Issue

PLANO, TX - A merger between CV Inc. Business Solutions, FIB-X, Microtech Analytical Labs LP (MAL), and Fast Semiconductor, Inc. (FAST Semi), has created a full-scale prototyping house for chip-scale, flip chip, BGA, and QFN packages, with bumping and wire-bonding, assembly, failure analysis, design debug, and other packaging services.

CAMBRIDGE, U.K. - Plastic Logic, which produces plastic substrates, garnered funding from a variety of equity sources to open a factory for commercial production of plastic electronics, specifically, the flexible active-matrix display modules of electronic readers.

BINGHAMTON, NY and ATLANTA - The Packaging Research Center (PRC) at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta is partnering with Binghamton University, NY, to develop and promote a possible industry consortium addressing thermal interface materials (TIMs).

GOLDEN, CO - Ceramics supplier and component manufacturer CoorsTek, acquired Gaiser Tool Company (Ventura, CA), a precision-tooling manufacturer of ceramic capillaries for high-reliability wire bonds.

PARIS - Souriau S.A.S., controlled by Sagard Private Equity Partners, signed a binding agreement to acquire U.S. operations of Pacific Aerospace & Electronics Inc. (PA&E).

ENDICOTT, NY - Warren Dannelly became director of sales, global accounts, for Endicott Interconnect Technologies, Inc., reporting to Michael Hills, senior VP of account services.

CAMBRIDGE, U.K. - Reporting on the usage and volume of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, IDTechEx’s “RFID - A Tale of Four Continents,” examines data from North America, East Asia, Europe, and Australasia. IDTechEx found North America to be the largest RFID market in value, tag volume, and case studies, with the U.S. being the primary driver.

Datacon Technology GmbH named H. Fillunger & Co., Pvt. Ltd., sales representative in India. H. Fillunger, headquartered in Pune, India, also operates in Mumbai, an industrial center; Bangalore; and New Delhi, the capital. Datacon noted that the country’s market for electronics manufacturing equipment is rapidly expanding.

LOS ANGELES - IPC Printed Circuits Expo/APEX/Designers Summit, February 18-22 in Los Angeles, will host the 50th anniversary celebration of the IPC - Association Connecting Electronic Industries, as well as various other celebratory and informative events.

SAN JOSE, CA - The U.S. Display Consortium (USDC) board of directors will launch an initiative to promote flexible, printed, and organic (FPO) electronics, providing services to industry, academia, and government sectors with the aim of developing and expanding the FPO electronics sector and drafting a pertinent technology roadmap.

A computerized tomography (CT) capability, XXX, generates a 3-D image of an object from a series of 2-D images captured on a single axis of rotation.

The times, they are a-changin’ - Bob Dylan famously announced in 1964, creaing an anthem for America’s social revolution in the 1960s.

Continuous innovation is key to future survival and growth of businesses operating in increasingly competitive global markets.

he use of light signals to connect different chips within a computer or different parts within a chip has attracted lots of attention due to the huge bandwidth provided by optics.

1. Touring the NEXX System facilities are, from left to right, Gail Flower, editor-in-chief; Stan Piekos, VP finance; Meredith Courtemanche, assistant editor; Arthur Keigler, VP technology; Diane Donnelly, AP national sales manager; Dick Post, CEO; and Françoise von Trapp, managing editor.

Playing golf has taught me a bit about work under pressure. I wouldn’t say that my golf game is bad, but if I grew tomatoes, they would probably come up sliced.

Technology shifts in consumer electronics present manufacturers with a laundry list of challenges.

Many of today’s advanced packages use solder ball contact arrays to make package-to-board or package-to-package level 2 electrical connections.

One of the keys to successful wafer bumping is the removal of surface oxides on the deposited solder during reflow, usually done by using organic fluxes.

Increasing miniaturization and circuit density is an ongoing trend in electronics.

Perhaps for the first time in electronics, packaging has come into its own. As you read this forecast for 2007, you will notice a new attitude filled with confidence and enthusiasm.