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Amanda Kloots Opens Up About Nick Cordero’s New Treatment
June 05, 2020
Nick Cordero’s wife Amanda Kloots gave fans an update on his health today. The Broadway star is undergoing a new treatment that Amanda is hoping will help him recover. Nick was admitted to the hospital in late March with COVID-19 and has since been in a medically induced coma. He’s had a leg amputation, lung infections and more.
Amanda told her followers on Instagram Stories, “Ok, guys some Nick news. Exciting things. We have started stem cell treatment for Nick and that just finished.”
She went on, “We decided on this a couple of days ago and the hospital got it moving. We used a company called Capricor. This could be really great, of course there are absolutely no guarantees, there are hardly ever any guarantees, but I’m just hoping that it can help him. Even if it helps 1%, right? Even if it just bridges us to the next level in healing for him.”
Kloots is staying optimistic, saying, “I’m super excited about it and I can’t wait to see if anything comes of it to help repair, strengthen Nick’s lungs to get him any better.”
Nanoflight
While it would be very nice if we found out that he jumped ship from 3M, I'm not sure its all that important. What's important to me is that Mr. Pfeiffer has 28 years under his belt with a world-class company. Some of the best talent out there are recently retired people with years of management, sales and marketing experience and a networking list a mile long. I'm thinking about this move by Mr. Pfeiffer also as disruptive to some degree. Sounds like he's spent much of his life in Minn. and now he's likely to have to pull up stakes and move to Colorado. Not a big deal I suppose if it means getting a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity"!
PeteZ
Apologies to all
While I meant what I said to that poster in a humorous way(there's no excuse for someone to call NPCT a "POS" - without backing it up with at least fact-based opinion), I apologize for my indiscretion on this board. In fact I've pretty much stopped firing back for quite some time now (why bother when you are 99.9% sure the battle will be won), so I'll say this was somewhat out of character. Yes, those types of posts belong over at RB. Won't happen again here.
PZ
Announcement: Ministry of Due Diligence
I just wanted to issue an update amid all our busyness, that the Ministry staff is working extremely hard, even attending professional training courses, to master the art of consistently being at the cutting edge of relaxation. Friday's action, which sent some investors into nailbiting mode, is viewed here as a mere blip upon a long-term upward trend. We take due diligence quite seriously here: we diligently await our due - becoming dirty rotten stinkin' rich by holding the shares of NPCT.
Bird
My apologies for the silly "Yes Minister" posting. I am coming up on my 3rd anniversary of my first foray into NPCT shares. This thing has been building for quite some time. The NPCT enterprise came close to running out of money in late 1999. The saga of NPCT is actually quite amazing. My main focus has been on the fine quality of the people who have come on board - I have great respect for Drs. Neuhaus and Wernle. These guys gave up the certainty of very nice salaries at established companies - no one forced them to join the NPCT team. Dr. Wernle joined just at the time when things were looking the darkest in late '99. Why would he do such a crazy thing? finnegan23's recent interview with the good doctors was also quite elightening. Dr. N. was making good money when he took the NPCT plunge and was basically "unemployed" for a coupla years. Was he crazy as well? No, these guys saw the great potential in NCS and seized the moment. In my vision of this thing of ours, from here on its just a matter of waiting 3-6 months until real production and real sales begin. Then its on to NASDAQ listing, then institutional interest, then the small-cap mutual fund managers start poking around, etc... All I know is all this won't happen on my schedule but on theirs, which seems to be the main source of frustration for some people on these message boards.
Here I is, Minister of DD
The Minister of DD is actually an office secretly located in the Ministry of Silly Walks and is overseen by the Acting Assistant Undersecretary to the Minister of Homeland Antibashing & Security. Unfortunately he is rarely available because he is out taking walks in the park (testing). As Minister of DD I decree that everyone go to http://www.investortoinvestor.com or http://www.agoracom.com until further notice.
Pete Zerria
NanoPierce's Technology - Orientation for Potential New Investors
The following is updated version of Geoff Krone's piece first posted earlier this week over on RB:
"If you're new to Nanopierce, and especially if you're unfamiliar with the world of microelectronics and struggling to get a handle on what this
"NCS Technology" is all about, this post is for you!
The "Nanopierce Connection System" (NCS) is a revolutionary new method of making electrical connections. The simplest and most familiar
way of making a connection is just to place two conductors (wires, for example) in contact with each other. That's what we do when we plug
an appliance into an electrical outlet, or when we hook up a set of jumper cables to jump-start a car with a dead battery. Electricians connect
the wires in our houses by screwing "wire nuts" onto the bare tips of the wires to hold them together. Most people are also familiar with
solder, a metal alloy which is melted and then allowed to cool and turn back into a solid. It's used when we want a very good connection
(one which allows electricity to flow through the connection with little resistance) and we don't need (or want) the connection to be easily
disconnected.
NCS technology involves a special method of preparing the surface of an electrical conductor so that it will make an extremely good
(low-resistance) contact with another conductor when the two conductors are pressed together. No solder is required. One of the surfaces to
be connected is coated with a very thin layer of metal (nickel) containing tiny particles of diamond "dust." The pointy metal-coated diamond
particles stick up above the surrounding surface. When the treated surface is pressed tightly against the surface of another (untreated)
electrical conductor, the sharp pointed diamond particles pierce the surface of the other conductor, establishing a very good electrical
connection. No heating is required because no solder is used.
