Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture articles from May 2003

Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture archives from May 2003

Networking a 2-way process. (Letters).(Brief Article)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2003... TED DAYWALT ["Networking 101," PCD, March 2003] discusses networking strictly as a job search tool. Many use it that way, yet networking can--or should--be a larger tool. I have used my network when I run across new technologies or processes....

Others deserved salutes. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2003... IN [PC FAB'S] COMMENTS on Sacramento Day [March 2003, p. 6], some key things were missed. First, your magazine was given an award for supporting the event with gratis advertising. CircuiTree was also honored. What you should have mentioned was...

The ultimate layout tool. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2003... DEMAND FOR SHORTER design time is greater every day. Certain parts of the design task may get delayed but the overall time plan has to be met. The product has to be ready at a certain time! For a PCB designer, to complete the work in half...

Fan of Jerry. (Letters).(Brief Article)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2003... I READ YOUR column ["Passion Nonpareil," PC FAB, March 2003] and particularly enjoyed your comments about Jerry Murray. Our industry has been blessed by a number of interesting personalities. Many, I am proud to say, are friends. That's the...

Sagging market. (Market Watch).(electronics equipment)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). % CHANGE DEC. JAN. FEB. YTD Computers and electronics products -1.5...

ISM: 'March not a good month'. (Market Watch).(Institute for Supply Management)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... TEMPE, AZ -- Manufacturing contracted in March, breaking a four-month growth streak, according to a survey of U.S. purchasing executives. The March PMI was 46.2%, down 4.3 points from February. New orders declined 6.1 points, to 46.2% from...

FabFile: 12 PCB shops closed during Q1. (Market Watch).(printed circuit board)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... PALO ALTO, CA -- The number of North American board shops declined in the first quarter, according to FabFile Systems, an industry observer. The total number of facilities dropped to 604 from 610 sequentially. Sales slid to $5.2 billion...

Q4 EDA sales drop 13%. (Market Watch).(electronic design automation)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... SAN JOSE -- Fourth quarter EDA revenues dropped 13% year-on-year, its first decline since the EDA Consortium (edac.org) began tracking sales in 1994. Product and maintenance revenue totaled $3.4 billion, down 3%. The overall market, including...

Industry market snapshot. (Market Watch).(semiconductors, equipment; printed circuit boards)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Book-to-bills of various components. NOV. DEC. JAN. FEB. Semiconductor equipment (1) 0.80 0.94 0.94 0.99 Semiconductors (2) 1.3% -2.3% 2.4% -3.3% PCBs (3) (North...

Boardtalk: PCD&M readers give their views. (Design).(printed circuit industry, Asia; views of WKK Distribution president)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... "What's the impact of current events on trade?" It is putting a hold on a lot of orders. There's a lot of apprehension about what this war means. Asia is very concerned: If Iraq is Step 1, what is Step 2, and what are the ramifications if...

Humming along.(Cimmetry Systems, integrates AutoVue product with Hummingbird's DM product)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Cimmetry Systems' (cimmetry.com) has integrated its AutoVue tool with Hummingbird's DM (hummingbird.com), permitting the latter's users to view and markup over 200 different 2D/3D CAD, engineering, EDA and office document formats within the DM...

America's most admired.(Cadence Design Systems, Fortune magazine survey)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Cadence (cadence.com) was named one of America's Most Admired Companies by Fortune in its annual survey of executives, directors and industry analysts. Fortune said 10,000 executives, directors and securities analysts were surveyed.

To the masses.(Ansoft Corp., begins shipping design software)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Ansoft Corp. (ansoft.com) has begun commercial shipments of Designer, its design software for high-frequency microwave and RF circuits and systems. The tool combines time-domain, frequency-domain and system-level analysis, for physical and...

High-tech hits job low.(high technology jobs, United States; 2001, 2002)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The U.S. lost 560,000 high-tech jobs in 2001 and 2002, according to a study based on U.S. Labor department data and released in March by AeA (aeanet.org).Tech employment hit 5.1 million jobs last December. AeA called on the government to...

