West Chicago, IL — Building on the success of their 2023 merger, two of the nation’s leading printed circuit board manufacturers — American Standard Circuits and Sunstone Circuits — have united under a shared brand family: ASC. Now known as American Standard Circuits (ASC) and ASC Sunstone respectively, the change reflects a shared legacy of innovation, engineering excellence, and the expanded capabilities now available to customers across industries.

New logo reflects legacy of innovation in PCBs

The updated brand identity combines aspects of both company’s original logos, to honor each company’s legacy: the people and partnerships that shaped their growth and solidified their standing as leaders in PCB manufacturing.

At the center of the new logo is a stylized lightning bolt, representing the spark of brilliance that drives innovation, and the current of energy that flows when a circuit is complete. The design also evokes PCB tracelines — a nod to the engineering precision and advanced capabilities that unite both companies.

Looking ahead for 2026 and beyond

While branding evolves, what remains constant is an unwavering commitment to the customer experience. Customers can expect the same responsiveness, reliability, and technical mastery they’ve always trusted — now backed by the combined strength and capabilities of two established PCB leaders united under a shared brand.

“This unification is about more than a name — it’s about a shared vision for the future of PCB manufacturing,” said Anaya Vardya, CEO at ASC. “By coming together as a brand family, we’re harnessing the strengths of two pioneering companies to accelerate innovation, expand our capabilities, and continue to offer new solutions for our customers.”

With a refreshed visual identity, an expanded suite of manufacturing capabilities, and ongoing investments in employees, technology, and R&D, ASC enters the new year poised to lead the next era of PCB manufacturing. Together, American Standard Circuits (ASC) and ASC Sunstone are committed to delivering innovative, high-quality, U.S.-made circuit board solutions — from quick-turn prototypes to complex, high-reliability designs — serving industries from aerospace and medical to telecommunications and consumer electronics.

About ASC

ASC is a premier PCB solutions provider formed by the integration of American Standard Circuits and Sunstone Circuits, bringing together over 50 years of collective industry expertise. By unifying high-tech fabrication capabilities with industry-leading quick-turn agility, the company provides a comprehensive "design-to-production" workflow across its domestic manufacturing facilities. ASC delivers a robust technology portfolio—including Ultra HDI, RF/microwave, metal-clad, flex, and rigid-flex solutions—supported by world-class certifications and a legendary commitment to customer service. From rapid prototyping to large-scale production, ASC leverages its combined multi-site capacity to meet the technical precision and scalability demands of the global electronics industry.

For more information, please visit www.ascsunstone.com.

Victory PCB, a professional printed circuit board manufacturer based in Shenzhen, today announced its continued focus on the production and supply of Heavy Copper Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), engineered to meet the growing demands of high-power, high-current, and thermally challenging electronic applications.

Detailed product information is available at: https://www.victorypcb.com/products-category/heavy-copper-pcbs.html.

Heavy copper PCBs, also commonly referred to as thick copper PCBs, are gaining widespread adoption across multiple electronic industries due to their strength, reliability, and performance advantages. These boards contain more than 3 ounces (oz) of copper on the inner or outer layers of the printed circuit board. In industry terms, copper thickness ranging from 4 oz/ft² to 20 oz/ft² is considered heavy copper, while copper weights exceeding 20 oz/ft² and reaching up to 200 oz/ft² are categorized as extreme copper.

Victory PCB manufactures heavy copper PCBs using appropriate substrates combined with thicker copper plating in through-hole circuits. This approach creates a highly reliable wiring platform capable of handling elevated current levels while maintaining mechanical durability. The manufacturing process involves a combination of advanced etching and plating techniques, with a consistent objective of increasing copper thickness along plated holes and sidewalls to ensure long-term performance and stability.

As demand for robust power electronics continues to rise, heavy copper PCBs have become one of the fastest-growing segments within the PCB industry, offering strong development potential and broad application coverage.

