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SAN JOSE -- Sanmina-SCI andShocking Technologies will jointly develop Shocking's specialty polymers for embedding ESD protection into internal layers of PCBs. The companies will work together to formulate voltage switchable dielectric materials for inclusion in Sanmina-SCI's PCB structures.

VSDM are specialty polymers that instantaneously change from insulators to conductors when a pre-programmed bi-directional voltage is applied.

Shanghai & Santa Ana – At last week’s CPCA show Mason Electronics entered into a distribution contract for their electrical test products for the North American market with Christopher Associates.

Mason is a supplier of universal grid electrical test systems in Asia. Customers include OPC, Multek, Viasystems, Gold Circuits, Hitachi, Samsung, Jabil Circuit. Mason provides hardware, software and fixturing solutions from their ISO 9001 certified manufacturing plant in Shenzhen, as well as facilities throughout Asia.

HOUSTON — BP Microsystems, a supplier of device programming systems, has revamped its Device Programming Language (DPL) algorithm development environment in BPWin. Now, its more than 100 semi-house partners can co-develop and test algorithms for new devices.

The semi-house partners can use a special version of BPWin software for algorithm development, analysis and tests to screen for a specified defect prior to the release of the device.

San Francisco – A March poll of CIOs nationwide predicts an 8.6% growth in IT budgets over the next year, up from 7.8% in December’s poll. Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore added in a research note that spending projections were up in all categories, except security software, which was flat.

Paris – Alcatel yesterday unveiled a planned merger with its smaller U.S. rival Lucent Technologies for $13.4 billion. Together, the pair would have total revenue of $25 billion, roughly matching current industry leader Cisco Systems.

The two companies plan to cut about 10% of their combined workforce, or about 8,800 jobs.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA -- The long-awaited deal for Photocircuits, the Glen Cove, NY, manufacturer of printed circuit boards, was made official Friday with the sale of the company business to a newly formed subsidiary of American Pacific Financial Corp.

AMPAC, a private equity group, purchased the company at auction. No financial details were provided in the announcement, although previous reports indicated the purchase price was around $43 million.