Hier and richer.(Hier Design, funding from venture capitalists)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Hier Design (hier design.com) has raised $6.2 million in funding from Xilinx, Cadence, and other venture capitalists. Hier makes software for FPGA designs.

IGI ekes out Q3 profit.(Infinite Graphics Inc. )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Infinite Graphics Inc. (igi.com) posted earnings of $1,946 and net income of $6,301 on sales of $1.42 million for its third quarter ended Jan. 31.

2 add 'Top Gun' title. Design).(awards for print circuit design)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... SAN JOSE -- There are two new members of the PCB Top Gun Hall of Fame. PCB designers Gil Noennick, of RockSolid Design Inc., Mountain View, CA, and Brendon Parise, of Optimum Design Associates' Australia office, received Top Gun honors in March...

Design, floor planning tools to be integrated. (Visiprise/Eds Alliance).(Visiprise Inc. and EDS PLM Solutions Inc. joint venture)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... ALPHARETTA, GA -- Visiprise (visiprise.com) and EDS PLM Solutions will cooperate on product development, sales and support, starting with integrating their tools for design, manufacturing planning and shop-floor execution. "We can now provide...

Chemcut gets wet lab.(Chemcut Corp. opens research and development lab)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Chemcut Corp. (chemcut.net), a supplier of wet processing equipment for printed circuit boards, in March opened a lab for research and development on copper reduction, develop, etch, strip, chemical cleaning, and plating processes and waste...

Show time.(International Printed Circuit and Electronics Assembly Fair )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The International Printed Circuit and Electronics Assembly Fair will take place Sept. 17-19, at the Guangzhou (China) International Convention Center. IPC (ipc.org) and HKPCA (hkpca.org) will co-produce the PCB and electronics assembly show.

All in one.(IPC trade show next year in Anaheim Convention Center)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... IPC (ipc.org) will co-locate its Apex and Printed Circuits Expo shows next year. The shows will take place Feb. 24-26, at the Anaheim (CA) Convention Center.

Flex2Chip closes doors.(Flex2Chip Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Flex2Chip Inc., once the flex manufacturing division of IC packaging designer Tessera, ceased operations on March 7. The company was a supplier of quickturn protoypes using two-metal layer flex and was owned by Singapore-based Sunright Ltd.

SMTA goes to China.(Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA))(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The SMTA (smta.org) has opened an office in Shenzhen. The association is establishing an Internet portal to Mandarin-translated literature.

Pb-free 'health check.'.(National Physical Laboratory free health checks)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... National Physical Laboratory (npl.co.uk) is offering an onsite "health check" in which NPL will examine lead-free issues as they pertain to a particular company. The consultation includes presentations to production, design, quality, buyers and...

Testing, testing.(NPL Taiwan Company Ltd. and University of Kent joint research on test method assemblies)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... NPL and the University of Kent Electronics Systems Design Centre are also working on a test method for assemblies using AC signals. ESDC (http://esd-centre.kent.ac.uk/services/npl-mpp5-4.htm) is surveying circuit designs that are sensitive to...

Teradyne 'tests' Shanghai.(Teradyne Inc. (Boston, Massachusetts) to open manufacturing facility in China)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Teradyne in March officially opened an office and manufacturing plant here. The 84,000 [ft..sup.2] facility will make test systems for semiconductor devices, circuit boards, and high-density connectors, backplanes and integrated systems....

Shipley dry-film line to live on ... as Eternal. (Shipley To Retain Distribution).(Shipley Co. to close operations and sell-off subsidiary Eternal Chemical Co.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... MARLBOROUGH, MA -- Shipley Co. (shipley.com) will sell its dry-film photoresist business to Eternal Chemical Co. (eternal.com.tw) and will distribute the line, which will be rebranded as Eternal, in most regions. The transition will take six...

Hollinger: conditions still 'weak'. (Merix).(Merix Corp. (Forest Grove, Oregon) financial report )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... FOREST GROVE, OR -- A strong rise in third-quarter sales at Merix Corp. (merix.com) was tempered by a higher net loss and ugly margins. Chairman and chief executive Mark Hollinger said in a statement that industry conditions "remained weak,"...

