DENVER, CO and MARS - RJR Circuits, Inc. provided prototype and flight PCBs for the Phoenix Mars Lander, which touched down on the surface of the red planet on May 25.

ADDISON, IL ― Qualitek International, Inc. has announced the addition of JSK Associates as sales representatives. JSK will have responsibility for selling the company’s soldering materials, solder paste, fluxes, bar, wire, spheres as well as the company’s JT wave solder machines and reflow ovens.

JSK Associates are located in Northern CA and have been providing representation for the electronics, medical and semiconductor manufacturing, assembly and research industries since 1979.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM and LAKE FOREST, CA - CAC Inc. and Laminating Company of America (LCOA) have announced the addition of Rocky Hilburn as product development manager. Hilburn will be responsible for marketing products for both CAC and LCOA.

Hilburn previously held the positions of director of technical marketing for Ticer Technologies, and products development manager for Gould Electronics, as well as management roles in manufacturing, quality and engineering in the electronics and printed circuits manufacturing industry.

"Hilburn brings a wealth of product development skills to our global team," said Patrick Redfern, president of CAC Inc. and L.C.O.A.

U.S. and SOUTH KOREA - A technique that uses a combination of maintaining a layer of water on a work surface while firing a laser in nanosecond pulses could aid in the processing of metals.

Using a thin layer of water on a metal sample when using a laser reportedly results in more efficient processing when compared with dry conditions, according to a team from the U.S. and South Korea. The researchers found that keeping a layer of water on the surface increased the material removal rate by up to eight times, while causing minimal damage to the peripheral regions, as reported in the Journal of Applied Physics.

"We found that laser-metal processing was enhanced especially at the low ablation threshold thanks to the mechanical impact of water," said researcher Hyun Wook Kang of American Medical Systems. "The layer of water generated high pressure impact during vaporization as well as removed laser-induced material debris to effectively deliver laser energy."