JASPER, IN -- Kimball International reported net sales of $274.7 million and net income of $1.8 million for the period ended Sept. 30.

COLLEGE PARK, MD –The United States Air Force has named DfR Solutions to its Small Business Innovation Research program to study Physics of Failure-based reliability predictions of Pb-free solder.

BANNOCKBURN, IL -- An IPC committee yesterday took to task a California’s agency's proposal to regulate chemistries used in electronics manufacturing and other applications.

MYSLOWICE, POLAND -- EMS company PartnerTech will invest 6 million euros ($9 million) to open a production unit for enclosures and system integration here, the company said.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – A new PCB roadmap outlines the needs for US military contractors over the next few years.

The roadmap is intended to facilitate better communication between the PCB industry, OEMs designing and manufacturing military hardware, the US Department of Defense and the military electronics supply chain. It was developed with input from top military OEMs under the auspices of an IPC task force.

The task force, composed of North American manufacturers, developed the roadmap to assist the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in identifying technologies, designs and materials that will be required to meet future DoD and OEM needs. Crane has been appointed by the DoD as its PCB Executive Agent.

The IPC Printed Board Defense Roadmap will be released a Dec. 9-10 IPC meeting in Washington, DC.

For more information, visit www.ipc.org/defense-roadmap.

MINNEAPOLIS – EMS provider Nortech Systems Inc. today reported third-quarter net sales of $18.7 million, down 41% year-over-year.

SAN JOSE – Sanmina-SCI today reported a fourth-quarter loss of $32.3 million, compared to a loss of $473.9 million in the same period in 2008.

OWEGO, NY – More than 75 attendees from 29 member companies descended upon Universal Instruments’ Advanced Process Lab last week for its annual Advanced Research in Electronics Assembly consortium.

Topics during the Oct. 28-29 event ranged from Pb-free solder microstructure and reliability to environmental stress screening procedures.

The opening session reviewed systematic results of thermal cycling of Pb-free soldered assemblies and discussed network analysis of this and previous thermal cycling data. Other topics included pad cratering research and new thermal interface materials, reliability testing of various TIMs, as well as a discussion on insights into Pb-free metallurgy. Also examined was the evolution of Pb-free solder microstructure.

The event included updates on edge and corner bonding and efforts to define a practical, safe screening test for the identification of inferior electrolytic nickel; i.e., NiAu coatings that may give “missing balls” or brittle failure of the intermetallic bond subsequent to reflow.

Other topics included flux dipping of flip chips, reballing, ENEPIG coatings, and an overview of all past consortium reports and how to effectively use them for reference. 

SEATTLE – DfR Solutions has established a office here to provide interaction with local consumer electronics OEMs, aerospace manufacturers, and system integrators.

Dr. Randy Kong will head the office. Kong has more than 18 years of experience in reliability risk analysis of product and technology development.

DfR Solutions provides quality, reliability, and durability solutions.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- China’s gray-market cellphone shipments this year are set to grow to 145 million units, or nearly 13% of the size of the legitimate global cellphone business.

SAN JOSE -- SEMI has published three new standards aimed at facilitating identification of counterfeit IC chips.

LONDON -- September sales of semiconductors rose 20% worldwide sequentially to $24 billion in the third quarter.