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HERNDON, VA – The SMTA DC Chapter in May will offer a special workshop on Clean Energy, addressing how SMT intersects with solar/fuel cell technology.

The May 20 event takes place at the Center for Innovative Technology in Herndon, VA.

MINNEAPOLIS – The SMTA is currently seeking individuals for its board of directors.

Nominations are being accepted through April 17 for the term that begins at SMTAI, Oct. 4-8 in San Diego.

Candidates must be SMTA members who have demonstrated commitment to the association.

To nominate a board member, visit http://www.smta.org/nominations/nominations.cfm, or contact JoAnn Stromberg at joann@smta.org.

The SMTA is an international network of professionals who build skills, share practical experience and develop solutions in electronic assembly technologies, including microsystems, emerging technologies and related business operations.

NEW YORK -- Is Big Blue seeking Sun? According to several reports today, IBM is in negotiations to buy Sun Microsystems for a sum that could exceed $6.5 billion.

ITASCA, IL – Kester recently completed an expansion project at its Itasca headquarters to dedicate more floor space to solder paste and tacky soldering flux products.

Floor space was increased more than 3,000 sq. ft., the company said.

The project was centered on improving environmental control for these products, and to improve product quality, says the firm.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Pricing for commodity electronics components is falling at a moderate rate, but the pace of erosion reflects the fact that pricing has already hit rock bottom in many commodity categories, according to iSuppli Corp.

MULINO, OR -- Sunstone Circuits and NXP Semiconductors are collaborating to build and certify the complete NXP parts catalog within Sunstone’s PCB123 V3.2 design software.

Design engineers can search the manufacturer’s parts library, including certified footprints and schematic symbols, and then order parts in real-time from Digi-Key’s online database via PCB123’s LiveBOM tool.

“By eliminating the need for designers to build out their own parts libraries, we are saving designers a tremendous amount of time and energy, which translates into greater productivity and reduced costs throughout the entire design flow,” said Sunstone president and chief executive Terry Heilman.

Digi-Key president and COO Mark Larson said, “We know our colleagues at NXP share our view that providing reliable information and getting components in front of engineers at the point of part selection through the integration of our information databases into design software such as the PCB123, is another way of providing our mutual customers within the engineering design community with superior service.”

“NXP continually looks for industry innovators to collaborate with to best serve our customer base,” said John Tuley, senior director, distribution Americas of NXP Semiconductors. “Sunstone Circuits and its world-class PCB123 software, combined with Digi-Key’s electronics parts database, present design engineers with the perfect solution to quickly and easily design and build prototype PCBs – creating unique opportunities for NXP and our customers.”

MINNEAPOLIS – SMTA requests papers for SMTA International, to be held Oct. 4-8 in San Diego.

Papers are sought in the following tracks: assembly, business, components, emerging technologies, PCB technology and process control.

Three-hundred-word abstracts are due Apr. 24.

SMTAI offers three awards: Best of Conference Presentation, Best of Proceedings Paper and Best International Paper.

Proposals are also solicited for educational courses related to SMT, advanced packaging and electronics manufacturing. Course length may be half- or full-day. These proposals must be submitted by Mar. 27.

Paper manuscripts and course workbooks are due July 31. Papers should be 6-15 pages and describe significant results from experiments, emphasize new techniques, or contain technical, economic or appropriate test data. Presentation materials and papers must be original, unpublished and non-commercial.

Fore more details, visit www.smta.org/smtai/call_for_papers.cfm.

SINGAPORE – Singapore's exports to the US fell 44.4% year-over-year in February, pulling the nation's shipments down 24%.

Weak demand for electronics was among the reasons cited for the drop. Electronics exports dropped 31.9% to S$3.5 billion.

Shipments to the country's 10 top trading partners were down, except China. Sales to US customers dropped to US$673 million, but the percentage drop actually climbed slightly from a 50% plunge in January. Shipments to the European Union fell 36.7%, and sales to Japan dropped 38.9%.

MINNEAPOLIS – Nortech Systems today reported net sales of $27 million for the fourth quarter, down 7.84% year-over-year.

HELSINKI – Nokia said it would cut up to 1,700 jobs, or about 1.3% of the company’s work force, in response to sluggish demand and the poor outlook for near-term recovery.

The company said the cuts will come in its device and media segments, plus corporate development and global support.

Cellphone sales were down 5% to 315 million cellphones in the fourth quarter, Gartner reported, and grew 2% sequentially despite the holiday buying season.

TEDDINGTON, UK – National Physical Laboratory scientists are researching what use of Pb-free solder alloys could mean for tin pest and tin whiskers.

NPL has been studying the allotropic phase transformation in tin and its alloys, commonly known as tin pest, to measure the implications of adopting Pb-free solder manufacturing practices.

The firm has received funding from the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform. It seeks industry support for the work on the order of £5,200 per company for the 14-month project.

Also, NPL has developed a measurement system and test method to assess the ability of different conformal coatings to stop or slow down tin whisker growth. The method can help conformal coating suppliers modify coatings to inhibit whisker initiation, growth and penetration for electronics.

GLENVIEW, IL -- Illinois Tool Works today reported operating revenue fell 21% for the three months ended Feb. 28. The drop included a 20% fall in base revenues and a 7% fall in contributions from currency translation, partially offset by a 7% increase from acquisitions in the period.