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Rogue Valley Microdevices did not make a finished COVID-19 test. The Medford, Oregon, company made a specialized MEMS component for a diagnostic platform discussed during the first pandemic surge—an example of how manufacturing capacity can be a critical link between a promising biomedical design and a device that can be produced.
What Rogue Valley Microdevices does
Rogue Valley Microdevices is a precision microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) foundry: a manufacturer that fabricates small devices and components for customers rather than selling a finished consumer product or running a clinical laboratory. MEMS combine tiny mechanical structures—such as sensors or actuators—with semiconductor-style fabrication techniques.
EE Times reported on May 12, 2020, that the company opened in Medford in 2003 and was then the first and only microelectronics manufacturing facility in Southern Oregon. Co-founder and CEO Jessica Gomez led the business, which the article described as having grown to more than three times its original size by 2020; it did not specify whether that meant staff, facility size, or another measure. The report presented the company as a specialized supplier of building blocks for microelectronic and biomedical devices.
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteThe 2020 article named MEMS-device fabrication, silicon-wafer services, low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) nitride, oxide and metal processing, and spray coating of photoresist among its capabilities. These are processes reported at that time, not a complete or current capabilities list. EE Times’ May 2020 profile provides the company history and interview context.
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Why manufacturing capacity mattered during COVID-19
Developing a sensor or obtaining regulatory authorization does not, by itself, put a diagnostic device in users’ hands. Its components must also be fabricated consistently, assembled with other electronics, validated as part of the complete system, and produced in sufficient quantities. The 2020 EE Times interview framed that gap as a pandemic-era vulnerability: biomedical companies were adapting technologies for COVID-19 detection while disrupted overseas production and transportation made access to specialized manufacturing less predictable.
Gomez’s point was that approval is not enough if a device cannot be made and delivered. She also said in the interview that China accounted for about 80% of the relevant supply chain. That figure is her pandemic-era statement; the article does not define the supply-chain scope or independently establish it as a general or current statistic.
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A domestic foundry could offer another place to fabricate specialized components and reduce reliance on a single geography. That is diversification, not proof that every input is U.S.-sourced or that domestic capacity alone can eliminate shortages. A wafer foundry may still depend on equipment, materials, packaging, or other suppliers elsewhere in the chain.
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The Hememics example: a component, not a complete test
EE Times discussed Hememics Biotechnologies as a company developing a biosensor system intended to detect SARS-CoV-2 and associated antibodies. The article described its system as including a multiplexed sensor array, a Cypress Semiconductor Bluetooth Low Energy radio, and a MEMS die manufactured by Rogue Valley Microdevices. It referred to sample types including nasal swabs or white blood cells.
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- Detects Multiple COVID-19 Variants: The test is designed to detect multiple COVID-19 variants, helping you stay informed even as the virus evolves.
- Easy to Use with Minimal Discomfort: The test can be done by inserting 1/2 to 3/4 inch of a simple non-invasive nasal swab. Step-by-step instructional videos are available in our app (Installation of the app is optional).
- For Ages 2 and Above: The self-administered test is recommended for individuals aged 15 years and older. Adult-collection is required for testing children 2-14 years old.
This account establishes a reported manufacturing role in a development-stage effort as of May 2020. It does not establish that the complete Hememics system received FDA authorization, achieved a particular diagnostic accuracy, or entered widespread clinical or commercial use. Rogue Valley’s own COVID-19 biosensor page describes its manufacturing role, but a company account is not independent evidence of regulatory clearance or deployment.
How a MEMS foundry fits into a diagnostic supply chain
- Design and concept: A biomedical company defines what the sensor should detect and how the finished instrument should operate.
- Device fabrication: A foundry uses wafer-processing steps to make the MEMS die or other specialized component to the customer’s design and process requirements.
- Integration: The die is combined with other elements—such as a sensor array, radio, packaging, and user-facing instrument—to form a system.
- Validation and scale-up: The finished system must be tested and manufactured reproducibly. Regulatory review, quality controls, packaging, supply availability, and production capacity remain distinct from the fabrication of one component.
That division of work is why calling Rogue Valley the maker of a complete COVID-19 test would overstate the evidence. The foundry’s value was in a specialized manufacturing step that a product developer could not necessarily perform in its own laboratory.
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- Compact Single-Test Kit For On-Demand Use: The portable design on these covid tests allows for easy storage in a drawer, bag, or travel kit for quick access when needed.
A specialist foundry as part of a wider network
The interview described Rogue Valley as sharing engineering-level information with customers and helping other foundries and universities when they lacked particular process capabilities. This model can make a specialist useful beyond its own customer projects: it can fill a process gap in a broader manufacturing and research network. The article also discussed collaboration with Micralyne.
Openness in technical troubleshooting does not eliminate the need to define intellectual-property ownership, confidentiality, process responsibility, and qualification data in customer agreements. The interview described a collaborative approach but did not detail those contractual safeguards.
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What the 2020 account establishes—and what it leaves open
| Established in the May 2020 EE Times article | Not established by that article |
|---|---|
| Rogue Valley was a Medford MEMS foundry, opened in 2003. | The company’s capabilities, ownership, customer base, or market position in 2026. |
| It reported fabrication and wafer-processing capabilities and supplied a MEMS die for the Hememics system described. | That system’s final regulatory status, clinical performance, or broad commercial deployment. |
| Gomez described pandemic-era demand and argued for more domestic manufacturing capacity. | Production volume, yield, throughput, pricing, or whether the company solved any broader shortage. |
| The company described collaboration with customers, other foundries, and universities. | How much of its supply chain was domestic or how quickly it could scale a particular device. |
The EE Times profile is a historical snapshot, not a current assessment of the company or the post-2020 testing market. It offers no detailed figures for manufacturing yield, throughput, quality-system qualifications, or capacity. Those factors matter when assessing whether a foundry can take a specific biomedical product from prototype to repeatable production.
The practical lesson about domestic manufacturing
Rogue Valley’s pandemic-era example illustrates why resilience depends on a network of specialized capabilities, not simply on locating a finished product’s final factory in the United States. A domestic MEMS foundry can add geographic and process options, but customers still have to confirm process compatibility, capacity, reproducibility, packaging and testing arrangements, and the regulatory responsibilities of each company in the chain.
The article’s lasting point is narrower than a claim that domestic production solved the COVID-19 supply crisis: a small specialist manufacturer can be an important, largely invisible link between biomedical engineering and a manufacturable device.
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