Cut sheets. (Isola/Taconic).(Isola Group and Taconic end joint venture)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... DUREN, GERMANY -- Isola AG (isolaag.com) and Taconic (taconic-add.com) in March announced the end of a pact under which the companies jointly manufactured and marketed certain high-speed materials. The move means Isola will no longer continue...

Newly seeded. (Fabrication).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Advance Circuits in March opened a 36,000 [ft..sup.2] addition to its PCB manufacturing plant located in Aurora, CO. The new building houses drill, route, test and shipping and office staff.

NEMI roadmap: high hopes for portables. (Sip Fastest-Growing Package Technology).
May 1, 2003... ANAHEIM, CA -- Although the downturn has delayed deployment of many technologies, there are still areas that promise potential growth. So said the National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (nemi.org) on April 2, in introducing its 2002...

Teradyne puts La Verne business on block. (Laminate Sale).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... LA VERNE, CA -- Teradyne has placed its laminate business, formerly known as Synthane Taylor, up for sale, PCD&M has learned. A Teradyne spokesperson told PCD&:M, "We are actively seeking buyers for the La Verne business. Our employees and...

Taconic expands manufacturing to Korea. ('Immediate Benefits' For Customers).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... PETERSBURGH, NY -- Taconic (taconic-add.com) will begin manufacturing its line of PTFE-coated fabric, belting and adhesive-backed tape in Cheonan, South Korea. "Taconic is very pleased to begin manufacturing on a third continent," said...

Events. (Happenings).(Calendar)
May 1, 2003... MAY 6-7 PCB DESIGN CONFERENCE ROAD SERIES--COLORADO Holiday Inn Denver--Northglenn, Northglenn, CO. Contact: Show Operations Manager Alyson Skarbek, 678-589-8865, askarbek@upmediagroup.com, ...

It's a deal. (Happenings).(Pentax)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Sierra Proto Express (protoexpress.com) purchased a laser direct imager from Pentax (Asahi Optical), Pentax's LDI are marketed by Camtek in North America. Marcel Electronics Inc. (mei4pcbs.com) recently purchased an ESI laser drill and has...

Transitions. (Happenings).(Rey Abaigar)(Obituary)
May 1, 2003... Rey Abaigar, 52, a 12-year employee of Uyemura (UIC), died March 21. He was survived by his wife, Louisa, and son, Robby John. William (Bill) Sullivan, a longtime employee of MacDermid, died in March.

Camtek Ltd. (Faces).(appointment)
May 1, 2003... PCB equipment supplier Camtek Ltd. (camtek.com) promoted Don Ivancovich to West Coast sales manager, responsible for AOI and direct imaging products. He was a Camtek service/application engineer. Ivancovich was previously a process engineer at...

Lamina Ceramics. (Faces).(appointment)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Lamina Ceramics (laminaceramics.com) named David McConaghy vice president of sales, responsible for expanding its global sales channel and customer service. McConaghy was vice president of sales at TransEDA, and director of sales for NetSilicon...

Park Electrochemical Corp. (Faces).(promotion)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Material supplier Park Electrochemical Corp. (parknelco.com) promoted Steve Schaefer to vice president of business development, responsible for new business ventures, with a focus on China. He was senior director of product technology.

Pittsburgh Simulation Corp. (Faces).(appointment)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Pittsburgh Simulation Corp. (pitsim.com), a supplier of simulation and timing products, named Roddy Beat (pictured) director of European operations. Beat was formerly European sales manager for Cadence Design System's IMS group. Chemcut Corp....

Enthone Inc. (Faces).(appointment)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Enthone Inc. (enthone.com) named Dr. Yun Zhang research director, in charge of global R&D and tin, tin alloy and lead-free formation. Dr. Zhang was research director, tin and tin alloy technologies at Technic Inc. and was R&D manager at...

