CircuiTree articles from March 2004

CircuiTree archives from March 2004

Before bashing Asia or OEMs, look in the mirror.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... I've been a bit disappointed in some of the recent letters to the editor that bash Intel for being greedy (e.g., Matt Holzmann). I have no opinion on Matt's assumption of greed but it is a shallow viewpoint that ignores the meat behind Mr....

Doomed to repeat past mistakes?( )(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... I just read your latest email newsletter ["Intel, H-P, and Others Defend Offshore Hiring"] and am staggered by [Carly Fiorina's] stupidity and cupidity. She never ceases to amaze me by her ignorance and selfishness. Her statement shows that...

IPC: our international focus is nothing new.(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... Thank you for the opportunity to address IPC's decisions to provide better service to our members in Asia and Europe. Since its beginnings, IPC has been an international organization, with hundreds of members located outside North America. We...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2004... In our January issue [page 48] we published a press release from the Bare Board Group that states it is the only broker/distributor member of IPC. In fact, P.D. Circuits has been an active member of IPC since 1995. We regret the error.

Communication counts.
March 1, 2004... When Alcatel North America invited CircuiTree to attend its two-day PCB supplier training, our initial reaction was, "Why?" The training session, held at one of Alcatel's Plano, Texas, facilities, was designed to walk PCB manufacturers through...

Optimized system design through industry benchmarking of fabrication tolerances and material properties; benchmarking of industry fabrication capability, feature tolerances and material property variation is essential to aligning product requirements and industry capability.
March 1, 2004... Introduction Current computer performance trends have propelled digital signaling frequencies into the GHz range for a variety of CPU, memory and peripheral interconnect schemes. At these signaling frequencies the portions of timing errors...

Why support space missions?(Column)
March 1, 2004... As I write this, it is rumored that President Bush will do something that no president since JFK has had the foresight to propose: a Project Apollo for the 21st century. If he does, then by the time you read this column the nation will be...

Electro Scientific Industries.(People)(Nick Konidaris)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Portland, OR -- Electro Scientific Industries appointed Nick Konidaris as president and CEO. He was also made a member of ESI's Board of Directors. Konidaris succeeds president and CEO Barry Harmon, who will continue to serve as a member of the...

M-Flex.(People)(Reza Meshgin)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Anaheim, CA -- Multifineline Electronix Corp. (M-Flex) CEO Phil Harding announced that Reza Meshgin, vice president and general manager, has been promoted to Chief Operations Officer/President of M-Flex.

Circuit World.(People)(Bradley Bourne replaces Gordon Roseborough)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Scarborough, Canada -- Circuit World Corp. named Bradley Bourne CEO of the company, replacing Gordon Roseborough. Formerly, the president of the company, Bourne joined Circuit World in July 2003 through the company's acquisition of the Firan...

Park Electrochemical.(People)(Margaret M. Kendrick and Vito A. Tanzi)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Lake Success, NY -- Park Electrochemical Corp. elected Margaret ("Marty") M. Kendrick as the President of Nelco Products Inc., Park's volume FR-4 PCB material business unit located in Fullerton, California ("Nelco California"). Kendrick has...

PPG Industries.(People)(Cheryl Richards elected president of the Glass Manufacturing Industry Council)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Pittsburgh, PA -- Cheryl Richards, market development manager, Thermosets products for PPG Industries' fiber glass business, has been elected president of the Glass Manufacturing Industry Council for 2004. Richards, who started in fiber glass...

Formulas, formulas.
March 1, 2004... There is a universal language, recognized by scientists, engineers, technicians and even to some extent managers. It is called Mathematics. If you understand at least the basics of this language, you can converse within a wide range of...

Copper electroplating technology for microvia filling; this article describes a copper electroplating technology for filling microvias.
March 1, 2004... The ongoing trend of portability combined with increased functionality of electronic devices has driven the miniaturization and increased wiring density of PCBs (Ref. 1-2). Conventional multilayer PCBs with through hole interconnect vias are...

Enjoy the better times ... but be careful.
March 1, 2004... 2003 closed on a very positive note as the U.S. economy and virtually all electronic sectors enjoyed robust growth (Chart 1). Except for rigid PCB shipments and laminate/prepreg, annualized growth was positive. On a three-month basis (Oct-Dec...

Shoda Techtron Ltd. selects North America distributor.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Hamamatsu, Japan -- Shoda Techtron Ltd., one of the world's leading manufacturers of PCB V scoring, beveling, and shear/beveling systems, entered into a sales and service agency agreement with Christopher Group Inc. (Santa Ana, CA) for...

Stevenage Circuits gets another 'Emma'.(Suppliers)(high-speed flying probe test system )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Stevenage Circuits, one of the U.K.'s leading PCB manufacturers, purchased another Emma high-speed flying probe test system from Viking Test Services. It was chosen for its ability to handle thin materials and inner layers with ease. The latest...