While there might be some uses for NCS in connecting relatively large conductors like the wiring in your house or car, it is in making the
extremely tiny connections which are required in manufacturing semiconductor devices ("chips" for electronic devices) that NCS yields
enormous advantages over existing technologies.
The potential market for NCS is the entire electronics industry: computer processors and memory chips, the tiny chips used in "smart card"
and "smart label" applications, light-emitting diodes ("LED's"), cell phones, etc. I will discuss several of these market segments
individually.
Complex circuits, including memory chips (DRAM's etc.), CPU's and other computer components, cell phone chips, etc.
Background: Most people do not realize that these chips are not manufactured individually. They are made from large "wafers" of silicon.
On each wafer, there may be dozens, hundreds, even thousands of individual chips, depending on the size of the wafer and the size of each
chip. (Technically, each individual chip is called a "die"; the plural is "dice.") In 2002, chip makers are beginning to use the largest wafers
ever: 300 mm. (approx. 12 inches) in diameter. When the internal circuitry for all the chips on the wafer is finished, the individual chips are
separated, but they are not yet ready for use. In order to do anything useful, the chip has to be able to communicate with the "outside
world." Connections have to be made between the circuitry on the chip and the device (computer, cell phone, etc.) that it's used in.
If you've seen a CPU or memory chip, you will recall that they usually look kind of like centipedes, with a row of tiny metal legs on each side.
These "legs" are usually plugged into a socket on a circuit board (often abbreviated "PCB' for Printed Circuit Board). The chip receives its
power through some of these legs, but most of the "legs" are used to send instructions and data to the chip and to receive output from the
chip. Relatively simple chips may have about a dozen "legs," while more complex chips have hundreds of them. Each of those little
"centipede legs" has to be individually and precisely connected to the proper point on the chip itself, so that it makes contact with the proper
portion of the complex circuitry within the chip.
For quite a few years, the standard method of making these connections was a technique known as "wire bonding." This technique works well
enough, but it has its disadvantages, perhaps the biggest one being that the connections must be made one at a time. More recently, "flip
chip" manufacturing has mounted a serious challenge to wire bonding because all the connections are made at once.
"Flip chip" is kind of like making a sandwich. Imagine that you have a chip, freshly "diced" from its wafer, lying on the table with the side
that has all the I/O connection pads facing up. Next to that, imagine a thin slice of a nonconductive material which is the same size and
shape as the chip, with all those little "centipede legs" already built into it. (The "centipede legs" are pointing down, the same way that they
will eventually be when the finished chip is installed into a socket.) The thin slice with the "centipede legs" is called the "substrate." Each
"centipede leg" extends onto the surface of the substrate. Now we take the chip and flip it over (which is where "flip chip" comes from) and
stick it down on top of the substrate. The I/O (Input/Output) pads on the chip and the extensions from the "centipede legs" are carefully
located so that they will match up when the two slices of our "sandwich" are pressed together. However, in this case, you can't make a good
enough connection just by having a conductor on one side press up against the conductor on the other side. The existing "state of the art"
for making good connections has been to use solder. An incredibly tiny "ball" of solder is placed at each connection point. (There are
numerous techniques for doing this.) After the two layers are put together, the whole assembly is heated just enough to melt ("reflow") the
solder. When it cools and solidifies, you have a very good electrical and physical connection.
Flip chip production methods using solder can be much more efficient than wire bonding. Other benefits of flip chip include cooling of the
chip (heat flows easily from the chip through the solder to the substrate) and holding the two layers solidly together. Compared with wire
bonding, flip chip methods can also provide better connections and shorter electrical pathways, yielding greater efficiency and speed of
operation of the chip. Also, wire bonding can only be done along the edges of the chip. Flip chip solder bumps can be spread over the entire
mating surfaces of the chip and substrate, allowing far more I/O channels on a chip of a given size.
However, flip chip techniques using solder are not perfect by a long shot. There are an awful lot of steps in the production process. On the
chip itself, the metal used for the surface of the bond pads is usually aluminum, and solder doesn't stick to aluminum very well at all. Also,
when aluminum is exposed to air, it very quickly forms a surface layer of oxide which impedes the flow of electricity. In one approach to this
problem, a process called "sputter etching" is used to remove the oxide and expose a fresh aluminum surface. Then several layers of
different metals are laid down onto the aluminum. These layers of metal are called the "Under Bump Metallization" or "UBM." First, the
aluminum is coated with an adhesion layer, which prevents further oxidation of the aluminum and also gives the next layer something it can
stick to. The next layer may be a "diffusion barrier" to keep atoms of the solder bump metals from finding their way into the body of the
chip and ruining it. Then there is another layer which provides for solder "wettability." Then the solder ball itself is formed on top of the UBM,
using any of about a dozen available techniques. Heat is then applied to melt the solder. The chip and substrate are now solidly connected
at dozens or even hundreds of separate points, but the thickness of the solder balls prevents the two layers from actually touching each
other between the intended connection points. This is good, because if they did touch, the whole thing would short out, but you can't just
leave the chip with a tiny gap between the layers because sooner or later moisture might get in there and short it out anyway! So the last
step is to fill the gap with a nonconductive "underfill" which is dispensed along the edges of the chip and drawn into the gap by capillary
action. The underfill also helps to glue the "sandwich" together. It helps to keep the solder bump connections from breaking, particularly
when the chip and substrate expand at different rates when they are heated. (This is more of a problem with large chips than small ones.)
