Cleaning up in 'fab world'

BBC Technology Online features a lively account by ECS academic Dr Peter Wilson of the surreal environment of manufacturing plants for silicon chips.

The process of making silicon chips is as complex as the chips themselves. Each manufacturing plant, or 'fab', may cost billions of dollars and is a triumph of engineering. But working inside these hi-tech plants can be a surreal experience, according to Dr Peter Wilson of the School of Electronics and Computer Science, whose account is featured by the BBC, as part of a new focus on The Computing Age.

Dr Wilson joined ECS in 2002, after a number of years working in the electronics industry.

The School of Electronics and Computer Science will next year be opening a new £55M interdisciplinary state-of-the-art clean room which will advance the Schools's research in electronics and nanotechnology.