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Speaking of this Week -- January 24, 2003
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
By Christine F. Della Monaca
Speaking of this Week reflects on events in the electronics assembly industry every Friday.
As cold as it is outside, I'm warmed by all the progress and personnel news I see as of late. Companies also continue to come together, and there's some financial news. Finally, some news on the educational front, and predictions. Here we go:
- Northbrook, Ill.-based trade organization IPC -- Association Connecting Electronics Industries' Photonics Manufacturing Association Council (PMAC) has put together a Steering Committee to oversee the Council's development of a body responsible for organizing and coordinating standardization, roadmapping, legislative, market research and education efforts within photonics. Meanwhile, several companies have gotten itchy feet: Anaheim, Calif.-based Murietta Circuits moved to the 47,500 sq ft Catellus Corporate Center, down the street from its former headquarters, while Parsippany, N.J.-based Matheson Tri-Gas Inc.'s Electronics and Specialty Gas Group expanded its facility in LaPorte, Texas. And Portland, Ore.-based Electro Scientific Industries Inc. opened an expanded office in Jubei City, Hsinchu, Taiwan. Finally, Binghamton, N.Y.-based Universal Instruments Corp. expanded its Web site to include Chinese language pages, and similarly, Knaresborough, UK-based GSPK Circuits Ltd. is investing in a new Chinese venture. It seems every company wants to get its fingers in the China pie.
- Two personnel announcements: Milpitas, Calif.-based Solectron Corp. named Executive VP George Moore to head its Global Services business unit, while Bend, Ore.-based Accent Optical Technologies appointed Tom Ryan, Ph.D. as director of business development, X-ray Diffraction.
- Companies coming together: Ewing, N.J.-based Universal Display Corp. has been awarded a $69,850 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract by the U.S. Department of the Army to demonstrate the feasibility of building AMOLED displays. Look for more collaboration between the armed services and electronics assembly companies as situations like a pending war with Iraq heat up. Meanwhile, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Agilent Technologies Inc. is collaborating with Beijing-based China Integrated Circuit Design Center (CIDC) to establish Beijing's first SOC Engineering Testing Center. Finally, Nashua, N.H.-based Teradyne Inc. Connection Systems Division (TCS) and Lisle, Ill.-based Molex Inc. have signed a second-source licensing agreement that grants Molex the right to manufacture, market and sell the GbX connector.
- Some future financial news: Irvine, Calif.-based Newport Corp. will release results for its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2002, on January 29.
- Some educational news: Germany-based Berufsakademie Baden Wurttemberg, Germany's University of Cooperative Education will begin training all industry partners and new engineering students on Nashua, N.H.-based Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd.'s eMPower manufacturing process management (MPM) solutions. And IPC has created the IPC Electronics Assembly Scholarship Fund, an endowment that will support the electronics program at Curie Metropolitan High School in Chicago. Finally, UK-based SOLDERTEC and Japan-based Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) have established the International Lead-free Soldering Roadmap Framework as a guidance document for lead-free.
- Tradeshow news: Northbrook, Ill.-based IPC -- Association Connecting Electronics Industries announced that more than 100 papers will be presented in 42 technical sessions during APEX 2003, taking place March 31 through April 2 in Anaheim, Calif.
- Finally, some predictions: San Mateo, Calif.-based ElectroniCast Corp. says that global consumption value of optical modulators will increase at a strong pace of 38 percent per year over the next five years, from $266 million in 2002 to more than $1.3 billion in 2007. And UK-based Purcon-iPro Ltd. stated that price erosion of PCBs, which reached as much as 10 percent per quarter in the second half of 2001, has now slowed to less than 5 percent per quarter.
Have some insight on the industry? See something you don't agree with? Think I'm right on? Send it all to me at christinef@pennwell.com.