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CEO Interview with Timothy Regan of IN2FAB
SEMICON West 2026, the premier semiconductor industry event organized by SEMI under the theme “Transform Tomorrow,” returns to San Francisco’s Moscone Center from October 13–15 at a pivotal moment when AI-driven demand for computing power, memory, and energy-efficient infrastructure collides with geopolitical tensions, trade restrictions, rising costs, and talent shortages. The gathering arrives as SEMI expects industry revenue to surpass the trillion-dollar threshold, making it a forum for sustainable growth strategies. Advanced packaging—including chiplets, heterogeneous integration, 3D stacking, and high-bandwidth memory—will command attention as transistor scaling becomes more difficult and expensive. Smart manufacturing, leveraging AI, digital twins, and predictive maintenance in fabs, is another major theme, with suppliers demonstrating yield improvement and downtime reduction. The program extends beyond leading-edge computing to mobility, medical technology, power electronics, electric vehicles, renewable energy, and industrial automation, reflecting an industry shaped by multiple overlapping transformations. Resilience and sustainability run through the conversation, with governments and companies investing in regional manufacturing capacity while grappling with supply chain localization, workforce development, emissions reduction, and water reuse. The event mixes strategic debate with commercial activity: keynotes, executive panels, technical sessions, standards meetings, and an exhibition covering the semiconductor supply chain. Pre-show programming begins October 12. Ultimately, SEMICON West 2026 will be measured by evidence of execution—which technologies are production ready, which partnerships remove bottlenecks, and which policies support expansion without fragmenting the global ecosystem.