As you can see, solder bump methods require a lot of production steps, which can take a long time. Also, there is a limit to how closely
solder bumps can be placed to one another, without danger that they will overflow their boundaries when they are reflowed and make
unintended contacts with their neighbors, destroying the chip. Also, traditional solders contain Lead (Pb). Governments in many nations are
in the process of requiring that Lead be eliminated from electronic products because of pollution issues which arise when the product is
discarded. Lead-free solders exist, but they may not work as well and they almost always have to be heated to higher temperatures than
solders that contain lead.
Instead of using solder balls, it is possible to use a conductive adhesive to make the connections. However, this requires extremely precise
dispensing of the adhesive and has other limitations of its own which have kept this technology from mounting much of a challenge to
solder ball methods.
This is where the "WaferPierce" version of Nanopierce's NCS technology comes in. While the chips are still on the wafers, an electroless
plating process is used to coat the aluminum contact pads with a thin layer of nickel containing particles of diamond dust. A final very thin
layer of gold may be put on top for even better initial electrical performance and resistance to corrosion over the years. After the dice (chips)
are cut from the wafer, each die is glued to its substrate under slight pressure, using a non-conductive adhesive which takes the place of the
underfill in the solder bump method. Little precision is required in the application of the nonconductive adhesive. It is unnecessary to avoid
getting adhesive on the contact points, because when the two layers are pressed together, the sharp points of the metal-coated diamond
particles will pierce through the adhesive, as well as through any oxide which may exist on the surface of the mating contact point,
establishing an excellent electrical connection. In fact, the nonconductive adhesive shrinks as it cures, pulling the two layers tightly together.
NCS connections also provide good heat transfer from the chip to the substrate to help keep the chip cool. Their ability to conduct electricity
is at least as good as solder and better than conductive adhesive. The contact points can also be considerably closer together than solder
balls without risk of shorting out. Because the plating process is applied to the entire wafer at once, tens of thousands of contact points are
treated at the same time. There are several steps in the electroless plating process, but an entire wafer can be treated in about fifteen
minutes. In fact, with further refinement of the plating process (which may already have been accomplished), a "cassette" holding 25 wafers
(each with 30,000 or more connection points) can be treated all at once.
Using either solder ball flip-chip or NCS technologies, the substrate does not have to be the typical "centipede" which is stuck into a socket
which is in turn attached (soldered) to a printed circuit board. If you don't care about being able to remove the chip easily from its board, the
chip can also be attached directly to the circuit board itself. In this case, the PCB itself becomes the substrate. "Chip on board" is not a
Nanopierce innovation, but NCS is readily adapted to it.
Smart Cards and Smart Labels
"Smart cards" and "smart labels" represent one of Nanopierce's most important target markets for quick commercialization. A smart label is
just like any other label: a small sheet of paper or plastic with printing on one side and adhesive on the other. The printed side can display
a bar code, a shipping address, whatever you want. The difference is that embedded within the smart label is a tiny electronic chip or
"transponder." This chip can store information. The information is sent to and retrieved from the chip by radio waves. The device which
"reads" the information on the chip is usually just called a "reader." (I guess they ran out of confusing technical names....) Because "Radio
Frequency" waves are used to read the tag, and because the smart label is used to "IDentify" whatever it's attached to, this is often referred
to as "RFID" technology. A "smart card" is just like a smart label, except that the chip is embedded in thicker, stiffer plastic --- just like the
credit cards you're familiar with, except that the magnetic stripe on the back is replaced by a chip which can store far more information.
Smart cards are used for "access control" (opening doors), paying tolls on highways, and (in Europe) making phone calls at public phones.
Banks are beginning to combine them with credit cards, and the Mobil Speedpass is basically a smart card in a different physical form.
In the supermarket, the main benefit of smart labels will be easier scanning of items. With bar codes, a cashier has to handle each item
and scan it -- sometimes repeatedly, if the scanner fails to read the bar code correctly on the first try. Speeding up the checkout process will
benefit customers and stores alike. However, properly managing inventory may be even more important. With a smart label on every item,
a retail store can know precisely what's in stock and where it is at all times, which in turn makes it possible to order products efficiently when
they are needed. We are very close to seeing smart labels on every piece of luggage carried by every airline, and every package shipped by
the major carriers like FedEx and UPS. These applications alone would consume billions of smart labels every year, and Nanopierce is aiming
for a share of that market.
The chips in smart labels and smart cards are getting smaller all the time. Chips measuring a little over a millimeter on each side are now
common. RFID technology can be either "active" or "passive." The active type is powered by a built-in battery, which gives it a much longer
range (maybe as much as 300 feet) at a much higher cost. The passive type has no on-board power supply. It obtains its power from the
radio waves transmitted by the reader. Passive tags have a very limited range --- about a meter at best, often less. Even a passive tag,
though, has a big advantage over a bar code label: You don't have to be able to see it to read it.