DownStream Technologies, EMA Design Automation form partnership.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Bolton, MA -- DownStream Technologies LLC and EMA Design Automation signed a non-exclusive distribution and marketing agreement. Under the terms of this agreement, EMA will resell and market DownStream's CAM350 product line to the OrCAD[R] and...

Paragon Innovations, Hitachi Computer Products form alliance.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Plano, TX -- Paragon Innovations Inc. and Hitachi Computer Products (America) Inc. formed an alliance to offer complete, start-to-finish design and manufacturing solutions. Paragon specializes in embedded systems design for commercial and...

Kodak shows award-winning Web tools at IPC Expo.(Suppliers)(Eastman Kodak Co. Aerial and Industrial Materials Group)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Rochester, NY -- Eastman Kodak Company's Aerial and Industrial Materials business showcased its award-winning Website at IPC Expo along with its full line of photoplotter films, processing chemicals and equipment specifically designed for PCB...

GSI Lumonics receives $6 million order.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Billerica, MA -- GSI Lumonics Inc. received an order for multiple WaferTrimT M310 systems from a US-based integrated circuit (IC) manufacturer. The total value of this order is approximately $6 million. The order closely follows a similar order...

RIT selects Glenbrook Jewel Box for x-ray inspection.(Rochester Institute of Technology )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Randolph, NJ -- Glenbrook Technologies announced that the Rochester Institute of Technology has selected a Jewel Box 70-T real-time x-ray inspection system for use in the Surface Mount Technology laboratory of its Center for Electronics...

Shipley electronic and industrial finishing division achieves ISO-9001: 2000 certification.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Freeport, NY -- Shipley Company, part of the Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials group, announced that its Freeport, New York, Lucerne, Switzerland and Sasakami, Japan locations have recently achieved certification against the new ISO-9001: 2000...

Seica looks to the West.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Methuen, MA -- Seica Inc. opened a sales and support office in Santa Clara, California. Having established an office near Boston in 2003 to serve the East coast of North America, the new West coast office will provide local support for new and...

Preco Industries acquires SPECTRAlytics.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Minneapolis, MN -- Preco Industries (Lenexa, Kansas) acquired SPECTRAlytics Inc. (Dassel, Minn.). SPECTRAlytics is an ISO 9002 certified contract development and manufacturing company that provides high-tech laser applications and solutions to...

Buried Capacitance[TM] and thin laminates: the BC family of products provides circuit designers alternative levels of increasing electrical performance for their embedded distributive capacitance needs in PCB design and functionality.(Printed Circuit Board)(Cover Story)
March 1, 2004... BC[TM] buried distributive capacitance products have been in use in many high-speed applications for more than ten years with millions of core sq.ft. produced. BC laminate continues to be an industry standard due to its significant contribution...

IPC Flex & Chips Conference reveals myriad flex applications.
March 1, 2004... In early January, I provided two new flex workshops at IPC's Flex & Chips Conference 2004. The introduction to flex covered fundamentals, key technical features and market characteristics. Flexible circuitry, first patented in 1903, remains the...

T-Tech releases QC Trace Cam.(Quality Control)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Atlanta, GA -- T-Tech Inc. introduced the QC Trace Cam, an integrated inspection system, specifically designed for applications requiring a magnified inspection area. With QC Trace Cam, the engineer has a clear, magnified view of the milling...

Chemcut announces new wet processing equipment.(GSK 168)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Chemcut Corp. added the Chemcut GSK 168 to its equipment product line. Designed to meet the needs of the Photo Chemical Milling and PCB markets, the Chemcut GSK 168 system employs Chemcut's technology to provide uniform etching and long-term...

TDAO announces new Optical Alignment System.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... TDAO announced that it has developed a "revolutionary" new Optical Alignment System (OAS). This system, which can be fitted to almost any flatbed printer, guarantees registration (to [+ or -] 5 microns) on almost any substrate in under four...

YESTech debuts AOI and x-ray inspection technology at APEX.(Automated Optical Inspection)(YTV-2080 )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... San Clemente, CA -- YESTech debuted its YTV-2080 high speed AOI system at APEX 2004. The YTV's color megapixel Thin CameraT technology provides high speed PCB inspection with exceptional defect coverage. The YTV inspects for solder and lead...

Mania: Mega X8 boosts speed and productivity.(Products)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Maurizio Bonati, Mania's Business Unit Director Universal Grid Test Systems introduced the company's new Mega X8. "This machine comes with the revolutionary X8 Test Technology, boosting speed and productivity of our Mega Test System....

Coretec acquires Proto Circuit.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Toronto -- Coretec Inc. acquired the senior debt and entered into a conditional agreement to purchase all of the equity of Proto Circuit, Inc., a manufacturer of rigid- flex and rigid PCBs for the defense and aerospace sector. Proto Circuit's...