PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dow Electronic Materials, a leader and innovator in chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) technology for the global semiconductor industry, today announced its Semiconductor Technologies (ST) business was awarded United Microelectronics Corporation’s (UMC) Outstanding Supplier Award for 2009. Among more than 100 suppliers, Dow Electronic Materials was awarded UMC’s highest award for Outstanding Supplier in its CMP Pad Consumables category.

“Dow Electronic Materials received this award for their consistent performance in quality, price, delivery, service and technology,” said Louis Hsieh, Director, Operation Support Division, UMC. “Dow is a distinguished partner in our success and their ability to innovate and meet our demanding technical requirements for advanced nodes in the CMP development cycle is critical for our advanced products. UMC is pleased to be a partner with Dow Electronic Materials and looks forward to a successful partnership in 2010 and beyond,” stated Hsieh.

“We are very honored to receive this prestigious award,” said Austin Chen, Semiconductor Technologies Regional General Manager for Greater China & South East Asia of Dow Electronic Materials. “As a critical supplier of CMP consumables, we are always committed to maintaining the highest levels of quality and customer satisfaction. Our ability to maintain a strong customer-supplier partnership played a critical role in this award. Receiving this award from a valued customer like UMC is a credit to our entire team and their commitment to our partnership with UMC."

Celebrations for the Outstanding Supplier Awards were held in conjunction with UMC's 30th anniversary and the launch ceremony for Phase 3 and 4 of Fab 12A, located in the Southern Taiwan Science Park.

About Dow

Dow combines the power of science and technology with the “Human Element” to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress.

The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity.

Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2009, Dow had annual sales of $45 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 214 sites in 37 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

About Dow Electronic Materials

Dow Electronic Materials, a global supplier of materials and technologies to the electronics industry, brings innovative leadership to the semiconductor, interconnect, finishing, photovoltaic, display, LED and optics markets. From advanced technology centers worldwide, teams of talented Dow research scientists and application experts work closely with customers, providing solutions, products and technical service necessary for next-generation electronics. These partnerships energize Dow’s power to invent. Its key end-use applications include a broad range of consumer electronics from personal computers, to television monitors, cellular phones, global positioning systems, automobile safety systems, and avionics.

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced technology and manufacturing services for applications spanning every major sector of the IC industry. UMC's customer-driven foundry solutions allow chip designers to leverage the strength of the company's leading-edge processes, which include production proven 65nm, 40nm, mixed signal/RFCMOS, and a wide range of specialty technologies. Production is supported through 10 wafer manufacturing facilities that include two advanced 300mm fabs; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab 12i are both in volume production for a variety of customer products. The company employs over 13,000 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.

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