News
The monthly order index compiled by the Electronic Components, Assemblies & Materials Association (ECA, Arlington, VA) continued its steady upward climb in June for the eleventh consecutive month.
"Nothing astronomical is happening," said Bob Willis, ECA president. "Just a nice steady climb over an extended period, which everyone in the industry will take after about a year of no movement and the downward plunge in 2001."
According to the ECA, executives from leading manufacturers say that market growth is not being driven by any single product area, but by steady gains for a range of goods, including digital cameras, flat panel displays, DVDs and car cockpit electronics. Most expect the trend to continue through this year and into next.
The ECA represents manufacturers and producers of passive and active electronic components, component arrays and assemblies and materials and support services. It is a sector of the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), comprising more than 2,100 members that reportedly represent 80% of the $430 billion U.S. electronics industry.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
UP Media Group Inc. (Atlanta, GA) and PCB Design Conference West are calling for abstracts for PCB West 2005, which will be held March 7 - 11, 2005, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Sponsored by respected industry trade magazines Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture and Circuits Assembly, PCB West annually provides attendees and vendors with a conference and exhibition for the design and manufacture of printed circuit boards (PCBs), high density interconnect (HDI) and other advanced circuits.
Papers and/or presentations are being sought for the technical conference, based on the following course durations: 30-minute paper sessions, one-hour lectures or panel sessions, two-hour workshops and half-day (3.5 hour) seminars. Papers and/or presentations also are sought for a professional development curriculum of one-day and two-day technical tutorials.
Papers and presentations are sought for, but not limited to, the following topics:
- High speed, high frequency and signal integrity
- Impedance and crosstalk control
- EMI/EMC analysis
- Thermal analysis
- Lead-free processes (especially how they affect design and manufacture)
- RF and microwave
- Packaging and components
- Area arrays
- FPGA design and implementation
- Embedded passives and active devices
- Flexible circuitry
- HDI design and technologies
- PCB design/layout techniques
- Component library creation and management
- Design for manufacture, test and assembly
- Design (including analog, digital and power supplies)
- PCB fabrication
- Soldering
- Surface finishes
- Industry forecasts
- Business and design/supply chain issues
To be considered as a speaker/presenter for PCB West 2005, email to Conference Chair Andy Shaughnessy, ashaughnessy@upmediagroup.com, by August 30, 2004. Your submission should include: a suggested course title, a suggested course length, a short description of your target audience, a detailed 100- to 300-word abstract and a speaker bio.
If selected for PCB West, final papers and/or presentations will be due in early December 2004.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Vitronics Soltec (Oosterhout, the Netherlands) has announced the schedule for their third annual European seminar tour, "Lead-Free Soldering: How Ready Are You . . . Really?" With the July 1, 2006 deadline for conversion to lead-free soldering rapidly approaching in Europe, this tour is designed to help electronics assemblers accelerate their conversion efforts to be ready and compliant on time.
The 2004 tour is based on Vitronics Soltec's "5 Steps to Lead-Free Soldering" program, includes the company's latest findings and addresses the lead-free process for all three automated soldering processes: reflow, wave and selective soldering.
In the morning sessions, highlights of the "5 Steps" program will be covered, including backward and forward compatibility within lead-free processing, effect of cooling rate on solder joint structure, compatibility of equipment materials with new alloys and many case studies illustrating challenges, pitfalls and success stories drawn from real life.
Other sessions include Success Factors for Lead-Free Wave Soldering, Conversion to Lead-Free Selective Soldering, High Speed Lead-Free Reflow Soldering, Lead-Free Cause and Effects, 5 Steps User Information and an interactive session whereby detailed presentations will be given on topics chosen by the attendees.
The seminar schedule is as follows:
September 2004
07 - UK, Manchester
09 - Ireland, Limerick
14 - Portugal, Porto
15 - Spain, Terrassa
16 - France, Rennes
21 - Hungary, Szekesfehervar
22 - Austria, Vienna
23 - Slovenia, Kranj
28 - Germany, Hannover
29 - Germany, Würzburg
30 - Switzerland, Zürich
October 2004
11 - Italy, Padova
12 - Italy, Bergamo
13 - Italy, Fiuggi
14 - France, Archamps
19 - Poland, Gdansk
20 - Denmark, Arhus
21 - Sweden, Stockholm
26 - Finland, Espoo
28 - Benelux, Oosterhout
29 - Benelux, Oosterhout
November 2004
02 - Turkey, Istanbul
04 - Czech Republic, Brno
For more information or to register online, visit www.vitronics-soltec.com.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
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