The ECM Group. (Faces).(appointment)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The ECM Group (theecmggroup.com), a PCB sales and customer service firm, named Fred Dykema as regional manager, upper Midwest, and Sue Hledin to head inside sales and customer service.

Robert Burkle GmbH. (Faces).(appointment)
May 1, 2003... Robert Burkle GmbH, a supplier of PCB pressing and surface finishing equipment, named Ralf Spindler (pictured) managing director of its board, responsible for sales and marketing. Spindler was a divisional manager and has worked for Burkle...

Electronics Workbench. (Faces).(appointments)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Electronics Workbench (electronicsworkbench.com) named lan Suttie vice president of sales and marketing. Suttie was CO0 at PCI Geomatics, president and CEO of Watertoo Maple Inc., and president of SST, a supplier of industrial networking...

Mining your business: this ain't no shopping mall. Don't want to prospect? Get out of the business. (Power Selling).
May 1, 2003... ARE THERE ANY true sales people these days? Does anyone prospect for new customers? Most in sales consider themselves account managers. Some in direct sales field excuses not to leave the office such as, "If I don't stay and take care of...

For the want of a nail: you wouldn't create a direct mail piece and not send it. So why build a Web site and not promote it? (ROI).
May 1, 2003... THE WEB IS one of the most powerful marketing and information exchange mediums ever. It permits manufacturing and service industries to share information with employees and customers at a faster rate than traditional methods do. And the...

Production improvements through water recycling: how D.I. ion exchange pretreatment and electrodeionazation water recycling, or AEDI, can save resources and money. (Green Thoughts).
May 1, 2003... THE TYCO ELECTRONICS Printed Circuit Group puts circuit boards through multiple processes to clean, etch and then plate. The plant, located in Los Angeles, decided in January 2002 to assess a close-looped ECS cleaning line. (An ECS line...

Signal integrity, at a 'glance': eye diagrams can be the window into crosstalk and jitter problems. An eye-opening look at the process. (Eye Diagrams).
May 1, 2003... Many types of faults can affect signal integrity. Single-net faults such as improper terminations can cause reflections. Crosstalk can occur from one net to another, and power and ground faults can introduce noise into signals. Jitter can be...

'Fracturing' FPGAs: the right methods will ensure PCB and FPGA timing and connectivity are in sync. (Design Techniques).
May 1, 2003... Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have proven a valuable technology, offering performance, time-to-market and cost advantages over application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Today many circuit boards contain at least one FPGA. But...

Current and conductors: the answers to all the age-old questions of current carrying capacity in vias, thermals, planes and traces fall into one simple category: power dissipation. (The Limits of Copper).
May 1, 2003... Ed: For the sake of space, this article is synopsized. See the complete article and graphs at pcdandm.com. Electrical traces in circuit boards are sized based on temperature rise as a function of current and conductor cross-sectional area....

Translating Gerber with confidence: design data can be lost or mistranslated between design steps. Netlist compare can identify these miscues at the front end of design--and the back end. (Netlist Compare).
May 1, 2003... Most PCB designers are familiar with the netlist compare process provided within CAD tools. This process is especially useful between the schematic and layout tools for the initial placement and revisions that occur during design. But when a...

Analyze it! Designers and fabs look for different things, so both bear the burden of validation. (CAM Works).
May 1, 2003... MY POSITION IN EDA affords the unique privilege of sitting on the fence, so to speak, between design and fabrication, and I spend a fair amount of time with both groups. I have noticed an interesting disconnect in beliefs when it comes to what...

When accuracy counts; why calculate characteristic impedance to 1% accuracy? It's all about yield. (No Myths Allowed).
May 1, 2003... IF THE TYPICAL tolerance spec for the impedance of a board is within 10%, why is it important for the calculated accuracy of characteristic impedance to be any better? Why should you care about calculating the characteristic impedance to 1%...

