Mathieu VANDEN BULCKE, Unit for Electronic Devices and Circuits
Mathieu.Vandenbulcke@uclouvain.be
