Geared for Growth: Linton Crystal Technologies Commits to US Manufacturing & Local Partnerships to Produce Semiconductors in Upstate NY
Linton Crystal Technologies produces capital equipment for the solar and semiconductor industry to help make the chips that power all of our devices. President and Chief Operating Officer Todd Barnum was featured on Geared for Growth this morning as part of Greater Rochester Chamber’s ongoing partnership with 13WHAM/FOX Rochester. Barnum shared more about what the organization does, their commitment to American manufacturing, and their other community partnerships in Greater Rochester.
Based out of Henrietta, Linton Crystal Technology produces industrial furnaces that are used to melt silicon into tubes that turn into wafers which are used to
produce chips and solar panels. The products that are made using these furnaces are all around us throughout the world. “The end products from our furnaces are in pretty much everything you have,” Barnum explained, “Your tablet, your cell phone, your laptop, they all have chips in them.” The process includes melting silicon rocks, dipping a crystal in, and pulling it out to create the tubes that turn into wafers.
Barnum shared that much of the semiconductor industry has moved to China and Taiwan, which is where many of their customers are based. Linton is trying to work with government and private partners to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to America. “We’ve been working with the Department of Energy, [the National Renewable Energy Laboratory], the Department of Commerce, and even White House task forces, to bring the knowledge of how to bring wafers back to the United States,” Todd shared, “We’ve really tried to make sure that everybody knows that we’re committed to American manufacturing.”
In addition to their large-scale federal relationships, Linton Crystal Technology also works with local organizations here in Greater Rochester. This includes a partnership with the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability and Kate Gleason College of Engineering to bring students to their location to better understand photovoltaics, and where solar panels come from. Linton Crystal Technology has also worked with the Wayne Technical Career Center of WFL-BOCES to help produce a Summer Advanced Manufacturing Experience for eighth- and ninth-graders, and on other workforce training opportunities to grow the US solar industry.
To learn more about Linton Crystal Technologies, visit them online at LintonCrystal.com.
Be sure to tune into FOX Rochester every Wednesday morning at 8:45 AM to hear every Greater Rochester Chamber member growth story shared on Geared for Growth.