London, ON - The static community now has a new web site to turn to for Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) support. Launched today, StaticPlanet (www.static-planet.com) takes the static world one giant step forward by creating a universal information source for all aspects of the ESD industry.

Sponsored by the 3M™ Electronic Handling and Protection Division with participation by Ion Systems™ and Tech Wear, Inc.™, StaticPlanet offers the latest in industry news, standards and trends; answers frequently asked questions; supplies links to ESD professional organizations; and provides an open forum for sharing ideas with other ESD professionals.

Coming soon, StaticPlanet will host the new web-based software application, "Protect Your Product." This unique tool enables ESD managers to interactively develop static control programs customized to the environment of their facilities.

For the lighter side of ESD control, StaticPlanet features "Voltana," a feisty static superhero who battles ESD foes wreaking electro-static destruction. Along with her featured adventures, Voltana also hosts an "Ask Voltana" email forum, where visitors may send in their ESD dilemmas and questions. In "Hair Raising Tales," David E. Swenson, former ESD Association president and resident static guru at 3M, dons his fedora and shares his 25-years of personal experiences as a static control investigator.

"StaticPlanet is the place for you to go for help in understanding and then finding solutions for your static control problems," said Swenson. "While the site is designed to be interesting and fun, the information it provides gives you insight into the wide variety of static control issues that surround us every day, and it can help you design a safe workplace that will meet your needs now and into the future."

The 3M Electronic Handling and Protection Division provides products and solutions to the electronic industry's challenges of protecting sensitive components from adverse environmental conditions during handling and transportation. Division products include 3M brand static control products and EMI shielding materials, 3M brand tape and reel transport media for passive, semiconductor, and electro-mechanical components plus IC transport media, 3M Textool™ brand test and burn-in sockets, and 3M MicroTouch™ brand high-performance test contactors. For more information on Electronic Handling and Protection products, visit the web site at www.3M.com/ehpd.

3M, Textool and MicroTouch are trademarks of 3M company. Used under license in Canada.