LA QUINTA, CA – The US recession ended in the summer of 2009. You hadn’t noticed? That’s because recovery has been “mediocre, muted,” according to Shawn DuBravac, chief economist and director of research for the Consumer Electronics Association.

LAS VEGAS – IPC invites researchers, technical experts and industry leaders to submit 300-word abstracts for poster presentations at Apex Expo, taking place at the Mandalay Bay here April 12 to 14.

Technical poster presentations are being sought on design, materials, assembly, processes and equipment. Submissions in the areas of printed electronics, package-on-package assembly, solar cell assembly, advanced substrates, reliability and Pb-free assembly are especially encouraged.

Submit abstracts at www.ipcapexexpo.org/cfposters by Feb. 18.

ALAMEDA, CA -- Electronics production in Central and Eastern Europe is on course to hit $100 billion as contract manufacturers and component companies expand their local presence, a new report says.

TAMPA, FL -- Bulova Technologies is currently in negotiations with a potential buyer of its EMS unit in Melbourne, FL, the company said.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Some of the biggest names in the electronics OEM and EMS space are headed for mergers or acquisitions, a leading analyst predicts.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Demand for LCD TVs and Blu-ray players makes consumer electronics the hot market, but will semiconductor suppliers benefit?

RONKONKOMA, NY -- API Technologies swung to a fiscal first-quarter net profit of $800,000, up from a loss of $800,000 last year.

WUZHONG, CHINA -- Flextronics opened its latest computing facility here, its fourth in China, as it aims to become a major player in the PC manufacturing business.

SANTA CLARA, CA — 3D TV is now readily available in retail, but the uptake among consumers has been limited by high prices and lack of content.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Semiconductor inventory levels may have headed into oversupply territory in the third quarter, according to research firm iSuppli.

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Six inventors have been issued a US patent for a multilayer electronically isolated thermal conduction structure for a circuit board assembly.

POWAY, CA – A pair of Production Solutions engineers have been awarded a US patent for a universal board support.

The universal board support, which the company markets under the name Red-E-Set VB, is for screen printers with vacuum box tooling. It was issued to Douglas Farlow and Thomas Gordon. The patent number is 7,311,302.

According to the patent filing, the application informs an improved substrate support system for clamping spring loaded pins that support substrates, such as printed circuit boards, which have even profiles and uneven profiles due to components being installed on one side during manufacturing operations to the opposite side of the substrate. The substrate support system can utilize a cam lever, a knob, or a draw latch to move a clamping plate between an aligned position and a clamping position.