ATLANTA, GA —UP Media Group Inc. (UPMG) has announced the conference program and event schedule for PCB Design Conference East 2005. The show will celebrate its 10^th anniversary Oct. 10-14 at the Expo Center of New Hampshire, in Manchester.

PCB East features a five-day conference program of targeted Professional Development and Technical Conference courses, plus a keynote address, a variety of free special networking events and a two-day exhibition.

The Welcome Luncheon and Industry Icon Roast on Oct. 10 will be the first special event. The roastee’s name is being kept under wraps but clues will be “leaked” on the show Website during the weeks leading up to the show. Free to all Monday attendees, others may register to attend this plated luncheon event.  

An Opening Night Reception, featuring food and drinks, will be held on the show floor on Oct. 12. Book signings by industry authors will be held during the reception and at other times in the PCB East Book Store.

Pub Night at Jillian's, featuring live music by the infamous Porch Dawgs, will provide free pool, darts and shuffleboard, plus food and drinks, at Jillian’s in downtown Manchester.

An Ice Cream Social will be held on the show floor on Oct. 13. Other new events include Dinner With Strangers and Trivia Night.

Registration for the exhibition and most special events is free. The complete conference brochure is available at pcbeast.com.

tLOS ANGELES – What’s the Made in the USA” label worth among today’s consumers?

According to the American Demographics Perception Study, which surveys consumers for opinions on brands and perceptions, the USA tag still holds sway with buyers, although its pull is waning among younger consumers.

DES PLAINES, IL —Kester will continue its lead-free seminar series, “Project 2005: Achieving Lead-free RoHS Assembly,” on July 26 in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.

The seminar is designed to assist in the successful transition to lead-free soldering and RoHS compliancy. It will address key lead-free assembly issues and give technical information to transition in a timely fashion.

It will present the various complexities of assemblies and how to comply with the European WEEE and RoHS Directives. This seminar offers complete information and case studies to make these products reliable with lead-free while being RoHS compliant.

Topics will include: lead-free and RoHS directive overview; supply changes and procurement issues; board/component requirements; lead-free alloy selection for SMT, wave and rework; lead-free wave, and SMT process optimization; impact of dual systems; BGA rework practices; hand soldering process changes; lead-free RoHS reliability; field rework and training; and training and documentation.

For more info. on technical content, contact Peter Biocca at (972) 390-1197 or pbiocca@kester.com; for registration details, contact Theresa Rudnick at (847) 699-5580 or visit www.kester.com.

 MILPITAS, CA – Solectron Corp. will purchase McDATA Corp.’s Lumberton, NJ, manufacturing operations and assets. The deal is expected to close this week.

McDATA, a provider of storage networking solutions, obtained the operations as part of the company's recent acquisition of CNT.