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BANNOCKBURN, IL – IPC is accepting comments on IPC-9592, Performance Parameters for Power Conversion Devices. The document standardizes the performance parameters for power conversion devices, including the computer and telecommunications industries. The specification also sets the requirements for design, qualification and conformance testing, manufacturing quality processes, and regulatory requirements. Comments are due June 2. A copy of the document and the comment form are available at ipc.org/PCSMeeting. The nearly 100-page proposal was developed by the IPC Power Conversion Subcommittee, chaired by Dr. Scott Strand of IBM. The next committee meeting will take place June 26-27 in Schaumburg, IL.

BRADENTON, FL – Connector analyst Ron Bishop will keynote the IICIT Connector & Interconnection Technology Symposium in May. The keynote will be about The World Connector Industry with special focus on the outlook for 2007 and 2011. Bishop is president of Bishop & Associates Inc., a consulting firm, and a noted expert on the connector industry. The conference takes place May 8-9, in Dedham, MA. For more information and registration, visit http://www.iicit.org.

SAN FRANCISCO – On April 2, Korea's National Assembly passed legislation similar to a series of European Union regulations, including the RoHS, WEEE and ELV (End of Life Vehicles) directives. The regulation goes into effect Jan. 1, 2008.

But while the Act Concerning the Resource Recycling of Electrical/Electronic Products and Automobiles has elements of the EU directives, it is also unique, according to Michael Kirschner of Design Chain Associates. Like EU’s RoHS Directive and China’s legislation, he says, the regulation omits a detailed scope (certain classes of automobiles and electronics initially equivalent to that of Korea’s preexisting Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources), substance restrictions and concentration limits, design for environment requirements, and so on. Presidential Decrees and Ordinances from the Ministry of the Environment will define these concepts.

Items to be specified in the next step of legislation include precise definitions and lists of “Electrical and Electronic Equipment”; “Automobile,” and “Hazardous Substances” and their threshold limits and a Mandatory Annual Recycling Objective for Automobiles, along with evaluation methods. Test Methods of Hazardous Substances will be published. And an individual or collective scheme for recycling will be set up, among other actions.