This is a continuation of my previous post. In this post I will present my summary of Marvin Sepe’s presentation.
In his report, Marvin Sepe indicated that 2 years ago he was given the opportunity to reinvent the semiconductor design process at JMAR, and essentially he was given free rein to purchase and implement the use of any leading edge equipment he needed, in this process. He also stated that with the opportunity came the challenge of bringing all of these pieces together to produce a product that will gain immediate acceptance in the industry. He indicated that the framework of JMAR semi utilizes a platform by Cadence systems a leading edge company in itself. He also mentioned a working relationship with Cadence that allows modifications to these tools to occur as the needs are determined.
I have worked as an engineer in the technology arena for many years, and anyone associated with this process will tell you, top engineers love on the leading edge equipment, developing leading edge applications. In essence, these are “toys” put into the hands of extremely talented individuals. Speaking as an engineer, financial compensation is of little concern when one has the opportunity to participate in a project of this size and meaning. The true reward for the engineer is in producing an excellent product. Do you suppose that JMAR has a problem attracting top people with this system in place?
This is the motivation and environment Dr. Martinez has created at JMAR.
Just to clarify, engineers as a group are a strange bunch. It has been said that the optimist sees the glass half full, the pessemist see the glass empty, and the engineer sees if being twice as big as it needs to be…
One of the biggest concerns I had going into the meeting was the current shortage of foundry facilities that will limit what can be actually be produced in the next decade. Here we have a company who is working with these foundries to develop the most efficient manufacturing process available. Is JMAR going to face the shortage that may limit other fabless laboratories? I highly doubt it, they are writing the rules of the game… It was mentioned quite often in the meeting that JMAR has a good working relationship with these manufacturers (foundries). Although they have the foundry capacity lined up for the next couple of years In writing, (and Marv was adamant about this), it only stands to reason that JMAR is a position to exploit its working relationship with these foundries and use the manufacturing capacity of these foundries for their own chips. Talk about a win-win situation…
Now that I think about this, why would JMAR want to make a spinoff when they are already holding all of the cards!!!
To this end he outlined a family of products that JMAR will be designing and selling in the marketplace starting this quarter. As Mr. Sepe noted, one does not wake up in the morning and decide that today we are going to start making semiconductors for the industry. This is why JMAR is introducing the FIFO chips first. I am sure that most of the shareholders do not realize that a FIFO chip is a fairly simple and straight forward device to design and manufacture. While it is a great place to start and gain credibility, Mr. Sepe has a business plan in place to introduce an entire family of complex ASICs to the market over the next few years. The FIFO’s are just the beginning of a whole family of products JMAR plans to develop over the next few years. As Stewart says, “let’s light this candle”.
As a personal observation, I was extremely impressed with Marv Sepe. While I am not completely familiar with his background, he immediate conveys the impression that he knows the semiconductor industry inside and out. I don’t think anything is going to get between Marv and success. Also I get the feeling that he is just getting started. In short, the introduction of the FIFO’s is only a small part of what is going to happen in the next year…
Next I will write about the Research Presentation, and some of the amazing things happening there. I may post it tonight if there is enough interest, otherwise I’ll wait until tomorrow.
toly |
