Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Features

Bannockburn, IL -- Four new committee members have been elected to the IPC SMEMA (Surface Mount Equipment Manufacturers Association) Council Steering Committee.

The following were elected to three-year terms: Alec Babiarz, senior vice president, Asymtek; Robert Muller, general manager commercial products, Teradyne Assembly Test Division; Marc Peo, president, Heller Industries; and Jay Stepleton, general manager and vice president, Agilent Technologies Manufacturing Test Business Unit.

Pierre de Villeméjane, president of Speedline Technologies and the new chairman-elect, will begin his term at Apex 2006. Gerhard Meese, executive VP of Dover Technologies, currently serves as steering committee chairman and representative to the IPC Board of Directors.

The committee sets the agenda for the SMEMA Council and creates other initiatives to improve supply chain efficiencies in the electronics manufacturing industry. It also organizes the Apex show.

Oyster Bay, NY -- Tiny TVs have been around for decades without having much impact. That's about to change, as new technologies will enable mobile phone users to watch high quality, full-motion video on their small screens, according to a new report.

ABI Research predicts subscribers will also be able to access linked content and buy program-related products and services from their wireless service providers.

Analyst Ken Hyers says that the new services will be based on a one-to-many model like conventional broadcast TV, rather than using the restricted bandwidth of mobile data networks.

Next month these digital video broadcast networks will launch in Japan and South Korea, with similar services to debut in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere by early 2007. The content will largely mimic that of the short clips now available from some mobile services: news headlines, sports, children's programs, drama "Mobisodes" and music videos.

Mobile broadcast video networks won't be run by mobile operators. In the U.S., Qualcomm and Crown Castle are launching the first services. Mobile operators will provide enhanced content -- ringtones, sports statistics, fan club materials, etc -- linked to the topic they've just viewed as TV.

"This is going to be spectacular," Hyers said in a press release. "It's going to be worth a lot of money. It's not an understatement to say that this is going to be a new goldmine for wireless operators."

Teddington, UK, April 11 -- With the forthcoming ban on the use of lead, there is a need to develop a test method to measure the internal stresses in the coatings of electronic components, based on the XRD technique. These internal stresses are a potential cause of whisker growth in lead-free finishes.

According to a recently released report, XRD measurement correlates to measured compressive residual stress on coatings with whisker growth. Three coatings with high compressive residual stress also exhibited whiskering. However, the coatings evaluated were all at least twice as thick as penetration depth of the XRD measurement system, and the measured compressive residual stress values did not start to increase until after the formation of tin whiskers. However, the XRD method did provide some correlation between residual stress in the coatings and the extent of whisker growth.

The findings were released as a part of the National Physical Laboratory's Phase 2 Studio Project to understand tin whiskers.

For more information contact Dr. Chris Hunt: Lchris.hunt@npl.co.uk.

Willow Grove, PA - Albert Soffa, co-founder of Kulicke & Soffa Industries and pioneer of the first wire bonder, died on Sunday. He was 84.

An engineering maverick who helped shape today's modern IC packaging industry, Soffa formed a partnership with Frederick W. Kulicke, Jr. in 1951, which eventually became Kulicke & Soffa Industries.

"Al Soffa was one of the true pioneers in the development of modern semiconductor equipment," noted K& S chairman and CEO Scott Kulicke. "Through his innovation with my father, they introduced the first manual and automatic wire bonders, which opened the doors to the manufacture of more advanced IC technology."

According to estimates by leading players and ITIS research, local Taiwanese PCB makers will suffer a slight margin drop from last year's 13.6% amid tight supply of materials, such as polyimide and glass yarn, and weak demand.

Constrained by weak demand and less working days in February, industry players hinted flexible PCB demand bottomed out in Feb and orders started picking up from March. Industry players expect April orders to grow 20-40% from March orders, DigiTimes said.

IRVING, TX — EMS provider Elcoteq Network Corp. has opened a new plant in Bangalore, India, and will manufacture telecommunications equipment there. The facility will employ approx. 1,000 people and manufacture products, including mobile phones and communications network equipment, for global customers operating in India and the Asia-Pacific.

"With a population of over one billion people, mobile-phone penetration of a mere 3% and a telecom services market growing at over 100% annually, India represents one of the most exciting regions for handset OEMs and EMS providers," said president and CEO Jouni Hartikainen. "Given the huge opportunity, cost advantages, availability of highly skilled manpower, infrastructure and software development facilities, proximity of key suppliers and the government's agenda for telecommunications and electronics manufacturing, we find this an extremely attractive location."

"This inauguration is more than the launch of a manufacturing facility. It is about revolutionizing the EMS sector in India and tapping the vast opportunities it offers. The telecommunications sector in India has surpassed all forecasts," added chairman Antii Piippo.