CircuiTree articles from December 2007

CircuiTree archives from December 2007

Letter to the Editor.(Inbox)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2007... As a senior research scientist at Isola, I would like to comment on Erik Bergum's Material World column in the October 2007 issue, titled "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Trying to Be Green." The article states: "The bromine to carbon...

SMTA announces board election results.(Data Transfer)
December 1, 2007... SMTA announced its election results for its board of directors for the term that began at SMTA International in October. Bill Barthel, Plexus, and Laura Turbini, Research in Motion, were reelected to three-year terms. Joe Belmonte, BOSE...

Supplier spotlight.(News)
December 1, 2007... The integration of radio frequency (RF) devices on PCBs is creating serious high frequency and wireless design challenges for PCB designers and CAD tools alike. Because tiny variations of the RF layout have a major impact on circuit...

Will photovoltaics be a supernova, or just sunspots for the electronics industry?(The Way We See It)
December 1, 2007... How many of you remember those commercials from the 1980s for solar power calculators? The phrase "It gets its power from the sun" stitched itself to the pop culture of the time, and I still remember kids in my grade school class pulling out...

How innovation continues to shape our industry.(CircuiTree 20-Year Retrospective)(Interview)
December 1, 2007... To mark CircuiTree's 20th year, we have asked industry luminaries from around the world to provide you their perspectives on the advancements, ups, and downs of the past 20 years, as well as their predictions If you would like to offer your own...

Endicott China facility now operational.(Fab Focus)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Endicott, N.Y. -- Endicott Interconnect (EI) Technologies' new facility in Shenzhen, China, is now operational and offers highvolume, low-cost, fully assembled PC boards. EI Shenzhen can provide highdensity hybrid PCB assemblies in sizes as...

Flextronics completes acquisition of solectron.(Fab Focus)
December 1, 2007... Singapore -- Flextronics International Ltd. completed its acquisition of Solectron Corporation, creating the most diversified and premier global provider of advanced design and vertically integrated electronics manufacturing services (EMS). The...

3Com acquired by Huawei.(Fab Focus)
December 1, 2007... Marlborough, Mass. -- 3Com Corporation signed a defi nitive merger agreement to be acquired by affi liates of Bain Capital Partners, LLC, for approximately USD 2.2 billion in cash. As part of this transaction, Huawei Tech Investment, Co., Ltd.,...

SOMACIS Holding partners with Cosmotech.(Fab Focus)(Cosmotech Co Ltd.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Castelfi dardo, Italy -- SOMACIS Holding signed a partnership agreement with Korean company Cosmotech Co Ltd., aimed at commercial collaboration in the Brazilian market. SOMACIS has been present in Brazil since 1999 and has a production...

Sierra Midwest acquires Nutronics.(Fab Focus)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Sierra Midwest, a Sierra Circuits Company, acquired Nutronics Manufacturing, Springfield, Ill. "We are extremely pleased to welcome Nutronics as the newest member of the growing Sierra Circuits family," said Sierra Circuits president Ken Bahl....

Dan Spencer named VP of sales, marketing for Circuit Images.(Power People)
December 1, 2007... Boulder, Colo. -- Circuit Images named industry sales veteran Dan Spencer vice president of sales and marketing. Spencer will be responsible for all sales eff orts throughout the U.S. and Canada.

David McComb new FlipChip VP of sales and marketing.(Power People)
December 1, 2007... Phoenix -- FlipChip International, LLC (FCI), appointed David McComb global vice president of sales and marketing for its wafer scale packaging and bumping business.

Zelzer Valor head of R&D.(Power People)
December 1, 2007... Israel -- Valor Computerized Systems Ltd appointed Meir Zelzer vice president of R&D. Zelzer has more than 20 years of experience in R&D and software development management.

Park Electrochemical appoints Farabaugh VP and controller.(Power People)
December 1, 2007... Melville, N.Y. -- Park Electrochemical Corp. appointed Matthew Farabaugh vice president and controller. Previously, Farabaugh was corporate controller of American Technical Ceramics.