Where the boards are; nothing could prepare me for the enthusiasm and excitement I found in Shanghai. (CPCA Show Recap).
May 1, 2003... The activity here... is like the shows we used to have in the '80s. --Don Watt I have found the printed circuit industry and it is China. And if China is the new hub, then Shanghai is its core. The British writer Tort Bradby...

Innovation and renovation at Isola: with a new president and a new (slimmer) look, many eyes are on Isola--and not just those of its suitors. (Cover Story).
May 1, 2003... After biting the bullet through months of closures and layoffs, the restructuring of Isola is nearly complete. Thanks to the market, of course, complete in this case doesn't mean "whole." The company has seen its business in Europe and the U.S....

Shock and AWWW: the economy and war in Iraq loomed large, souring moods as the fabricators-only show struggled to the finish line. (IPC Expo Recap).
May 1, 2003... Even in better times, Dick Rutan's big "adventure" makes a compelling story. As pilot of the Voyager, Rutan commanded the first nonstop, non-refuel, d flight around the world. In recalling the tale, he centers an the perils and demands of...

Negotiating your salary: knowing what you're worth going in gives you a leg up later. (Career Care).
May 1, 2003... YOU JUST FINISHED interviewing and an offer is pending. Now comes the matter of salary: How do you negotiate? This is an issue that is very important to candidates and employers, as it has a lot to do with job satisfaction. Each salary...

PCB verification tool. (Off the shelf: machines materials tools systems software).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Cadstar 3D 4.2 verification module directly imports and exports board outlines from mechanical CAD tools into Cadstar 6.0, and eliminates the need for IDF files. Performs DRCs to identify potential collisions between any objects on the PCB, and...

ESD-safe connector caps. (Others Of Note).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The DS-Q series of plastic caps provide ESD protection for D-subminiature connectors. Feature flanged tops for easy removal and come in 10 sizes, to meet standard connector sizes, DS-Q1 and DS-Q2 series meet surface resistivity and static decay...

'All tasks' scalable tool. (Others Of Note).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Pantheon Express is fully scalable and bundles Mozaix front-end schematic capture to provide design capture, part creation, placement, routing and manufacturing outputs. Can be used with import CAD translators to migrate current and legacy...

Low-speed data line connector. (Off the shelf: machines materials tools systems software).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... VHDM L-series high-density connector is an open pin field version of VHDM and uses the same organizing stiffener. Has 76 to 101 signals per linear inch. Mates with back-plane modules in 10 and 25 column configurations. Enables custom...

Multi-job cam tool. (Others Of Note).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... GerbTool v. 13 features support for multi-job panelization and advanced tooling; supports all native GenCAM and ODB++ aperture shapes, including user-defined thermals and rounded rectangles; and a GUI-driven aperture table converter said to...

Etch resist ink jet printer. (Others Of Note).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Standalone etch resist and soldermask ink jet printers eliminate screens, phototools and subsequent image processing. Use halogen-free JetTrack fluids (from Avecia). WHO: New System SRL WEB: new-system.com

Array package substitute. (Off the shelf: machines materials tools systems software).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The DFN (dual fine pitch--no leads) package permits passives to be integrated on two sides of the lead-frame. Exposed die-pad provide direct thermal path for heat removal. Uses standard footprint for SOICs, xSOPS, TSOPS, and TSSOPs. Has mounted...

High-frequency PTFE. (Others Of Note).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... N9000-13 RF PTFE material comes in dielectric constants of 3.0, 3.2 and 3.5 and a variety of core thicknesses. Has a UL 94V-0 designation. Is for high-frequency, low-loss applications and applications such as LNBs, in-building antennae for...

Peroxide-free alternate oxide. (Others Of Note).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Chembond EC oxidizes in ambient air and uses no hydrogen peroxide, thus sawn g on water and disposal costs. Emulates an ammonical etch process, accommodates high copper content, and is compatible as a single--step operation (eliminating...

The psychology of trade shows. (Our Line).
May 1, 2003... EVERY few months takes place an event we call a trade show. And a couple of months later, if the show was big and important enough, we recall it in these pages. (Sometimes, in slow news months or when we have a lot of space to fill, we even...