Micralyne wins Canadian innovation awards

Micralyne has won the 2005 Canadian Innovation Award for Innovative Business of the Year and the 2005 Canadian Innovation Award for New Technology for its gold-tin solder electroplating process.

Micralyne, a company that is paving the way for micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) development and manufacturing worldwide, has won the 2005 Canadian Innovation Award for Innovative Business of the Year and the 2005 Canadian Innovation Award for New Technology based on its gold-tin solder electroplating process.

Micralyne's core business is the development and manufacturing of miniature MEMS components, which is technology that produces electronic and mechanical components that are smaller, faster and less expensive.

Micralyne is one of a handful of independent companies in the world that manufactures MEMS in high volumes.

These types of devices are used in many industries including communications, automotive, aerospace, and life sciences.

More specifically, Micralyne's micron-scale solutions (ie 1000um = 1 millimetre) are found in emission sensors for Ford automobiles, electronic guidance systems for jets, optical switching technology in telecommunication networks, lab-on-a-chip devices for drug discovery, and commercial prepress equipment for printing today's most popular magazines.

The award winning gold-tin solder technology has significant potential in the MEMS and microelectronics field due to a variety of recent trends encouraging companies to evaluate this solder technology as its preferred bonding medium for micro components.

Two specific market trends that are benefiting gold-tin solder technology are the increasing need for smaller microelectronic device packaging and the worldwide movement to remove lead from all solder in electronic products.

Micralyne's cost-effective and innovative gold-tin solder electroplating process was initially developed by Dr Doug Ivey's research team at the University of Alberta and then licensed to Micralyne for commercialisation.

Micralyne is forecasting a record year for both revenue and profit and is currently experiencing a rapid pace of hiring with the addition of over 30 people in only a few months.

The growth is expected to continue as Micralyne's manufacturing group seeks additional operators and technicians to fulfill current customer demand.

The increase in customer orders has resulted in adding two additional shifts of operation to the company's Edmonton micro-fabrication facility.

The Canadian Innovation Awards were presented on 1st November at the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) Annual Conference Gala Dinner in Toronto.

Chris Lumb, Micralyne's President and CEO, and Dr Siamak Akhlaghi, Project Manager for the gold-tin technology, were both present to accept the awards.

In addition to winning the New Technology award, which recognises excellence in the development of new products and technologies, Micralyne was presented with the prestigious award for Innovative Business of the Year.

This award honours a Canadian company that has implemented new processes, developed new products, and who has taken a new 'out of the box' approach to the market during the last five years in order to better compete in the global market place.

"We are extremely excited about winning these awards".

"To be recognised on a national level for our accomplishments in developing new technologies and then furthermore to win the Innovative Business of the Year award shows that our staff has the ability and talent to produce world-class innovative solutions for our customers", said Chris Lumb.

"We were competing against some very successful companies and to be recognised in front of our peers is a true honour".

"We are expecting continued growth for the foreseeable future and want to play a key role in establishing Edmonton and Canada as an international leader in micro- and nano-technology", concluded Lumb.

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