HERNDON, VA – iNEMI sponsored two forums in late 2008, both of which outlined industry action to address current and future environmental challenges and, in response to this input, iNEMI has identified new collaborative efforts. 
 
Proposals for four iNEMI projects emerged from discussions at the Sustainability Summit: noncompetitive lifecycle assessments for information and communication technology products based on a building block approach using assembly emulators; PVC replacement alternatives, using LCAs to compare PVC vs. PVC-free cables and technical evaluation of alternatives; establishing a market for post-consumer plastics as feedstock for green products (e.g., polycarbonate, ABS — acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), and establishing electronics applications for post-consumer blended plastics (e.g., housings for power supplies).
 
Two of these initiates are currently in development, says the consortium. Tom Okrasinski, Alcatel-Lucent, and Todd Myers, Cisco, will champion the Eco-Impact Evaluator for ICT Equipment Initiative (noncompetitive LCAs); and Scott O’Connell, Dell, is championing the PVC alternatives effort.
 
To become involved in either project, contact Jim Arnold, iNEMI consultant, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
 
Other areas identified for industry action include working with an IPC standards committee to create a practical industry definition of “halogen-free”; creating an HFR- and PVC-free component and board test specification and metrology, and through traditional volume learning curves, achieving HFR- and PVC-free materials cost, delivery and quality parity. 

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Altium has added the CADstar file importer to the latest release of Altium Designer that already supports legacy design files from Allegro, OrCAD, DX Designer, PADS and P-CAD and Protel design tools. 
 
The file importer will allow designers to move from older-style, legacy point tools to Altium’s next generation solution. Users will be able to unlock the potential of large-scale programmable devices while still creating custom-designed PCBs using Altium’s board design features.