Chris Hunt receives Committee Service Awards.(Power People)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Middlesex, U.K. -- Chris Hunt, National Physical Laboratory, received two Distinguished Committee Service Awards at IPC Midwest, Schaumburg, Ill. Hunt was joined by other contributors for his work on the development of IPC-9201A, Surface...

Phil Gee joins Nu Horizons.(Power People)
December 1, 2007... Melville, N.Y. -- Nu Horizons Electronics Corp. appointed Phil Gee vice president of sales, Europe, where he will be responsible for the distributor's sales operations in the U.K., Germany, and Austria.

Freedom CAD promotes rivers to team manager.(Power People)
December 1, 2007... Nashua, N.H. -- Freedom CAD Services, Inc., promoted Jon Rivers to manager of Mentor CAD operations. The complete Mentor CAD team will report directly to Rivers, and he will be responsible for all operational activities, including quoting,...

First Occam development partners established.(Data Transfer)
December 1, 2007... Verdant Electronics held its first Occam Process Developers Meeting in October, and the first three agreements in principle were established. Promex Industries, Micropress, and Hunter Technology Group expressed confi dence in the technology and...

Fine lines in high yield (Part CXLVlI): dry-film photoresist: coating base film and coversheet considerations.(Tech Talk)
December 1, 2007... When Jack Richard Celeste's "process for making (dry film) photoresists" (1) was first introduced commercially by DuPont, it profoundly changed how we fabricate PCBs. Compared to the liquid photoresists in use at the time, dry film enabled...

Endicott launches wire bond product into space.(Data Transfer)
December 1, 2007... Endicott Interconnect Technologies, Inc.'s (EI) ultra fine pitch wire bond PBGA substrates and assembled modules performed perfectly during their first launch into space; they were supplied to Northrop Grumman Corporation for integration into...

Removing pads to make space may not always save face.(Ask the Flexperts)
December 1, 2007... In a multilayer flex, are pads required on all layers for each via, or can we omit some or all unused pads to allow for more traces to run between vias? Our application requires the thinnest possible construction. The ability to delete...

REACH--time to sit up and take notice.(Interview)
December 1, 2007... Imagine you are your employer's compliance manager. You are mightily relieved that some of the fuss over the European RoHS Directive has died down, and your production processes and supply chain management have been enhanced to remove the...

Aspocomp not likely to break even in final quarter.(Financial News)
December 1, 2007... Helsinki, Finland -- Aspocomp predicts that its consolidated cash flow from continuing operations is not likely to reach break-even during the final quarter of this year. This is mostly attributable to products with lower than expected margins...

Merix reports USD 2.5 million net loss for first quarter.(Financial News)(Financial report)
December 1, 2007... Beaverton, Ore. -- For Q1 FY 08, Merix Corporation reported a net loss from continuing operations of USD 2.5 million or USD 0.12 per share on revenue of USD 100.1 million, compared to net income of USD 3.6 million or USD 0.17 per share on...

Jabil nets USD 3.1 billion in fourth quarter.(Financial News)(Jabil Circuit Inc.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... St. Petersburg, Fla. -- Jabil released its preliminary, unaudited financial results for Q4 FY 07, reporting an increase in net revenue at USD 3.1 billion compared to USD 3.0 billion in Q4 FY 06. For the fiscal year, net revenue increased 20...

Titan gains new customers, continues PCB division spinoff.(Financial News)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Dallas -- Titan Global Holdings, Inc., reported continued customer gains for its electronics and homeland security division with an additional 27 new customers in August and September. Titan also continues its strategic plan to spin out Titan...

Hon Hai's sales up nearly 30 percent.(Financial News)(Financial report)
December 1, 2007... Taiwan -- Hon Hai reported non-consolidated sales of NTD 115.16 billion in September, a year-over-year increase of 29.74 percent. Accumulated sales for the first nine months of 2007 were NTD 822.74 billion, a year-over-year increase of 39.46...

Park Electrochemical numbers down in Q2.(Financial News)
December 1, 2007... Melville, N.Y. -- Park Electrochemical Corp.'s sales for Q2 FY 08 were down at USD 60,541,000 from USD 66,518,000 in Q2 FY 07. Sales for the first six months were USD 117,618,000 compared to sales of USD 129,356,000 last year. Net earnings were...

