AMD plant wins honors

Advanced Micro Devices' Fab 30 chip plant has been named "Fab of the Year" by Semiconductor International magazine. The plant, which is where AMD makes most of its Athlon processors, is located in Dresden, Germany. The plant began releasing Athlons last June and has since shipped several million copies of the chip, according to AMD. The judges were particularly impressed by AMD Fab 30's design because it allows the factory to produce chips with copper interconnects, magazine editor-in-chief Peter Singer said in a statement.