Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine - Market News

Market News

SMYRNA, GA – UP Media Group Inc. (UPMG) has named Frances Stewart vice president of sales and marketing. Stewart will be responsible for all sales and marketing in UPMG’s electronics division including the company’s publishing and trade show operations.

The company, which publishes the industry leading Circuits Assembly and Printed Circuit Design and Manufacture magazines, also promoted Editorial Director Mike Buetow to vice president of editorial and production for the electronics division.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – IPC, Association Connecting Electronics Industries, invites researchers, academics, technical experts and industry leaders to submit abstracts for the 2008 IPC Printed Circuits Expo, APEX and Designers Summit, recently relocated to Mandalay Bay Resort and Convention Center, Las Vegas, March 30–April 3, 2008.

Expert presentations are being sought on all relevant electronics manufacture subjects, from advanced technology to via plugging and other protection. A 300-word abstract summarizing original and previously unpublished work covering case histories, research and discoveries must be submitted by July 13, 2007. The submission should describe significant results from experiments, emphasize new techniques, discuss trends of interest and contain technical and/or appropriate test results.

Proposals are also solicited for full-day and half-day professional development courses on design, printed circuit board and electronic manufacturing processes and materials.
All abstracts and proposals are due July 13, 2007. For more information or to submit an abstract or proposal, visit www.GoIPCShows.org.

RICHARDSON, TX – Trilogy Circuits Inc. has recently re-located and expanded its design and manufacturing operations. The new 10,000 square foot facility consists of a 7,000 square foot production area, with the remaining space dedicated to design, manufacturing and administrative support.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – IPC, Association Connecting Electronics Industries, released the following information:

The EU has hired research teams from ECOLAS (Environment Consultancy and Assistance) and RPA (Risk & Policy Analysts) to conduct studies on the RoHS and WEEE directives. As a result, ECOLAS and RPA have developed two questionnaires to address RoHS and WEEE issues impacting the electronics industry.

Your input is vital in helping the EU understand the significant impact of RoHS and WEEE on the global electronics industry, and ensuring that your concerns are adequately addressed. Your company can request that the information provided in the questionnaires be kept confidential.

The study on RoHS will try to quantify the economic and environmental impacts of the RoHS Directive through a Cost-Benefit Analysis. The RoHS questionnaire focuses on the following topics: compliance costs and benefits, technical costs of RoHS phase-outs, and social impacts with a company profile section.

The study on WEEE will assess the impacts of the directive on innovation and competition and seeks to identify those factors and requirements, which have critical positive or negative effects. The WEEE questionnaire focuses on the following topics: company details, overall WEEE costs to your company, costs associated with research and development, producer responsibility schemes and trade issues.

Take advantage of the opportunity to be involved in a process that could potentially lead to recommendations for revision to both Directives. The questionnaires and more information can be found at http://leadfree.ipc.org/RoHS_WEEE_Qtn.htm. The questionnaires must be completed by May 25, 2007.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – For Apex and Los Angeles, it’s one and done.

The Apex/IPC Printed Circuits Expo trade show will relocate to Las Vegas in 2008, show producer IPC said Monday. In a letter to exhibitors, IPC said the combination of a 12% drop in attendance coupled with an apparent distaste for the Los Angeles Convention factored heavily into the decision. Attendees, said the group in a letter issued Monday to exhibitors, said, "Los Angeles was the number one problem over and over again. In short, the location was not a positive experience."

SANTA BARBARA, CA – Design Solutions Inc. (DSI) has opened a new design center in Munich, Germany, Design Solutions GmbH. The facility provides engineering, design, simulation and prototype manufacturing services to the electronics industry. The state-of-the-art design center also includes a high-level FPGA and ASIC development group.

Sean O’Neil, president and CEO of DSI, said, “With the opening of this new design center, the German market will benefit from product engineering expertise across all disciplines. This includes electrical engineering, performance simulation, component and product packaging, PCB design, performance and reliability analysis, and much more, such as mechanical design, software development, prototype PCB fabrication, product assembly and testing.”

O’Neil also said that the opening of the new facility “helps DSI further its business plan of providing local design/engineering centers to global technology hubs, in order to provide local project management and support, while leveraging low-cost regions for a majority of the engineering work.”

DSI has seven locations in the U.S. and two in Europe.