Precision tools for cutting/grinding a wafer

Jim was a multi-faceted man. He is perhaps best known as the founder and president of DISK/TREND, the market analysis firm that EVERY storage market forecaster has since emulated. DISK/TREND was founded in the late 1970s after Jim’s original company, Crown Zellerbach, took delivery of one of the original RAMAC units. Seeing the RAMAC was “love at first sight” and Jim soon after struck out on his own as a maverick forecaster. Few, if any, of today’s market analysis firms existed then. Jim blazed the trail for all of them with a disciplined publication that was for years the industry standard in market research. His firm was detail oriented, dependable, and the standard bearer.

He was also a founder Board Member of IDEMA, the International Disk Drive Equipment and Materials Association. Even though IDEMA was originally started as an association for suppliers to the HDD industry, Jim recognized the value of a healthy supply chain. He threw himself into building the group and establishing its relevance through his near two decade term on the Board. Over a 25 year period, Jim rarely missed an IDEMA Board meeting (even as an Emeritus member, he always came to offer sage advice), and was a source of great wisdom and insight.

Most importantly, he quite simply loved everything about the HDD industry, and anyone who met him quickly understood that. After retiring more than 10 years ago, Jim remained active with the Computer History Museum as well as with the Technology Showcase at IDEMA events. There was not another person alive who possessed both the knowledge as well as the passion for the history of the business. There were few, if any, meetings, conferences, or exhibitions relating to the HDD market that Jim didn’t make a point to attend. He usually occupied a seat in the front row of every event – he didn’t want to miss a thing.

Most importantly, Jim was unfailingly polite, gentlemanly, and generous. He loved wine, food, music, and culture. A born historian, Jim regaled countless individuals and parties with stories of bygone days. If he weren’t a business person, he would have been a raconteur – his ability to tell a story was legendary.

People often say “when I die, I want to be doing ……..” Well, Jim loved music, and he passed away while attending the Monterey Dixieland Jazz Festival. He will be greatly missed.

Jim Porter, RIP.

QSW Quasi-Static Magnetic Wafer Tester for magnetic heads, MRAM and magnetic field sensors. Measures GMR, TMR and perpendicular conduction magnetic devices and films. Constant current and voltage modes. Fast transfer acquisition curves, excellent accuracy and repeatability, very low noise, closed loop magnet (1000,2000,3000 Oe). Great flexibility for R&D with integral MATLAB interface and “factory ready” entire wafer mapping tools for production environments.

With regret we wish to advise you that IDEMA must cancel its December symposium series due to the flooding in Thailand and the enormous impact on the HDD supply chain. While we remain confident in the industry’s ability to recover from the recent events, we note that virtually all employees of the companies in our industry are heavily engaged in remedial activities that a symposium would likely serve as a distraction rather than a contribution.

We are very grateful to you for your commitment to help us field another great program in this long standing series. Please note that you will be the first invitees to our DISKCON series which we will schedule in February or March. We will soon have more information to come on our planning for that event. We hope that it will be an event where we can gather and celebrate another demonstration of the resiliency and resolve of our industry and the very talented people in it.

Thanks again,

Gary N. Davis

The panel discussion will be based exclusively on audience questions, so the chance for a direct question to a top HDD technologist has never been better. Sample questions might be: when will HAMR and bit-patterned media will move into mass production; what roles will “hybrid” HDDs or shingle magnetic recording (SMR) play and what are the key challenges to cost-effective mass production; can the HDD industry effectively collaborate on core technology problems; and how can HDDs be designed for added performance, speed and reliability without sacrificing capacity improvements.

The distinguished panel will be:

• Dr. Bill Cain, Vice President, Technology, Western Digital Corporation
• Dr. Currie Munce, Vice President, R&D, Hitachi GST
• Dr. Mark Re, Sr. Vice President, Recording Media and Heads R&D, Seagate Technology
• Dr. Pantas Sutardja, Exec. Vice President, CTO, Marvell Semiconductor

Wednesday, October 19, cocktails at 6pm, dinner at 7pm – there is limited seating so make your reservation now.

Speakers include:

• John Ryndning, IDC
• John Chen, TRENDFOCUS
• Tom Coughlin, Coughlin Associates
• Jeff Janukowicz, IDC

Deadline approaching fast — Sign up now. DISKCON USA and the Storage Industry Conference are next week, October 19-20.

Aim High

This year’s Technology for Youth Charity Golf Tournament supports Aim High, an award-winning summer program for middle school youth which combines rigorous academics with a fun and highly supportive learning environment. Can’t make it? Help out by nominating this deserving charity for a San Francisco’s Favorite Charity grant.

See how RAMAC was advertised

Searching San Jose, The Story of RAMAC

Celebrating 25 Years

Reduced Price for IDEMA Members

As part of our celebration of 25 Years of DISKCON, we’re reducing the price of attendance for IDEMA Members to the early bird rates. Register for the keynote dinner ($125) or the full conference ($475) now.

Keynote Dinner

Bring Your Questions

Four of the HDD industry’s leading technologists, Dr. Bill Cain, Dr. Currie Munce, Dr. Mark Re, and Dr. Pantas Sutardja will comprise a panel driven exclusively by audience questions around DISKCON USA 2011’s theme: “Retaining the Areal Density Advantage.”

But that doesn’t mean you can’t ask Mark Re, “Why can’t Mendenhall get a first down?” So whatever your pressing questions, bring them to the keynote dinner on Oct. 19th.

• How can channel technology support both areal density growth and performance improvements?
• How will HDD design change to handle higher data rates?
• What will the test and process equipment supply chain do to optimize throughputs and efficiencies?
• What other technologies or approaches are needed to support sustained areal density growth?

• Dr. Bill Cain, Vice President, Technology, Western Digital Corporation
• Dr. Currie Munce, Vice President, R&D, Hitachi GST
• Dr. Mark Re, Sr. Vice President, Recording Media and Heads R&D, Seagate Technology
• Dr. Pantas Sutardja, Exec. Vice President, CTO, Marvell Semiconductor

Wednesday, October 19, cocktails at 6pm, dinner at 7pm – there is limited seating so make your reservation now.