So what does NCS have to do with smart labels and smart cards? Well, like any other radio device, the little tiny chip has to have an antenna
to send and receive information. The antenna doesn't have to be a wire or a metal rod -- it can even be a thin stripe of electrically
conductive ink printed on the label. But the chip has to be connected to its antenna, and the connection has to hold up even when the
flexible label is bent repeatedly. You obviously can't use solder, since the heat would melt the label or set it on fire! NCS can be applied to
the contact point on the chip, the chip can be glued to the label using a nonconductive glue, the metal-coated diamond particles pierce
through the glue, and you've got a durable low-resistance connection. The cost of producing smart labels can be very substantially reduced
using NCS, and cost has been the main obstacle to widespread use of smart labels.
Looking a little farther into the future, the smart tag experts at MIT's Auto-ID Center envision an "Internet of Things" in which virtually every
consumer product would carry a smart label and every appliance would be able to read them. Your refrigerator would be able to warn you
that the gallon of milk you bought last week has passed its expiration date. Your microwave would read the cooking instructions from a
package of frozen food and program itself to cook it. Obviously, you're not going to put a 20-cent label on a 35-cent pack of gum, but if
smart labels could be made for a penny apiece, the uses are endless. Even at a nickel apiece, the market would probably reach a hundred
billion labels per year within the next few years.
LED's: Light Emitting Diodes
LED's are semiconductor devices that give off light. You see them every day -- the little red indicator light that tells you a phone line is in
use, the row of flashing green lights that indicate how loud the music is on your stereo, etc. They are useful because they don't consume
much power, they last for years without burning out, and they respond very quickly when switched on and off. Most people are not aware of
the extent to which LED's have begun to be used in much larger scale applications over the past few years. The huge displays that are used
to show instant replays in football stadiums, for example, are increasingly made with LED's. Approximately ten percent of all the traffic lights
in the U.S. now use LED's rather than conventional light bulbs because of their low power consumption and long life. (It has been estimated
that replacing all the traffic lights in Tokyo with LED versions will save enough electricity to equal the entire output of a good sized generating
plant!) Lighting manufacturers around the world are in an intensive race to develop LED replacements for ordinary incandescent light bulbs.
Automakers are moving quickly to adopt LED's for use in brake lights and many other applications.
In order to obtain sufficient brightness and resolution in displays using LED's, it is necessary to mount a lot of LED's very close together.
Previously, solder or conductive adhesives have been relied upon to connect the LED's, but these have severe limitations. It's difficult to
control the placement of the adhesive precisely enough to keep it from spreading too far and causing short circuits, and similar problems
arise with solder. Also, LED's generate a lot of heat, which has to be given an opportunity to dissipate. Nanopierce scientists have shown that
NCS works extremely well in this environment as well. (Check out "Electrical and Thermal Performance of a New Process for High Density LED
Array Assembly," a paper presented at IMAPS 2001 by Wernle and Kober, available on the company's website.) Nanopierce recently
announced the signing of a Letter of Intent with Opto Tech, a leading producer of LED's and LED products, to jointly develop NCS for use in
LED applications. Discussions are reported to be under way with other LED manufacturers as well. Although LED's may not turn out to be
Nanopierce's biggest profit center, it may be one of the earliest.
This concludes my introduction to Nanopierce's fascinating new technology. I hope you've found it to be useful. A few points to emphasize in
conclusion: These are the views and opinions of an ordinary shareholder. I have no professional training in electronics, so it's not impossible
that I might have gotten something wrong. I do not represent the company nor was I compensated in any way by NPCT for writing this post
(or anything else! LOL!). I also have no formal training or credentials in business or finance, and I am not an investment advisor. In other
words, don't take my word for anything. If you're interested enough to want to keep digging, Kent Kloock posts a "Due Diligence" summary
just about every day, and it is chock full of valuable links. I also strongly recommend Kathy Knight-McConnell's website, which is found at
http://www.investortoinvestor.com .
Best regards,
Geoff Krone"
Sara
You are of course absolutely correct on all counts. I guess you do realize that you are conversing with a totally discredited message board "terrorist" who cares not a whit about NanoPierce's achievements thus far, which are substantial. Whether you decide to "dabble" or not is totally up to you, but I see a great deal of risk having been removed over the past 2+ years since I began "dabbling." They have steadily moved forward with their business plan while being flexible enough to exploit opportunities as they arise. For example, Paul's vision of commercializing WaferPierce® has progressed much much faster than was anticipated just 18 months ago. MMM will eventually fade into the trashbin of mystery.
Good luck,
Pete
Hilarious M!
I don't even know why you bother with your amateurish attacks.
Anyone with half a brain can see right thru your nonsensical
accusations and innuendos. Explain how this "dishonest" company
has been allowed to present not one but two papers at
this coming week's International Microelectronics And Packaging
Society (IMAPS) Symposium in Baltimore.
http://www.imaps.org/imaps2001/index.htm
Not like I expect an honest answer from you M. - you are
incapable of giving one. This is my one and only reply to you.