IPC Metal Finishes group issues OEM call to action on PCB assembly corrosion: what is your experience with corroded circuit assemblies in the field?(Guest Editorial)
December 1, 2007... Ever since Ben Franklin wired a key to a kite string, we've been the shocking victims of circuit corrosion. The eternal challenge for electronics designers is the selection of a set of materials that works well, is cost effective, and can...

Bioelectranic package integration brings new set of challenges.(Inside the Package)(Column)
December 1, 2007... In the late '80s and early '90s, desktop and high-performance computing was the major driver leading to tremendous advances in package interconnect/wiring density and high-speed signal ropagation. The late '90s and early 2000s migrated to...

Quality needs to be stapled to the board.(From the Lab)(Column)
December 1, 2007... In my last column I admitted my gadget addiction, and I can say that little bothers me more than when the hardware in one of my gadgets fails prematurely. I recently bought a MacBook Pro, and just as I got all the software set up to my liking,...

Renesas Technology adopts Cadence statistical timing.(Supply Line News)
December 1, 2007... San Jose, Calif. -- Cadence Design Systems, Inc., announced that Renesas Technology Corp. adopted the statistical static timing analysis technology from the Cadence[R]Encounter[R] digital IC design platform to be part of its next-generation...

3M signs global agreement with Antares.(Supply Line News)
December 1, 2007... Austin, Tex. -- 3M's Electronic Solutions Division signed a global distribution agreement with Antares Advanced Tech Technologies. The agreement authorizes Antares to sell 3M Textool-branded BGA Test and Burn-In Sockets outside of Japan.

Asymtek/Nordson opens new facility in India.(Supply Line News)
December 1, 2007... Carlsbad, Calf. -- Asymtek announced the opening of its new technical support and sales office in Chennai, India; the new office is co-located with parent company Nordson Corporation. Asymtek established this facility to support the area's...

Automa-Tech sells new exposure unit in India.(Supply Line News)
December 1, 2007... Val de Reuil, France -- Automa-Tech ORC imaging made its first sale in India of a new exposure unit to Fine-Line Circuits Ltd in India's foremost export zone, Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone.

L-3 orders advanced drilling machine from Schmoll.(Supply Line News)
December 1, 2007... Garden Grove, Calif. -- Burkle North America's Fab Four Group announced that L-3 Communications, Croydon, Pa., placed an order for an advanced high-speed drilling machine from Schmoll Maschinen (Germany). The model MX-2 is a two-station system...

Stablcor and TTM Technologies sign licensing agreement.(Supply Line News)
December 1, 2007... Costa Mesa, Calif. -- Stablcor Incorporated entered into a licensing agreement with TTM Technologies, Inc. Under the agreement, Stablcor licensed the use of its STABLCOR[R] technology to TTM, Santa Ana, Calif.

Enthone expands portfolio through agreement with TECSEN.(Supply Line News)
December 1, 2007... West Haven, Conn. -- Enthone Inc. announced the expansion of its product portfolio with catalytic inks through a worldwide exclusive licensing agreement with TECSEN SA, Brussels. Under this agreement, Enthone gains exclusive rights to...

Airtech expands plant facilities, forms Airtech Asia.(Supply Line News)(Airtech International Group Inc.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Huntington Beach, Calif. -- Airtech International Inc. announced the expansion of its U.S. facilities with the addition of a 140,000 [ft.sup.2] distribution facility in Chino, Calif. This expansion doubles Airtech's California facilities and...

MacDermid and Sun Chemical announce U.K. partnership.(Supply Line News)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Denver, Colo. -- Sun Chemical Circuits and MacDermid joined forces, bringing significant benefits to new and existing customers in the U.K. MacDermid will sell solder mask inks, legend inks, and ancillary products from Sun Chemical to the PCB...

Rockwood to sell electronics business to OM Group.(Supply Line News)
December 1, 2007... Princeton, N.J. -- Rockwood Holdings, Inc., entered into a definitive agreement to sell its electronic business to OM Group, Inc., for approximately USD 265 million. Rockwood's electronics business includes its ultra-pure chemicals business,...

