The development of a new initiative such as Intrepid Semiconductor here in New Zealand is an exercise that has required much patience and resolve over the last two and a half years.

Having said that I am pleased to say that good progress has, and is, being made with the arrival of the first container of plant and equipment with initial assembly work currently being undertaken here in Technology Valley.

This is the epitome of high tech well beyond my capabilities of understanding. I am just in ore of that which our engineer is assembling.

Further consignments of components have followed by airfreight and a second container is currently being prepared for shipment from the US.

The timetable for completion of the assembly for the first ‘fab’ is late September/early October and this will be followed with the construction and commissioning of the next four fabs that are planned at this stage.

Unfortunately we were not successful with our tender to acquire the ex-CIT property in Upper Hutt so we have resorted to plan B with the first fabs being commissioned in leased premises at the Oringi Business Park, just south of Dannevirke.

In the meantime we have been busy on the administration side of things with our lawyers preparing the Trust Deed for the Crockett Foundation for which we will be applying for charitable status based on the fact that the Foundations role will be to ultimately own the properties where Intrepid, together with its associated companies are located, but to also fund the establishment of a high-tech teaching, training R & D institute where young talented New Zealanders will be able to study and be employed in more high earning export orientated science and engineering based industries domiciled here in our country.

In addition we have registered Intrepid Group Holdings NZ Ltd, which will act as the holding company for the subsidiary companies three of which have already been registered. These are Intrepid Semiconductor NZ, Trion Thermal technologies and Plasma Bond NZ. Intrepid Semiconductor will be the manufacture and exporter of diodes, transistors and SCR’s, Trion Thermal will manufacture and export mini furnaces that are used around the world in all semiconductor manufacturing and Plasma Bond will be manufacturing and exporting bonding machines that are also used internationally in the production of discrete devices (chips).

I have visited most of our leading Universities and have discussed our plans with Professorial staff in science, engineering and chemistry together with our other research organisations all, without exception, have expressed a keen interest to see the establishment of Intrepid and the establishment of a new high-tech industry based here in New Zealand.

I am thrilled that we are now very much into the action phase with our project and am keenly looking forward to the commissioning of the first mini-fab (fabrication plant).