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ANCHORAGE – The eruption of the Augustine volcano last week has sent ash clouds and steam over 40,000 ft. high in the Anchorage skies and has grounded cargo planes that use the the Alaska gateway.

The Augustine volcano erupted Jan. 27 and 28, spewing smoke and ash for miles. The volcano is located 180 miles southwest of Anchorage.

The eruption has caused air carriers to cancel flights from Asia and limit freight activity, and in some cases raise shipping rates.

SAN JOSE -- Worldwide semiconductor sales in December dropped 2.2% sequentially to $19.95 billion, but beat last year's total by 8.6%, the Semiconductor Industry Association said today.

Worldwide sales of semiconductors set a new record at $227.5 billion in 2005, up 6.8% from 2004. SIA also forecast strong growth for 2006.

Santa Clara, CA -- Hunter Technology has entered a licensing agreement with Thermalworks to produce PCB interconnect solutions using Stablcor laminate products for PCB fabrication.

Stablcor is a carbon-composite laminate which is said to help PCB designers overcome obstacles in developmental and process design. Hunter has integrated the technology into its existing manufacturing capabilities and is positioned to become the prime manufacturer of Stablcor Boards for the commercial and military sector.

Hunter has the capability to take the bare boards through to full PCB Assembly, box build and test “in house.”

”Hunter is proud to be working with the outstanding technical team at Thermalworks. With Hunter’s one stop solution of PCB Design, Fabrication and Assembly we can incorporate the benefits of Stablecor throughout the board and system level assembly, making our market offering truly unique,” said Joseph O’Neil, president of Hunter.

“The market is crying out for solutions to severe thermal and CTE issues, and we are here to provide those solutions in a cost effective manner, through technically skilled partners such as Hunter Technology” said Carol Burch, Sr. VP of marketing and PR at Thermalworks. “Just tailor your PCB to meet your stringent design needs by utilizing the laminate Stablcor in conjunction with the advanced skills of Hunter Technology.”

WILLOW GROVE, PA — Kulicke & Soffa Industries today announced definitive agreements to sell its wafer test assets to SV Probe and its package test assets to Investcorp Technology Ventures. Both deals are subject to closing conditions. No financial terms were announced.

K&S said it the moves would tighten its focus on semiconductor assembly equipment and materials.

SANTA ANA, CA -- Christopher Associates has published its latest corporate newsletter. The just published edition highlights the latest equipment lines offered by the distribution firm, including Koh-Young's benchtop 3D paste inspection machine and Japan Unix's robotic soldering units.

Also noted: links to several recent technical papers on AOI and miniaturization.

The newsletter can be downloaded at christopherweb.com.

WASHINGTON DC -- The president of the Electronic Industries Alliance has issued a statement applauding the incorporation of recommendations from the business and science sectors in a series of just introduced bills calling for increased funding to the sciences and engineering and tax incentives for R&D.

“EIA commends the bipartisan, three-pronged approach to bolstering America’s innovation infrastructure outlined in the Protecting America’s Competitive Edge bills, said president and CEO Dave McCurdy. The legislators "have done their innovation homework by incorporating proposals and recommendations from the business and science communities that are intent on improving U.S. technological capabilities in the global marketplace."