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KEY LARGO, FL – William (Bill) Scheu, president of Automated Production Equipment (A.P.E.), died March 1 of a heart attack.

Scheu is survived by his wife, Barbara, sons Casey and Ian, and four grandchildren.

A memorial was held today in Key Largo.

Visitation will be held at Grubbs Funeral Home in Wytheville, VA, on March 9. Scheu will be buried March 10 at the Family Cemetery in Wytheville. Services will begin at 11 a.m. at the Galilee Christian Church.

In a statement Scheu’s colleague David Horvath said, “Bill meant much to many people, from the response we have seen only after a few hours … and to us he was a friend, leader, father, mentor all at the same time.

“Bill encouraged many friends throughout the world and was a support to many with sage advice and a helping hand. His askance humor, sharp intellect and piercing observation will be sadly missed.”

ATLANTA -- In his Web log today, Circuits Assembly editor Mike Buetow discusses "greenwashing" -- the practice of mischaracterizing something as environmentally friendly despite scientific evidence to the contrary -- and Wikipedia.

SALT LAKE CITY -- CirTran Corp., a small contract manufacturer, projected its first-ever annual profit for fiscal 2005 on revenues of about $13 million, a jump of 45%.

SAN JOSE – January sales of semiconductors rose 7% year-over-year to $19.7 billion globally, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported today. January sales were off 1.5% from December, bettering the historical seasonal drop of 2.2%.

“The new year got off to a good start for the global semiconductor industry with strong year-on-year growth in a historically weak month,” said SIA president George Scalise. “Retail sales, including consumer electronics products, were relatively strong in January and helped dampen the expected seasonal decline in sales.

"There are no excess inventories, end market demand remains strong and capacity utilization rates are very high," he said.

WASHINGTON -- New orders for manufactured durable goods in January fell 10.2% to $207.2 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. The decrease follows three consecutive monthly increases, including 2.5% in December.

Shipments also fell after three straight monthly increases, declining 1.3% to $219.7 billion.

January is typically a slower period as consumer spending eases following the holiday period.

KANSAS CITY, MO -- A study of more than 200 multinational companies across 15 industries found that intellectual capital and university collaboration -- and not just lower costs -- are primary attractions for companies to locate R&D activities in locations abroad.

Also noted: emerging countries such as China and India will continue to be major beneficiaries of R&D expansion over the next three years as companies seek new market opportunities, access to top scientists and engineers, and collaborative research relationships with leading universities. Companies studied were mostly headquartered in the U.S. and Western Europe.