Wishing you a pleasant interview by SEC investigators,
Pete
finnegan23's 10/4/01 update/Dr. Wernle interview
"A (small) update.
I managed to talk to Dr. Wernle today. I will share a few of the things he mentioned. As always, he was very cautious with what he was saying because (my interpretation) he does not want to provoke any unjustified expectations. While I can't quote everything he said, I must say I feel assured that we are on track and VERY close.
So:
- (this was very important for me...) The rules are changing a bit. Nanopierce is no longer dependent on a single potential customer. If they are getting the feeling a potential customer (even a big one) is trying to delay the negotiations because he thinks he will achieve a better price that way - they are able to tell him that they will sign an agreement with a different company so he has to show his colors right now (this is very positive IMHO).
- Kent Kloock mentioned that he learned that we do know just about 25% of what is going on. Dr. Wernle confirmed that. He said the company prefers not to talk about the possibilities, the research and the progress, but only about results. One reason for this is that the company does not want to be thrashed for raising hopes if there are no results. From what I know (source is not Dr. Wernle), A LOT is going on behind the scenes, in regard to financing and new applications.
- They have samples of flexible PET circuit boards now (not only solid or semi-flexible) and are heat-testing them. As you know, these are needed for SmartLabel manufacturing. The boards are still in test-design (they won't work on a SmartLabel, but you can test the connections). They will have a complete inlay ready for mass production within 3 to 5 weeks.
- the testing of Waferpiercing is almost completed. This means, the company can answer about 75% of the questions of potential customers from the hip. There is still testing to be done, but this will not influence negotiations any further, because there is sufficient proof of the technology.
- Some delay is not Nanopierce's fault. For example, they received the substrates for the flexible boards 8 weeks late - according to Dr. Wernle one has to deal with that while being a small company.
- expect inlays to be the first revenue-generating application. LEDs will be next, if not simultaneous.
- NCS is very attractive as a connecting technology for chip manufacturers, but for SmartLabels you need more. Dr. Wernle feels that his company is in an excellent position there: Based on their experience, they know how to produce them, how to organize central buying, and a lot more I can't tell you in detail. One could summarize it under the term "networking".
- the IMAPS in my eyes will be much more important than many are realizing. NPCT was attending last year and this will be the second year and they can prove that they have not only been talking but are ready to deliver now.
- for those who are not informed about the IMAPS rules (I did not know this): IF you are allowed to lecture (not many are allowed to, and it is highly unusual that a small company like Nanopierce can do twice), you have to deliver an abstract of your paper in advance (in February 2001). You have to deliver the final version in advance (somewhen in summer 2001). You are not allowed to publish this in newspapers / magazines until 90 days after the IMAPS. Dr. Wernle said that they have made tremendous progress after he filed the paper so they are considering to write an appendix to the paper to let everybody know what they can do now.
- IMAPS is not a trade fair where you acquire customers. But because the elite of the big players will be there, it is a great opportunity to spread the
word. 8 people from Nanopierce will attend, 4 from Germany, 4 from the US. It will be the first time Nanopierce has a booth and will show the products.
Dr. Wernle: "Many of us have a lot of experience in this business, we know what to do and it will be impressive." Many funds managers will be there, too.
- Dr. Wernle feels the hiring of a sales representative in Taiwan is totally underestimated by the investment community.
- Potential customers will never admit how deeply impressed they are about the technology because they are trying to get the best (lowest) price they can. But the company feels that their potential customers really want and need NCS.
- A big advantage will be: Well, NCS is fine, but the company has sufficient highly qualified staff to offer NCS, software, chip-desing, configuration, implementation, RFID knowledge, and so on. According to Dr. Wernle, the success will come from the package they can offer.
=======================================================
Want a smily from Dr. W. again? "We won't buy a Lear jet before 2004. I don't want my shareholders to think we are wasting their money." (this was kidding *smile*)
=======================================================
Ok, I may add a few more things. Source is not (or not only) Dr. Wernle. I received an email from Paul Metzinger, I made a few phone calls and I did some research (no, I did not call CEOs, there are different ways to get an info *smile*)...
- Paul Metzinger: "The future of Nanopierce is getting brighter all the time. Our technology continues to receive ever greater recognition and endorsement by world recognized authorities."
- I second that. The big guys are there and we are very close. The names are familiar to everybody on this board, our guessing was not too bad. Sad, but true, legal constraints (still) apply.
- There is more to come. Await significant news in October (not only one).
- The time frame for revenues keeps unchanged. Don't expect anything significant in the quarterlies before I/02 or even II/02.
- There is a lot to come from three different continents very soon.
=======================================================
I do NOT want to create "excitement" with this (as it has been stated on this board today). Just wanted to share the info. Maybe some longs will like it. For the bashers/negatives: No, no contracts announced. Yes, still the same ole thing over and over. You will realize very soon... (this was no work at all, just a few phone calls... why don't you do it?)
Best regards
Finnegan"
My 2 cents on NPCT
"finnegan23" of RB fame spoke with Dr. Wernle on 10/4. His
report is next post. finnegan is an investor and a journalist by
trade. Things are moving along quite nicely. Probably not as fast
as some investors would like, but patience will be rewarded.
