BEIJING, CHINA – According to industry reports, China Minmetals has bought HPTec, Germany's manufacturer of drills and cutters, for an unspecified price.

The company said that it will assume 100% control of the Ravensburg Germany-based company, which produces printed circuit board (PCB) microcutting tools.

Founded in 1977, HPTec has locations in Singapore, Korea and China.

BEAVERTON, OR – Merix Corporation has hired George Dramowicz to a newly created position, vice president of quality. Mr. Dramowicz was most recently the director of corporate/global quality at Celestica International. Prior to Celestica, Dramowicz worked for Honeywell/Allied Signal, Canadian Marconi and Pratt & Whitney Canada. Dramowicz has engineering degrees from Warsaw Technical University and has attended the Management Institute at McGill University. Dramowicz joins recent hire, Steven Lach, the new vice president of North American operations. In January president and CEO, Michael Burger indicated the need for management changes after a disappointing second quarter.