SANTA CLARA, CA – Pete Waddell, president of UP Media Group Inc., will moderate the annual Designers’ Roundtable at the upcoming PCB West 2011 technical conference and trade show.

The roundtable is a moderated discussion focused on the world of PCB design, its challenges and future, including how to facilitate communication with the entire PCB supply chain. PCB/layout/circuit designers, engineers and related technologists are invited to attend the free session, which takes place September 28 from 2 pm to 3 pm.

Waddell is a 20-year veteran of printed circuit board design and design technical editor of PRINTED CIRCUIT DESIGN & FAB. He founded UP Media Group Inc. in 2002.

PCB West 2011 will be held September 27 – 29 at the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center and is sponsored by the UP Media Group publications PRINTED CIRCUIT DESIGN & FAB (pcdandf.com) and CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY (circuitsassembly.com).

Now in its 20th year, PCB West provides show attendees – printed circuit board (PCB) engineers, designers, fabricators, assemblers and managers – with the most targeted conference in the PCB design industry.

PCB West 2011 includes a three-day Technical Conference consisting of more than 50 presentations, including 10 workshops, panel sessions and half-day seminars; a one-day exhibition, featuring the PCB industry's leading vendors; and an array of free technical sessions. Full details regarding the conference and exhibition are available at www.pcbwest.com.

Admission is free for the one-day exhibition and other "FREE Wednesday" events (registration and a badge required). To register or learn more about the show, visit www.pcbwest.com.

For more information about PCB West, visit www.pcbwest.com or contact show manager Alyson Skarbek at 678-234-9859; askarbek@upmediagroup.com.

HONG KONG -- An independent auditor this week cast doubt on Surface Mount Technology Holdings' future, saying its plan to restructure carries so many unknowns, an opinion as to the EMS firm's survival could not be formed.

OLATHE, KS -- Micro-tier EMS firm Elecsys Corp. reported first-quarter net income nearly doubled to $213,000 as revenues rose across all its business segments.

SAN JOSE — SEMI has lowered its semiconductor fabrication capital expenditure forecast for 2011, but maintains this year will set a record for investment.

SAN JOSE – Worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment bookings fell 8% year-over-year in the second quarter, SEMI said.

NEW DEHLI, INDIA -- Electronics manufacturing services provider PG Electroplast held an initial public offering yesterday, becoming one of the first Indian EMS companies to go public.

WASHINGTON, DC — The 90-day average sales of semiconductors worldwide rose 3.2% year-over-year in July and seasonal demand brings hope for further growth, the Semiconductor Industry Association said.

IVYLAND, PA -- Da-Tech Corp. has acquired the assets of fellow EMS company Synchronized Manufacturing Technologies.

HELSINKI – Finnish electronics manufacturer Elcoteq said its three subsidiaries have filed for bankruptcy.

BURNSVILLE, MN – Vapor phase manufacturer R&D Technical Services said today that it has relocated to a new manufacturing facility here, about one mile from its previous location. 

The firm says the facility enables them to create better manufacturing flow for production and respond more efficiently to customers’ needs.

R&D signed a lease that will save them nearly 30% on the firm’s annual rate, says president David Suihkonen.

R&D provides equipment for SMT reflow, Pb-free reflow, curing, drying, mechanical attachment and plastic package testing.

TEMPE, AZ – Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in August for the 25th consecutive month, says the Institute for Supply Management.

The August PMI fell a slight 0.3 percentage point to 50.6%. New orders were 49.6%, up 0.4 percentage point. Production dropped 3.7 points to 48.6%, and inventories rose 3 points to 52.3%. Customer inventories were up 2.5 points to 46.5%, while backlogs increased 1 percentage point to 46%.

“The PMI registered 50.6%, a decrease of 0.3 percentage point from July, indicating expansion in the manufacturing sector for the 25th consecutive month, at a slightly slower rate. The production index registered 48.6%, indicating contraction for the first time since May of 2009, when it registered 45%. The new orders and backlog of orders indexes edged up slightly from July, but both indexes are indicating contraction in August at slower rates than in July. The rate of increase in prices slowed for the fourth consecutive month, dropping another 3.5 percentage points in August to 55.5%. The overall sentiment is one of concern and caution over the domestic and international economic environment, which is affecting customers' confidence and willingness to place orders, at least in the short term,” said Bradley J. Holcomb, chair of ISM.

The overall economy grew for the 27th consecutive month, the firm says.

ARLINGTON, VA – Jedec Solid State Technology Association has published release 4 of the DDR3 serial presence detect document.

The updated specifications support three new memory module types, and are now available for free download at http://www.jedec.org/sites/default/files/docs/4_01_02_11R21A.pdf.

The JC-45 Committee for Memory Modules developed the SPD specification in conjunction with the development of the new module types, with the objective of enabling performance optimizations based on the characteristics of the DDR3 memories used on each module. 

“This release of the DDR3 SPD specification adds support for load reduction DIMMs used in high-end computing platforms and also for 16b-SO-DIMMs and 32b-SO-DIMMs used for embedded applications such as printers,” said Mian Quddus, chairman of Jedec's JC-45 Committee for DRAM Modules.

Modules using the new parameters in DDR3 SPD document release 4 will be released by manufacturers in the next year, Jedec says.