I have been an investor since 4/99. Sold about 1/2 during the
early 2000 runup, bought back entire original position (and then
some) during the recent "94%-off sale". The more I hear and see
the more I like. IMO there is no doubt now this is a legit
company (fully reporting to SEC since day 1), owning a
tremendously useful technology with myriad applications being
improved upon by a talented workforce and moving forward with
great leadership. The stock has held up extremely well during
the most recent market swoon.
I expect significant positive news and events over the next 3-6
months and listing on NASDAQ National Market by the end of next
year.
Pete
An investor's report from 9/20/01 Open House
"finnegan23" (RB alias) posted this report right after last week's Open House in Germany:
"Open House report, Part 1:
FOA: As I mentioned, there was a lot of talk. Not only because of my credibility in the eyes of all people I have talked to, I will not quote everything I heard.
As usual, there are
different categories of information:
- Info one can quote and name the person who gave it,
- Info one can quote but can not name the source,
- Info you can only indicate and finally
- Info you have to keep under hat.
I will respect this because under no circumstances I want to endanger my own investment
and / or the future of the company. But be assured there is still enough that can be said.
I will NOT be too detailed when talking about the lectures. They were excellent and
interesting but I am sure you will prefer to hear about the "why", "who" and "when". It
definitely was a good idea to give an overview of Flip Chip technology because many
potential investors attended but I am sure all RB attendants have known the content
before the OH *smile* (btw: A few months ago I would never have imagined to understand anything of this mumbo-jumbo...).
Open House report, Part 2:
From Dr. Wernle's introduction:
He mentioned a few things we (on RB) already knew. So I keep this short and quote only
the things which were new to me:
- The cleanroom will be put in operation within one or two weeks.
- He is very happy about the progress the company made and that it is time to reap the
fruits of their work NOW (!). "We have a product now and we can start selling it. And we
have a machine for NCS now."
- He is well aware of the fact investors are waiting for customers. "There was the
technology, then a man with a vision, then the team, then we had to find the markets and
building our network of partners. The Nanopierce house is almost complete, just the roof,
the customers are not there yet. But we will put the roof on it and move in very soon, this
is for sure."
- The market for NCS is growing every day. One new technology is the fingerprint
identification system from Infineon (again *smile*). "They have already developed it. It
has to be connected somehow, too."
- The "waferpiercing service" will be available to customers at the beginning of 2002 (Dr.
Wernle prefers the term "waferpiercing service" rather than "production", but I think we all know what is meant).
Stay tuned, part 3 to follow.
Open House report, part 3
Mr. Völler / Fraunhofer Institute.
Mr. Völler spoke about Flip Chip technology in general, so I won't quote him that much,
but he mentioned some interesting points:
"Flip Chip technology is not a choice, but a necessity for size and weight reasons. "
"Wirebonding will be a thing of the past very soon and our partner Nanopierce's
technology will contribute to that."
"The shorter the wires are the higher are the frequencies you can achieve. Todays chips
with frequencies of a GHz and above would be impossible to manufacture without Flip
Chip technology. A technology which eliminates todays disadvantages in FlipChipping is
very much needed. NCS is such a technology."
Mr. Tiedmann (Schreiner Etiketten)
This was fascinating! The overall impression: This market yet has to be created but it will
be HUGE. Desperately needed are technologies like NCS which can reduce the
manufacturing costs. Today's manufacturing costs for SmartLabels are somewhere
around $0.80 to $1.00. While this is extremely high, they are already in use for high
priced products like fashionable clothes etc. I will quote a few ideas of Schreiner
Etiketten later in detail. I was amazed - I knew this thing will be big but I have not been
aware in how many fields you can use SmartLabels.
Nanopierce will produce the inlays for the SmartLabels and Schreiner Etiketten will use
them for their labels.
I talked to Mr. Tiedmann later and learned the following:
As always, manufacturing costs will decrease along with the increase of the number of
Labels produced.
NOT a problem to find a market. Delta Airlines alone has use for 7.5 million baggage
checkings per month. While a barcode label only costs $0.01 to $0.02 and a SmartLabel
is much more expensive, they will use it because it reduces the time you need to check
the baggage, the number of errors and will dramatically improve the security level.
Asked at which price Airlines will consider using SmartLabels, he said "15 cents is for
sure a price which would make them potential customers." NCS technology can push the
price way down below 15 cents (I asked twice, he confirmed twice).
The same is true for companies like FedEx and UPS. They are in need of 5 million labels
PER DAY. So, Mr. Tiedmann said, "the only problem is there are not enough chips and
machines in the whole world yet to produce all these labels" (well, I could live with that...)
part 4 to follow (the best is yet to come).
Open House report, part 4:
Ok, Mr. Pajonk / Simotech:
Simotech is still a very young company, but, geez, these guys are SMART! This
ModulAS-RFID seems to be (as far as I can tell... It’s been a while since I built my last
SmartCard manufacturing machine *lol*) superior to all the competitor’s equipment. It can produce almost anything with a chip in or on it. Dr. Wernle
later on told me he was
extremely impressed when he saw for the first time how flexible this thing is. (As to the
question on this board: yes, I think it will replace any older equipment / concepts).