Specialty Coating Systems releases Precision IRT curing equipment.(Technology Today News)
December 1, 2007... Indianapolis -- Specialty Coating Systems, Inc. (SCS), released SCS Precision IRT, a curing system designed to quickly and safely cure a variety of coatings using both convection and long-wave infrared heat sources. Features include...

Frontline releases engineering system for flex and rigid-flex manufacturers.(Technology Today News)
December 1, 2007... Israel -- Frontline PCB Solutions released InPlan[TM]Flex, a new integrated engineering system offering state-of-the-art engineering for rigid, flex, and rigid-flex boards, shrinking engineering cycle time and dramatically reducing costs. In...

LPKF releases new bench-top multilayer press.(Technology Today News)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Wilsonville, Ore -- LPKF released the MultiPress S, a microprocessor-controlled bench-top multilayer lamination press ideal for creating multilayer circuit boards in a lab or prototyping environment. With a reduced pressing time of less than 90...

Mentor releases Precision RTL Plus for FPGA Synthesis.(Technology Today News)
December 1, 2007... Wilsonville, Ore. -- Mentor Graphics Corporation released Precision[R] RTL Plus Synthesis, which provides a significantly improved way of designing FPGAs and dramatically increases designer productivity. Providing several industry-first...

EMA and AEi release updated power IC Model Library.(Technology Today News)
December 1, 2007... Rochester, N.Y. -- EMA Design Automation [TM] and AEI Systems released version 2.0b of AEi's Power IC Model Library for the Cadence[R] PSPice[R] simulator. This updated version has over 200 time-domain simulation models for power electronic...

VIBCO CE-60 electric vibrator clears bubbles from small holes.(Technology Today News)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Wyoming, R.I. -- VIBCO released the CE-60 corrosion-resistant electric vibrator, the latest offering in the company's new line of durable, injection-molded plastic-housed vibrators. The housing was developed as an alternative to expensive steel...

DownStream releases BluePrint for PCBsVersion 1.8.(Technology Today News)(DownStream Technologies L.L.C.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Marlborough, Mass. -- DownStream Technologies, LLC, released BluePrint for PCBs[TM] Version 1.8, the latest version of its revolutionary software solution that creates the documentation that drives PCB fabrication, assembly, and inspection....

Construction zone: new options for manufacturing flex circuits are all about chemistry.(Cover story)
December 1, 2007... Flex circuits provide unique options for packaging geometry that permit electronic packaging to be smaller, simpler, and more reliable. The two basic flex circuit constructions--two-layer adhesiveless flex and three-layer adhesive flex--have...

Making a small impression.(Circuits Unusual)
December 1, 2007... PCB and IC Density Dilemmas We've known how to make printed circuits for over a century--right from the start of the endearing and enduring telecom revolution. But conductor dimensions keep getting smaller in the relentless drive for...

Stretchable circuit research in the European Union.(Flexible Thinking)
December 1, 2007... Regular readers of this column should be very familiar with flexible circuits, the advantages of which have been extolled here for more than a decade. Flexible circuit technology continues to find its way into new products and applications on a...

INEMI Publishes 2007 Research Priorities.(Data Transfer)(International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative )
December 1, 2007... The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) published its 2007 Research Priorities, identifying R&D priorities for the next 10 years by combining fi ndings from the 2007 iNEMI Roadmap with R&D needs identifi ed through...

TPCA Show 2007 -- five days wrapped in a neat little package.
December 1, 2007... The 2007 Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA) Show is pretty well known as a major equipment show. The equipment displayed at the show serves the highproduction, high-yield environments of the Pacifi c Rim, which has pretty much overtaken...

Market conditions improve in North America.(Market Outlook)
December 1, 2007... Almost USD 1.6 trillion of electronic equipment will be made globally this year (Chart 1), and to support this production, approximately USD 255 billion of semiconductors and USD 100 billion of passive components (including USD 50 billion of...

Evolution or obsolescence.(IPC Issues and Answers)(Column)
December 1, 2007... "A reasonable probability is the only certainty." E.W. Howe As I sit down to write this column on October 1 for this issue of CircuiTree, I'm again reminded of how quickly a year speeds by, though it's not surprising--every morning,...