Build it and they will come

RIGA - The first Cleanroom facilities in Kurzeme region have been created, says  spokeswoman for Ventspils High Technology Park (VHTP), Ilze Krievina, reports news agency LETA. The ISO class 7 Cleanroom is located in VHTP and will be used by and offered to companies that operate in high technology fields, mainly in electronics and satellite technologies.

A Cleanroom is a particularly clean environment, typically used in manufacturing or scientific research. Due to special air conditioning systems, the Cleanroom has a very low level of environmental pollutants such as dust, microbes and chemical vapors. By sustaining a stable temperature and level of humidity and cleanness, the Cleanroom ensures continuous pollution control as well as precise research and manufacturing surroundings that are unaffected by the external environment.

“Creation of a Cleanroom in Ventspils will clearly promote competitiveness of companies in the Baltic region that operate in the field of high technology. The Cleanroom allows both companies and research centers to develop and manufacture more sophisticated products in new market niches, as well as participate in joint projects of satellite design together with the European Space Agency. We also plan to offer the Cleanroom to students for practice and acquiring skills,” Chairman of the Board of VHTP, Ivars Eglajs, said.

The Cleanroom will mainly be used in the field of electronics, namely, in final assembling, contact welding, testing and packaging of electronic products and their components. It will also be used in the field of satellite technologies for completing components and for carrying out certain processes in controlled conditions of cleanness. At present, already three companies that will use the Cleanroom have been identified: Ventspils Elektronikas Fabrika will be testing specific electronic products there, LEO Research Center will develop satellite technologies, whereas VHTP will offer various training. Other domestic and foreign companies are being encouraged to use the Cleanroom as well.

The Cleanroom was created in the framework of the project “Cooperation between Ventspils and Tartu in Space Technology Research and Training” in partnership with Ventspils University College, Tartu University and Tartu Observatory. The project was funded by a Norwegian government bilateral financing instrument.