Key Benefits of Heavy Copper PCBs

Compared to conventional printed circuit boards, heavy copper PCBs provide several distinct advantages:

• Simple and Strong Structure. By integrating high-current circuits directly into the PCB, designers can achieve higher circuit density while reducing the overall layer count. This results in a structure that is both mechanically strong and relatively uncomplicated.
• Reduced Failure States. High-current and high-power circuits typically generate significant heat. Copper’s excellent thermal conductivity enables heavy copper PCBs to efficiently transfer heat away from temperature-sensitive components, reducing the likelihood of thermal failure.
• Lower Overall Production Costs. While copper itself is a premium material, replacing traditional copper cables with heavy copper PCBs can lower overall production costs by simplifying system design, reducing assembly complexity, and improving reliability.

Applications of Heavy Copper Circuit Boards

Heavy copper PCBs are commonly used in applications that require high power distribution, effective heat dissipation, and mechanical robustness. Typical applications include:

• Power supplies for radar systems
• Power converters
• Safety and signal systems
• Welding equipment
• Protection relays
• Power line monitors
• Torque controls
• Overload relays
• Automotive industry electronics
• Solar panel manufacturing systems
• Nuclear power applications

These applications rely on heavy copper PCBs for their ability to handle high currents, withstand harsh operating conditions, and deliver consistent performance over extended service lifetimes.

Manufacturing Capabilities and Custom Solutions

Victory PCB offers comprehensive heavy copper PCB manufacturing capabilities, including support for customized specifications based on customer requirements. The company works closely with each client to ensure that every heavy copper PCB meets precise design, performance, and turnaround expectations.

In response to common customer inquiries, Victory PCB supports a wide range of requirements related to heavy copper PCBs, including multilayer configurations, material selection, manufacturing processes, and turnaround considerations. The rising use of heavy copper PCBs reflects the electronics industry’s increasing need for reliable solutions capable of supporting high-power and high-current designs.

Victory PCB emphasizes collaboration throughout the development process, helping customers move from design to production efficiently and accurately.

“Victory PCB works with each customer to ensure they get the boards they need, the way they need them,” the company stated. “Our heavy copper printed circuit boards are designed to support demanding applications while enabling fast, reliable production from the first build.”

Customers seeking custom heavy copper printed circuit boards are encouraged to contact Victory PCB directly for a detailed quote and technical consultation.

For more details visit https://www.victorypcb.com/products-category/heavy-copper-pcbs.html

SAN DIEGO, CA — December 30, 2025 — Altium, a global leader in electronics design systems, today announced the appointment of Don Cantow as General Manager of Altium, effective January 1, 2026.
In his role as General Manager, Mr. Cantow will be central to accelerating Altium’s adoption as an industry platform, while safeguarding its openness and accessibility across the global electronics ecosystem, spanning semiconductor companies and the broader EDA and ECAD community.

Following the acquisition of Altium by Renesas Electronics Corporation (“Renesas”, TSE: 6723) in 2024, the company has been advancing a bold strategy to accelerate the digitalization of the electronics industry. Altium has evolved into a platform-first business, extending its electronic design software, Altium Designer, and its cloud-based collaboration platform, Altium 365, with electronics system design and lifecycle management capabilities to support the development of software-defined products.

Altium remains a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas and will continue to operate under its existing legal entity. Mr. Cantow will report to Aram Mirkazemi, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Renesas Software & Digitalization Product Group.

“Altium has a long-held vision of becoming an industry platform that connects the entire electronics ecosystem—large and small—around a common digital backbone,” said Aram Mirkazemi, Senior Vice President, Software & Digitalization at Renesas. “Don is uniquely prepared to advance that vision. His breadth of industry experience and his strength in strategic partnership are exactly what is required to drive broad industry adoption and take Altium into its next phase.”

Mr. Cantow brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in the electronics industry. He spent over two decades at Mentor Graphics, where he held senior roles during the company’s growth into a global, enterprise-scale leader, leading worldwide enterprise engagements and strategic customer relationships. He also held key strategic sales and marketing roles at Texas Instruments, gaining direct experience within the semiconductor industry. Over the past eight years at Altium, he has played a central role in building the company’s enterprise business and strategic partnerships.

