NINGBO, CHINA -- Kitron Electronics Manufacturing officially opened its factory here, with more than 100 customers and business partners attending the ceremony.

SANTA CLARA, CA – A group of leading companies in the semiconductor and printed circuit board design, fabrication and assembly industries will convene Sept. 28 at the Santa Clara Convention Center to discuss an exciting new solution to age-old electronics data transfer problems.

SKIVE, DENMARK -- Flextronics will shutter its operations here, laying off 286 workers, according to published reports.

JINCHENG, SHANXI, CHINA -- Foxconn Technology will invest up to 100 billion yuan ($157 million) toward a new industrial manufacturing park here, local media are reporting.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – IPC presented a slew of awards this week to members who made significant contributions to a standard or the organization.

For heading the D-13 Flexible Circuits Base Materials Subcommittee that developed IPC-4204A, Flexible Metal-Clad Dielectrics for Use in Fabrication of Flexible Printed Circuitry, Clark Webster, ALL Flex, and Michael Beauchesne, Amphenol Printed Circuits, were presented with Committee Leadership awards.

Honored with Distinguished Committee Service awards for work on IPC-4204A were G. Sidney Cox, DuPont; Mark Finstad, Flexible Circuit Technologies; Thomas Gardeski, Gemini Sciences; Russell Griffith, Flexible Circuits; Nick Koop, Minco Products; Karin LaBerge, Microtek Laboratories; John Leschisin, Minco Products; Duane Mahnke, DBMahnke Consulting; Eric Matuska, ALL Flex; Steve Musante, Raytheon Missile Systems; Steven Nolan, Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors; Rolland Savage, High Performance Copper Foil; Robert Sheldon, Pioneer Circuits; Terry Shepler, Electro-Materials; and Brent Sweitzer, Multek Flexible Circuits.

For developing IPC-CH-65B, Guidelines for Cleaning of Printed Boards and Assemblies, Mike Bixenman, Kyzen Corp., received a Committee Leadership award.

For contributions to IPC-CH-65B, Douglas Pauls, Rockwell Collins, and William Kenyon, Global Centre Consulting, earned Distinguished Committee Service awards.

Special Recognition Awards were given to David Adams, Rockwell Collins; Jeff Kennedy, Celestica; Michael Savidakis, Petroferm; Douglas Schueller, AbelConn; Carlyn Smith, Harris Corp.; Steve Stach, Austin American Technology; Bill Vuono, Raytheon Company; Harald Wack, Zestron America, and Lee Wilmot, TTM Technologies, for contributions to IPC-CH-65B.

For leadership of the 2-30 Terms and Definitions Committee that developed IPC-T-50J, Terms and Definitions for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits, Michael Green, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, and Vicka White, Honeywell Air Transport Systems, earned Committee Leadership awards.

For contributions to IPC-T-50J, Alan Exley, Raytheon Company; Mahendra Gandhi, Northrup Grumman Aerospace Systems; Alisha Groop, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company; Thomas Kemp, Rockwell Collins; J. Lee Parker, JLP; Paul Reid, PWB Interconnect Solutions, and Gordon Sullivan, Royal Adhesives & Sealants, were honored with Distinguished Committee Service Awards.

For leadership of the 7-11 Test Methods Subcommittee that updated and reorganized IPC-TM-650, Test Methods Manual, Graham Naisbitt, Gen3 Systems Ltd. and Joseph Russeau, Precision Analytical Laboratory, received Committee Leadership awards.

LYON, FRANCE – Use of MEMS (micro electromechanical structures) components will grow 24% through 2016, a leading research firm said today.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ – IP set-top box unit shipments will surpass 21 million in 2011, up 14% year-over-year, says In-Stat.

Motorola remained the market share leader in 2010, with 21% of the market. North American IP STB unit shipments will increase 48% in 2012, and in 2013, Western Europe will account for 46% of worldwide IP STB revenues, the firm says.

In-Stat cited gains in subscribers by major telecommunications providers and replacement orders. Future demand will likely come from a migration to a server/client architecture, where a primary media gateway/server shares content with client boxes distributed throughout the home.

GLENVIEW, IL -- Illinois Tool Works' Power Systems and Electronics business unit reported year-over-year sales growth of 16% for the three months ended Aug. 31.

STAMFORD, CT — Semiconductor inventories are again on the rise and are headed toward "worrisome" levels," precipitating a correction in late 2011, Gartner warned yesterday.

WATERTOWN, SD – OEM Worldwide today announced a four-year $11 million expansion that could add up to 150 new jobs.

The electronics contract manufacturer has completed its first phase, a 50,000 sq. ft. expansion to its facility here. Future plans include upgrading and replacing the company’s automated printed circuit board assembly equipment.

OEM specializes in high-mix, low-to-medium volume PCB assemblies and higher-level assembly for precision products in medical, communications and industrial applications.

The firm anticipates expanding into military/aerospace and smart grid markets, and will add 150 new jobs.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – After a big 2010, printed circuit board production in the Americas is expected to grow 2.5% in 2011, IPC said.

IPC based its forecast on a sample of 40 North American PCB manufacturers with an aggregate $2.3 billion in total sales, accounting for approximately 55% of the North American market.

Last year, North American rigid PCB sales rose 18%, while flexible PCB sales grew 16%. Production increased 6.9% in North America.

NEW YORK – A new study of nearly 1,200 high-tech companies sheds new light on the likely rationale for big, recently announced deals, including Google’s bid to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings, AT&T’s offer to acquire T-Mobile USA, and Hewlett-Packard’s potential divestiture of its PC business.