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The facility is a collaborative effort with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and will in fact be located on the campus of the university s School of Chemistry & Chemical Technology. Nobuyuki Hayashi, executive managing director in charge of research and development at Hitachi Chemical, says the facility will initially conduct research work on photoresists. Dry-film photoresists are one of Hitachi s best selling products in China.
Hayashi says his company is conducting research in China mostly in recognition of the importance of the market to the firm. Unlike, say, personal care products, photoresists don t need to be tailored for local markets.
As for selecting Shanghai, it was an obvious choice, Hayashi says. Another contender was the southern province of Guangdong, where much of China s manufacturing activity is concentrated. Hitachi also could have set up its R&D in Beijing, where it has extensive contacts with Tsinghua University. But it is in the Shanghai area that the firm s business is most developed and grows fastest. Moreover, Hitachi had developed a relationship with Jiao Tong University, making it easy to set up shop there.
Hitachi s center will employ about 15 people, six of whom will be Ph.D.s, Hayashi says. Graduate students at Jiao Tong University will occasionally take part in research projects. In the future, Hitachi may hire researchers from the center and move them to Japan, he adds.
Eventually, Hayashi is counting on the Shanghai facility to come up with technologies that Hitachi can turn into products sold internationally. In addition to photoresists, research will focus on copper foil laminates, isotropic conductive films, and epoxy encapsulation compounds for semiconductors
2003. 03.24.2003. China's products
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