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ANGLETON, TX -- Electronics contract manufacturer Benchmark Electronics today reported sales of $749 million for the June quarter, up 33.5% over last year. Net income was $27.5 million, or up 47% from a year ago.

Benchmark guided for third quarter sales of $710 million and $750 million, and raised its full year guidance to $2.76 billion to $2.85 billion.

MINNEAPOLIS – Sungchul Joo, a graduate student in mechanical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology is winner of the 2006 Charles Hutchins Educational Grant.

The SMTA Grant Committee selected Joo for his project, Rapid Prototyping of Micro-Systems Packaging by Data-Driven Chip-First Approach Using Nano-Particle Metal.

Recently his experience has been in chip-first approach, embedded actives, and nano-interconnection, as well as evaluation of nano-particle metal, demonstration of embedded actives packaging, reliability testing at fine pitch, demonstration of data-driven process and rapid prototyping systems.

Joo has a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from Inha University in Korea, and a master's in mechanical engineering from Yonsei University in Korea.

Joo hopes to work in the field of electronics assembly and packaging. He believes that he can combine his interest in applying creative thought to the electronic packaging field to help create new packages of his own in the future. His goal is to help create smaller and lighter laptop computers, more functional cell phones, and faster desktop computers, leading to increased convenience and comfort to consumers.

The award includes a $5,000 honorarium for the student, plus travel expenses to SMTA International. UP Media Group, parent company of Circuits Assembly, donates $5000 from the proceeds of its Service Excellence Award program toward the grant each year.

This grant was established in memory of past SMTA president and industry colleague Charles Hutchins, who died in May of 1997. For more information, or to make a donation, visit the Hutchins Grant section on smta.org or contact SMTA executive administrator JoAnn Stromberg at 952-920-7682 or joann@smta.org.

http://www.smta.org/hutchins/hutchins.cfm

Elektrotryck, said to be the largest PCB fabricator in Sweden, has declared bankruptcy. The company said a large increase in orders wasn't enough to avoid the filing.

"To survive through the summer holidays we needed a larger billing that we now have managed therefore we now have to take this step", Elektrotryck's owner and CEO Anders Björsell reportedly told an online journal. "Hopefully a solution can be found that would lead to that the business will continue which would be great for the Swedish industry."

Elektrotryck suppliers telecom equipment to Nordic OEMs. The company is said to supply about 25% of Sweden's bare boards. The company was founded 40- years ago.

TAIPEI -- Foxconn Electronics will produce more than one million notebook computers for Sony this year, the majority share on the Japan consumer electronics outsourced PCs.

Asian media source DigiTimes reported sources at Taiwan notebook makers as saying that the electronics manufacturing services provider will produce more than half of Sony's outsourced orders in 2006.

LONDON – The UK Department of Trade and Industry yesterday issued a timetable for implementing the WEEE Directive and “takeback” of electronics products by producers and distributors.

In a so-called Consultation Document, the DTI proposed a national distributor takeback program under which network of designated collection facilities would be established.

SIDNEY, NY -- Flooding hit a Amphenol manufacturing site in upstate New York and the company says it will take $15 million to $30 million in expenses in its second quarter as a result.

According to various reports, several feet of water deluged the Sidney plant, a 600,000 sq. ft. facility which builds aerospace and industrial connectors. The plant employs about 1,500 workers and generates a reported $150 million to $200 million per year.