“I am honored to take on this role as General Manager of Altium at such a pivotal moment for Altium and the Electronic Industry,” said Mr. Cantow. “The convergence of electronic design, cloud platforms, and semiconductor innovation creates a unique opportunity to redefine how the industry designs and delivers products. It also provides a unique opportunity to modernize how the industry engages – and to accelerate engagement to match the pace of innovation. I look forward to working with our customers and partners to realize that vision.”

Mr. Cantow holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Connecticut and has completed executive education programs at MIT Sloan School of Management and Columbia Business School.

RICHMOND, VA - December 12, 2025 – Mobius Materials, the safe spot market for semiconductors, has closed a $3M Series Seed financing round in order to bring liquidity, quality control and price transparency to the secondary semiconductor market. Mobius’ Series Seed round was led by Spero Ventures, an early stage VC fund focused on purpose led companies. Additional investors include Outsiders Fund and RefashionD Ventures. The funds raised will make a significant investment in the platform which connects buyers and sellers, build out the Mobius leadership team and ultimately position the company for fast track growth to reach new customers and global markets.

Mobius is solving a $25B problem that is only getting worse as tariffs and geopolitics make semiconductors one of the most volatile industries in the world. Despite more than $600B of chips sold annually, there is nowhere for manufacturers to trade chips besides rigid direct, distributor purchasing or a massive gray market. As forecasts change or tariff volatility hits, manufacturers are either left with large stocks of excess chips or shortages of critical ones. Mobius is used by hundreds of contract manufacturers and OEMs to directly buy and sell excess electronic parts quickly, safely and at market prices.

For Mobius’ Founder and CEO, Margaret Upshur, the mission is not just economic, it’s environmental. A former supply chain executive at an electronics OEM, Upshur was dismayed to have to throw away hundreds of thousands of dollars of new chips that were no longer used in their products, all of which could have been sold.

‍“We’re building the first stock market for semiconductors so companies can finally buy and sell components the way they should: transparently, safely, and at true market prices,” says Upshur. “This raise and our partnership with Spero will help us scale our marketplace so supply-chain teams can achieve real liquidity in an industry that’s been stuck with rigid purchasing, constant supply shocks and quality risks.”

‍Mobius will use the new funding to accelerate development of its platform, including the upcoming launch of its e-auction platform, which allows manufacturers to reach thousands of qualified buyers, improve returns, often by up to three times traditional broker rates-and close transactions in weeks instead of months. The raise will also support continued team expansion, following recent leadership hires in engineering and customer experience, with a search underway for a Head of Operations. In addition, Mobius has filed a patent for its machine-learning–based system for authenticating the quality of electronic components.

“Chips power nearly every device we rely on, yet the secondary market remains opaque and inefficient. Mobius is building a trusted marketplace that delivers transparency, liquidity, and quality control,” said Shripriya Mahesh of Spero Ventures. “We’re proud to support Margaret and her team as they create a more resilient and sustainable future for global manufacturing.”

A robust secondary market has never been more important for the $630B semiconductor industry. Geopolitical tensions, a brittle and very long supply chain, and a robust gray market have combined to mean that the semiconductor industry is one of the most volatile in the world. Meanwhile it is incredibly crucial, not just for consumer electronics and national defense but for every sector imaginable. Chips make up 40% of the cost of a car, 66% of the cost of consumer electronics and 65% of the cost of AI development. Allowing quick, safe and floating price buys on a spot market dampens the extreme shocks of the industry and allows manufacturers to keep producing even when chips hit shortages or gluts.

As tariffs continue to rage, Mobius also helps to strategically connect buyers with sellers and reduce the impact of the tariffs. Sellers who already have imported their chips before the trade tariffs have been imposed can sell to buyers pinched by the new costs of import for example. Upshur and her team anticipate that there will continue to be changes in tariffs internationally and are ready to respond, creating a flexible source for their customers.