ICCCS 2012 – Balance Sheet

ICCCS 2012 – Balance Sheet

ICCCS 2012 – Balance Sheet

ICCCS 2012 – Balance Sheet

ICCCS 2012 – Balance Sheet

ICCCS 2012 – Balance Sheet

ICCCS 2012 – Balance Sheet

The ICCCS Symposium (International Symposium on Contamination Control) takes place every 2 years in one of the participating countries. The entire world of cleanroom technology gathers there in such a way that exhibitions on the topic are held, and all technical committees or working groups of the individual standards. Here, the ISO guidelines on cleanroom technology are established after respective technical discussions.

In 1972, the ICCCS was held in Zurich as the inaugural version for the first time. The beautiful city of Zurich also celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Last but not least, we were once again honored to host this festival on its 40th birthday. It is almost unbelievable that cleanroom technology has now been an established technical institution for 40 years. Started by a few "driven" pioneers, such as our honorary member Dr. Hans Schicht, our high-tech world would no longer be conceivable without this organization.

A brief note on the history at this point.

In 1961, Dr. Willies Whitfield built the first "laminar flow" at Sandia Laboratories in New Mexico, laying the foundation for cleanroom technology. Several efforts were undertaken to steer this technology in the right direction and make it economically viable. Norms and guidelines are necessary for this so that customers and manufacturers speak the same language, or at least mean the same thing, and ultimately can build accordingly.

From this, the first standard for cleanroom technology developed – namely the US Federal Standard 209, already in its first version in 1969. With ongoing extensions as technology advanced, new versions from US-FED-STD 209A to 209E were established. As part of the internationalization of cleanroom technology and the establishment of ISO standards, the then-current US-FED-STD 209E was officially replaced by ISO standard 14644 by the US GSA on November 29, 2001.

In breathtaking speed, this technology developed worldwide. Initially, cleanroom technology was only used by the electronics industry, but by the late 1970s, it also entered industries such as pharmaceuticals, medical technology, and hospitals, among others. A long list of various users and manufacturers has emerged over the past 30 years.

Despite everything, it seems that the respective symposia or the individual meetings of the "workgroups" take place in a more or less familiar environment. People know each other, respect each other, and thus always reach a mutually agreeable compromise, even after quite strenuous discussions.

Among other things, the VDI Technical Committee for Cleanroom Technology held its annual meeting at this event, as did the ICEB meeting, the ICCCS CoD meeting, and the various working groups of TC209 with WG1, WG3 & WG11, TC142 with WG1 to WG11, and finally TC195.

There were 20 nations with well over 150 people present. For over a year, we as a small organizing group of the SwissCCS prepared this symposium. As can also be seen from the attached programs, it ultimately was a huge effort for a small group consisting of the SwissCCS board. It was a demanding week for all of us, and I would like to sincerely thank my colleagues on the board for the smooth process.

A very special thanks, of course, goes to our organizational talent Dr. Alfred Moser, who faced all emerging difficulties with near stoic calm. Of course, a special thank you also goes to our president Hans Zingre, who endured all this with us without "bruises".

The Swiss Society for Cleanroom Technology "SwissCCS" (Swiss Contamination Control Society) successfully concluded this symposium ICCCS 2012. A few attached photo impressions should invite readers to visit the homepage: www.swissccs.org or www.icccs2012.ethz.ch.

We wish our colleagues from Korea success for ICCCS 2014 and colleagues from Brazil for ICCCS 2016.

With best regards from the cleanroom, I remain yours, Norbert Otto
Board Member of SwissCCS
Managing Director of C-tec GmbH
Delegate in VDI 2083 & ISO 14644