Well, the bottom line is:
Mr. Pajonk publicly stated that NCS is an unbelievably simple process. "Nanopierce
made a very circumstantial thing very simple."
Which is good for Nanopierce but not that good for Simotech. A LOT of equipment has
been necessary for this card production before. For several reasons with NCS one needs
just and only this ModulAS. This saves a lot of space and, as you may imagine, even
more money...
Somebody later told me that this machine will cost about 750.000 German Marks
($340.000 approx.). Without NCS you have to buy equipment which would cost you 1.5
million Marks. Any questions? *smile* And this is just the equipment – as we know, NCS also makes production more simple and less expensive...
Company officials did not comment on it, but I learned that Simotech has already sold at
least 4 of this machines, maybe more. 2 may have been bought by big companies
(please, figure it out yourself... And DON’T call every CEO you may find in your area...
This is a no-no! *grin*).
Nanopierce is not listed on Simotech’s website yet, but it is mentioned in the handout we
received at the OH (and which appears to be the presentation they are giving to potential
customers) as one of three possible connection systems.
Absolutely no one was willing to comment on my speculation that nobody has bought one of this 4 machines without at least the option for NCS now
as the technology is known by the big players. EVERYBODY WAS JUST SMILING WHEN I ASKED... No, they did not smile. It was more like a fat grin.
Dr. Wernle told me that Nanopierce will not pay Simotech and Simotech will not pay
Nanopierce. They consider it to be a win-win-situation. Simotech thinks every big player
will want or need to have the possibility to use NCS within a few months and will have to
buy a Simotech ModulAS. Dr. Wernle thinks of it like "giving away a Gilette razor and
even a free sample blade. After this you just have to wait for your customers to return to
buy more and more blades..."
There are many more (mostly technical) details, but I think I’ll keep that for later.
Part 5 to follow.
Open House report, part 5:
Mr. Sieg, President and CEO of Elcos.
I frankly admit I did not expect this to be the highlight of the day because we haven’t heard too much of the Elcos partnership recently. But then Mr. Sieg
entered the stage. What followed left me mouth and eyes wide open:
This guy is Bavarian but could as well be from the US, he is straightforward to say the
least.
He did nothing less than stating he is just waiting for Nanopierce to deliver. No "if" or
"maybe" or "interesting concept".
I talked to him later and asked him and he said he has some new products he CAN NOT
PRODUCE right now, "because I need Nanopierce for them. There is no other way I could produce them, they are too small for every technology that
exists." And: "I am really waiting for Nanopierce to deliver. It’s not like the SmartLabel market which has still to develop. Believe it or not, I can modify my
die-bonders within 30 minutes and start producing Nanopierce LEDs. I just have to use a different glue, that’s all we have to alter. Every LED
manufacturer in the whole world can do the same."
More beef: "I am absolutely sure there will be a race for NCS once the first big
manufacturer uses it. I have been in Asia recently and had only loose talks over NCS with
a manufacturer. He had not heard of it before but after an hour or so he asked me if we
can sign a CONTRACT (ha! The evil word *smile*). I had to tell him he has to call
Nanopierce, not me..."
Mr. Sieg said: "There are billions and billions of LEDs every year, they are as small as 0.4 x 0.4 millimeters now or even smaller and we are still using
conductive glue – and this is not the appropriate technology for todays LEDs. As long as we have to use conductive glue, we will have problems. If the
glue causes just one closed circuit, we have to throw away 2000 Marks right now. NCS eliminates this problem and it is so simple, just glue,
nanopiercing, that’s all." And: "There is no technology similar to this one. We really need this to increase packaging density any further."
"We at Elcos are ready for mass production. We can start it any moment. All we need are
the chips from Nanopierce, and I need lots of them."
"This is nothing less than a revolution for LED mass production. NCS may save up to 25
or even 30% of the manufacturing costs. This is incredibly much money."
When I told Dr. Wernle that Mr. Sieg is really eagerly awaiting the NCS-chips, he just
smiled and said: "I know. He will get them."
There is one problem with LEDs: You can’t use FlipChip (Mr. Sieg confirmed this). The
reason is simple: You have to get the light out of the LED. If you flip it over, you will have an oven, but not a lamp *smile*. This problem is well known
within the industry and yet unsolved. They would love to get rid of these darned wires, believe me...
So, guess what? From a reliable source I know a small company which has found the
solution for this problem and even already filed a patent on it: LEDs with Flip Chips!!!
I won’t be more specific here or give any technical details because I have been told that
NPCT already is on the radar screen of the competitors and I for sure do NOT want to be
the one to tell them how to do it.
Part 6 to follow.
Open House report, Part 6 (final part for now):
Just a few more prompts (a bit scrambled, sorry, as it comes out of my block):
- Waferpiercing rollout is scheduled for January 2002 but I got the impression it could be a few days earlier, the company appears to be conservative
with the date (JMHO). It will not be next week or next months, for some tests have to be completed. What takes so long is this darned temperature cycle
test (which is a simulation of "aging" of the connections). You can do absolutely nothing to accelerate this, just have to raise the temperature and lower
it again and have to check the connections every 100 hours. After this they will start with a test where a haze of saltwater is sprayed upon the wafer
(don’t know the appropriate English word for "Salznebelsprühtest").
