Welcome > About us > Corporate Overview
March Plasma Systems
Company Profile
March Plasma Systems is the global leader in low temperature gas plasma equipment and applications technology. The company has been engaged in the plasma equipment business for more than twenty years and has broad experience in the areas of semiconductor packaging, printed circuit board manufacturing, medical device assembly and various industrial applications.
March Plasma Systems was formed through the merging of March Instruments of Concord, California and Advanced Plasma Systems (APS) of St. Petersburg, Florida. Both March Instruments and APS were acquired in 1999 by Nordson Corporation. March Plasma Systems is a 100% subsidiary of Nordson.
Nordson Corporation is one of the world's leading producers of precision dispensing equipment that applies adhesives, sealants and coatings to a broad range of consumer and industrial products during manufacturing operations. The company also manufactures technology-based systems for curing and surface treatment processes. Headquartered in Westlake, Ohio, Nordson Corporation has 4000 employees worldwide and 2007 revenues of US $993 Million.
March Plasma Systems’ headquarters are located in Concord, California also housing its product development staff, applications engineering, global technical service support and administrative functions. The company has its principal manufacturing locations in St. Petersburg, Florida and Carlsbad, CA. International Sales, Service and Applications staff are located around the world supported from facilities in Maastricht, Netherlands; Tokyo, Japan; Shanghai, China; and Singapore. Each international facility is equipped with a full complement of equipment for customer applications support.
The two companies that are at the foundation of March Plasma Systems each have a rich history of success. March Instruments was founded in 1984.
The original product was the Plasmod reactor from original Motorola patents. The small bench top barrel plasma system found broad use in the early days of semiconductor research and is still used in many university laboratories. With the advent of laminated substrates and advanced package technologies, such as BGA’s, March Instrument’s position in semiconductor packaging grew fast. IDM’s and Contract Packaging companies quickly proliferated the use of March Instrument’s popular PX1000 product.
In 1999 March Instruments introduced the first of its TRAK style products, initiating a new trend in equipment to respond to the industry demands for greater uniformity and consistency of treatment as well as the needs for automation. The initial ITRAK product has since evolved in March Plasma Systems’ highly successful FlexTRAK platform which is now widely used throughout the Semiconductor and Medical Device industries.
Advanced Plasma Systems was founded in 1981. The large format plasma systems that APS produced were immediately applied in the Printed Circuit Board manufacturing industry. Applications that required compliance with the rigid military specifications were ideally suited for plasma cleaning technology. APS continued to grow as smaller via diameters, new materials and increasing layer counts evolved in the PCB industry. Plasma treatment is providing technology solutions where the traditional methods loose effectiveness. APS also found success in utilizing its product concepts to develop solutions for the medical device manufacturing industry by providing customized systems for the treatment of cardiovascular catheters, stents, ocular products, etc.
Since 1999, March Instruments and Advanced Plasma Systems have been merged into a single entity: March Plasma Systems. The complimentary product lines and market strengths have formed us into a market and technology leading company.
March Plasma Systems strives to provide its customers with full value solutions including state-of-the-art equipment solutions, advanced applications support before and after the sale, prompt and professional technical service, and an overall team support to engage long term relationships.
Management Team
Peter F. Bierhuis, President
Mr. Bierhuis has lead the March organization since the acquisition of Advanced Plasma Systems and March Instruments in 1999. Prior to his appointment at March he has held a variety of positions in Nordson’s Adhesive Systems business. Mr. Bierhuis has a B.B.A. from Nijenrode in the Netherlands and a M.B.A. from the University of Georgia.
James D. Getty, Director - Applications and Business Development
Dr. Getty leads March’s Applications Engineering and Business Development activities, including the Marketing activities supporting the business’ Semiconductor, Printed Circuit Board, and Life Sciences market segments. Dr. Getty joined March in 2000. Dr. Getty has a B.S., Chemistry from the University of California at Irvine and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of California at Davis.
Shahab Khandan, Manager – Product Development and Engineering
Dr. Khandan is responsible for March’s new product development and continuing engineering activities. Dr. Khandan joined March in 2006. Before joining March Dr. Khandan held positions in the semiconductor and disc drive industries. Dr. Khandan has a B.S., Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma at Norman, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in ME from the Wichita State University.
Gary Monahan, Factory Manager
Mr. Monahan manages the March factory in Carlsbad, CA. At this location the smaller form factor equipment is produced in a highly efficient assembly environment, co-located with Asymtek. Prior to March Mr. Monahan was a Production Manager at Asymtek. Mr. Monahan has a B.A. in Biology and a MS in Environmental Studies from Rutgers University.
Gerald Wilder, Operations Manager
Mr. Wilder has responsibility for operations at March’s St. Petersburg, FL facility. This facility houses a vertically integrated production operation including welding, machining and assembly activities producing larger form factor plasma systems. Mr. Wilder was employed at Advanced Plasma Systems prior to the Nordson acquisition since 1996. Earlier Mr. Wilder was employed in the telecommunications industry.
Semiconductor
The Semiconductor Business Group focuses on plasma processes for advanced semiconductor packaging and assembly (ASPA), wafer level packaging (WLP), microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), data storage devices such as thin film read-write heads (TFH) for hard disk drives, and images sensors. More>>>
Medical Device
The Medical Device Business Group is engaged in providing enhanced product performance, more reliable devices and lower cost processes to companies who manufacture leading edge medical devices including cardiac rhythm management products, catheters, stents, ocular devices, and filter media.
More>>>
Printed Circuit Board
Printed circuit board manufacturers work with our PCB Business Group due to the implementation of new materials technology, and smaller geometries in HDI, flex, and rigid flex applications. More>>>