Fast growth at Tronics
Tronics Microsystems is one of the fi rst producers of specifi c microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) to achieve and maintain long-term profi tability. The Grenoble-Isère-based fi rm (60 employees) has reported net profi ts for fi ve consecutive quarters. Revenue for 2007 is set to exceed last year’s fi gure by more than 50%. For the second year running Deloitte and Touche has awarded it the prize for the French company with the highest growth in electronics and hardware over the previous fi ve years. These good results confi rm the validity of the business model adopted by Tronics, which develops and produces complete MEMS-based solutions for specifi c applications. Volume production for customers in Europe, the US and Japan targeting high added-value markets currently accounts for 80% of Tronics sales.

Vicat turns over a new leaf
in Montalieu
Vicat has invested €51m to update its cement works at Montalieu, one of its oldest production plants located on the banks of the Rhône. The annual production capacity of the facility, which started operations in 1922, now stands at 2m tonnes making it one of the largest cement works in Europe. The recently installed equipment, in particular a conveyor belt almost two kilometres long and a blending hall 97 metres in diameter, enable France’s leading cement manufacturer to meet the growing demand of the Rhône- Alpes construction industry. Vicat, with operations in seven countries (US, Italy, Senegal, Turkey, Switzerland and Egypt) reports €2.08bn sales, evenly split between concretes and granulates (40.3%) and cement (45.3%). It employs more than 6,600 people, with net profi ts of €314m.

Caterpillar opens its first Simulated Work Environment in Europe
The senior management of Caterpillar has chosen Grenoble to set up its fi rst Simulated Work Environment (SWE) outside the United States. It was offi - cially opened by Mike J. Baunton, vicepresident of Caterpillar Europe, and Tom Bluth, president of Caterpillar France SAS. The aim of the SWE is to apply the standardized principles of the new Caterpillar Production System (CPS), a move that directly concerns the company’s 3,000 strong workforce in Grenoble-Isère. The SWE covers 800 square metres and consists of a conveyor belt with 17 ergonomically designed work stations, monitored by the Andon warning system. Initially it will concern the whole workforce at Caterpillar France SAS, ultimately being extended to all the other units in Europe.

Grenoble-Isère, home
to photovoltaic solar energy

The continuous increase in the price of fossil fuels and growing concern for environmental issues is driving the development of renewable energy sources. At the top of the list comes photovoltaic technology which enables us to convert solar radiation into electrical power.

With the European market growing at the rate of 30% a year, solar power has developed a dynamic that can look forward to a promising future. German firms have pioneered this fi eld and the city of Dresden has established itself as the leading centre in Europe. France, not wishing to miss the bus, decided in 2006 to offer one of the most attractive rates in Europe to individual consumers producing solar power, a most effective measure that boosted the national market by 115% within the year.  A promising technology Under these favourable conditions, both at home and abroad, what was needed was a base from which to develop our potential. Grenoble-Isère already has a head start when it comes to cutting edge technology, so it seemed an ideal location to play host to a project that will mobilise all of Rhône-Alpes’ high-tech skills. Following on from micro and nanotechnology the photovoltaic (PV) side of Grenoble-Isère is taking shape, with the ambition of rapidly building the framework for a whole new industry based on renewable energy technology. Grenoble-Isère has the necessary technological basis, which has proved its worth in the past and continues to do so.

Research is based on laboratories such as CEA-Leti and CEA-Liten, giving Grenoble a fi rm lead in new materials and their industrial application. Furthermore France’s only manufacturer of PV cells, Photowatt Technologies (see box), is located in Grenoble-Isère, which is certainly no coincidence. Solutions in Grenoble-Isère Not only does it benefi t from direct contact with microelectronics equipment manufacturers, supplying local industry and research center, but also from the proximity of the Solar Energy Institute, in nearby Chambéry, with additional support from Tenerrdis, the regional competitiveness cluster specializing in renewable energy sources. All in all Grenoble-Isère is in the vanguard of solar energy in France and further afi eld. To move up to the next stage Photowatt Technologies, EDF Energies Nouvelles and CEA have joined forces to set up PV Alliance, a company designed to organize the industry in France, reducing produc tion costs through industrial production of a new silicon-based technology. PV Alliance is poised to build the Lab-Fab, to which the Isère Department Council will be contributing €15m. The pilot R&D unit, covering 9,000 sq m, will bring together at Bourgoin Jallieu a laboratory and a production line for prototypes and semi-industrial silicon wafers and PV cells using a new fabrication process currently under development as part of the Photosil project. Solar energy is on the march in Grenoble- Isère!  

Photowatt Technologies, the French market leader Based at Bourgoin-Jallieu in Isère, Photowatt Technologies is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of photovoltaic cells. It is the only French fi rm to have mastered the whole production process, from synthesizing silicon to the assembly of complete solar panels. According to a German magazine, Photon, Photowatt’s PW1650 175W modules are ahead of the competition with an average yield of 91.34%, making them the top products worldwide in terms of quality. Surfing on the growing interest in renewable energy, Photowatt, which reported €107m sales in 2006 with 700 workers, has doubled its workforce, production capacity and revenue in fi ve years. A subsidiary of the Canadian fi rm, ATS, Photowatt exports 95% of its output, in particular to Germany. The company is currently extending its Bourgoin plant to boost production capacity from 60MW at present to 100MWc by 2009 and 135MWc in 2010. The only shadow on this rosy picture is the cost of silicon and the effi ciency of PV cells. Photowatt has mobilized its R&D resources, joining forces with CEA in Grenoble and France’s Solar Energy Institute (Ines) to develop a specifi c silicon process for solar power. With this purifi ed metallurgical silicon it is hoped to raise the PV effi ciency of basic cells from 13% to between 15% and 17% within three years. Yet another challenge for a company whose future is synonymous with quality.

Artpuce: the aesthetics of silicon chips

For six months STMicroelectronics played host to an artist, Valérie Legembre. The result is a fascinating exhibition, entitled “Artpuce”, currently on show at ST’s premises at Crolles, near Grenoble.

Technology has an aesthetic appeal for Valérie Legembre, 41, who likes immersing herself as a “foreign visitor” in the world of industry, an encounter that gives rise to startling works of art. Thanks to STMicroelectronics’s management and works committee Legembre was able to delve into the mysterious world of which Grenoble is so proud and photograph silicon chips at various scales. One of the merits of her photographs is to shed light on these high-tech objects destined to stay well out of sight for as long as they fulfil their original purpose. She also reminds us that though chips are manufactured using 21st century know-how they also sometimes require the same gold thread that jewellers employed in the Middle Ages. In her own work the artist used a technique of almost surgical precision, that she calls “photo-skinning”. She develops her pictures on photographic paper in the usual way, then separates the surface gel, which contains the picture from the paper base.

She then superimposes the “skins”, sometimes stacking as many as 20 layers, to create effects of movement, transparency and depth. Her “photo-skins”, once scanned and enlarged, sublimate the aesthetic dimension almost always present in chip layout diagrams. They also help to familiarize the general public with the basic principles underpinning chip fabrication, which contribute to the artistic effect as well. With poetic names such as “Sand”, “Orange planet” or “Incas” her works, in which a certain symmetry is always present, may recall patterns reminiscent of ancient civilizations, suggesting that some collective unconscious has been handed down from generation to generation, circulating freely all over the world. At a simpler level her exhibition is a remarkable tribute to the men and women at ST, revealing them to us at their workplace. Legembre hopes to continue her quest with a new project, focussing on life science this time. Perhaps more daringly she would like to achieve a parallel between her “photo-skin” process and human skin itself.