- This is just from hearsay but I learned the test results so far are overwhelming.
- Right now there are two wetbenches in Col. (the big one and a very small one). Nanopierce will buy a third bench any time soon. Dr. Wernle told us
the reason for this is that they want to separate R&D from the production process. You have to make save that you are using exact the same chemical
composition and the same time frame for the waferpiercing process, you have to be very accurate because it is a very short time (because you need
very little nickel for the connections – traditional wafers need hours, Nanopierce just minutes). You can't ensure this while some other staff member is
trying out something new.
- Paul Metzinger stated again there will be no equity financing while the stock price is so low. Paul Metzinger and Dr. Wernle answered a question if
there will be a buyout: They are ruling out this before the stock price is at a level which would make all of us feel very comfortable.
- Dr. Wernle sees no competition from other companies now. They are following all the important publications very closely but are very confident they
are superior to any existing technology.
- No money is needed now, no money will be needed in 2002. They have secured now that they have access to financing if they want or need it. There
are enough people in the background now who will be ready to provide liquidity, that is the reason why Stan Richards and a few others attended the
OH.
- The PR campaign in Germany will start any day soon. It consists of Radio broadcasting and TV broadcasting along with other activities. This should
increase the volume in Frankfurt quite significantly over the next few months. I did not succeed in learning which TV channel will be broadcasting the
NPCT story, but I heard it will be a respected one. There are some activities which are planned for the US markets, too.
- One of the next goals will be to eliminate glue from the Waferpiercing process.
- They are considering "financing segments" for the different products (Waferpiercing, SmartLabels, LEDs) to make sure they have sufficient liquidity for
every product. When asked, company officials clearly ruled out that the reason for this decision was that there might be a break-up of the company into
several divisions.
- The big players are sending many, many test wafers (no one asked them to do so).
- Paul Metzinger told us "We are exchanging technical data with big players now and this is highly sensitive and it is unusual that a big company sends
you its data after they have tested. It shows how close we are. There is only one critical step left now: Pricing information, the most guarded information
in the semiconductor business, this is the next and last step to follow."
- Expect no big revenues in the 10k. It will be out next week. We will see "something" before year’s end, but nothing close to a million. Next year we will
lift off (this was not new but they reassured us).
Two smilies from Dr. Wernle at last:
"Most of the new technologies have been invented by small companies, not by the big players, they just adopted them. Well, there are exceptions: The
C4 FlipChip process is that complicated – it has to be directly from IBM."
"Our patents are safe. Our first patent says "any hard particles on any surface with any metal coating". To be honest, the first time I read this I could not
believe you can successfully file a patent on anything as ambiguous as this. But it’s true."
There are gadzillions more details, but this is the summary I can think of. Maybe Hackertom or voitsi can comment if they agree with the picture I gave.
Best regards
Finnegan"
Auditors Remove ``Going Concern'' Qualification on Financial Statements
Auditors of NanoPierce Technologies, Inc. Remove ``Going Concern'' Qualification on Financial Statements
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 27, 2001--NanoPierce Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:NPCT - news) today announced the filing of its June 30, 2001
Annual Report on Form 10-KSB with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Company further announced that in connection with the filing of the June 30, 2001 Financial Statements, its independent auditors Gelfond
Hochstadt Pangburn, PC, Denver, Colorado issued an unqualified opinion, removing the ``Going Concern'' uncertainty paragraph from their Opinion.
Kristi J. Kampmann, Chief Financial Officer of the Company, said, ``The removal of the `Going Concern' uncertainty paragraph by the Company's
auditors is a significant financial event for the Company. We believe that the Company is sound and that the Company will be able to support
continuing and the ever-expanding operations of the Company.''
Paul H. Metzinger, Chief Executive Officer & President of the Company, commented, ``We have worked long and hard to achieve this opinion from our
independent auditors. The importance of an unqualified opinion on our financial statements from our independent auditors for future institutional
financings of the Company cannot be understated. It is yet another significant development for the Company, which will promote additional confidence
in the trading market for our securities, as well as enhance our financial image and stature with industry partners in the microelectronics markets.''
The Company reported at June 30, 2001 total assets of $6,307,592 of which, current assets were $4,972,996, total current liabilities of $170,739 and
stockholders' equity of $6,136,853. The Company reported no long-term liabilities for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2001.
The June 30, 2001 Annual Report on Form 10-KSB can be obtained by accessing the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission at www.sec.gov.
NanoPierce Technologies, Inc. of Denver, Colorado, USA, is traded on the Nasdaq stock market (OTCBB:NPCT - news) as well as on the Frankfurt
and Hamburg (OTC:NPI - news). In addition to the 12 patents it owns, NanoPierce has numerous applications pending, others in preparation, and
various other intellectual properties related to NanoPierce's proprietary NCS (NanoPierce Connection System). This advanced system is designed to
provide significant improvement over conventional electrical and mechanical interconnection methods for high-density circuit boards, components,
sockets, connectors, semiconductor packaging and electronic systems.
For more information on NanoPierce Technologies, Inc. please visit this web site: http://www.nanopierce.com
This announcement contains forward-looking statements
8/16/01 Interview w/ CEO Paul Metzinger
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