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Assembly Technology Expo (ATExpo) will mark its 25th anniversary as the trade show kicks off on Sept. 28-30, 2004, in Rosemont, IL. The ATExpo conference opens one day earlier on Sept. 27.

The event features a showcase of assembly solutions, from advanced robotic systems to hand tools. Nearly 600 suppliers will display and demonstrate new products in more than fifty categories, for use in a range of manufacturing industries, including: automotive, electronics, industrial equipment, computers, household appliances, motors and generators, medical, telecommunications and aeronautics/aerospace.

The conference will offer ten free special events as part of the Free Educational Program. The program is highlighted by three entertaining and informative keynote presentations.

The opening keynote, "Made in America," will be presented by television star John Ratzenberger, the producer and host of the Travel Channel's John Ratzenberger's Made in

America series. On the second day, "A Tale of Two Rovers—Integrating, Testing and Operating the Mars Exploration Rovers," will be delivered by Christopher Salvo, Mission Manager, Mars Exploration Rover for NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratories. And on Sept. 30, Karl Eberle, vice president and general manager of Harley-Davidson's Kansas City assembly facility will share manufacturing successes in the revolutionary, "Relationship Driven Leadership, a Unique Manufacturing Environment."

The conference offers over 30 sessions organized into six tracks: Adhesives,

Automated Assembly, Lean Manufacturing, Manufacturing Management, Materials

Joining and Wire Processing. The organizations presenting conference sessions at the conference include: The Automated Imaging Association (AIA), APICS - the Educational Society for Resource Management, the Adhesive and Sealant Council (ASC), the Edison Welding Institute (EWI), the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the Wiring Harness Manufacturers Association (WHMA) and ASSEMBLY magazine. Sessions will focus on a variety of topics, including lean production, flexible assembly and robotics in assembly.

Three dedicated technology pavilions make it easier for attendees to locate the specific products and suppliers they want to see. The Electronics Manufacturing Pavilion features nearly 200 suppliers offering solutions for every phase of the electronics manufacturing process, from design, packaging and fabrication to assembly and test. The pavilion also features the EASi Line, a working assembly line that incorporates sample equipment from the areas of material handling and transport, stencil printing, component pick-and-place, reflow wave solder, visual and x-ray inspection, robotic point-to-point soldering, packaging, microcontroller programming, and factory modeling and simulation. This year's line will manufacture a Light Chaser game that visitors can take home.

The Robotics Pavilion, endorsed by the RIA and AIA, is the place to find industrial robotics, flexible automation, machine vision solutions and related technologies.

The Wire Harness Pavilion showcases wire-processing solutions. Endorsed by the Wire Harness Manufacturers Association, the pavilion features new products and services for electronic cable assemblies, cord sets, wiring harnesses and other products within the wire processing industry. The Wire Processing Assembly Line (WPAL) theme this year is, "Lean Sigma Technologies To Support Wire and Cable Processing."

www.atexpo.com

Cookson Group plc (London, UK), an international materials technology company, announced the appointment of Nick Salmon as Group Chief Executive.

Salmon has held leadership positions within major international organizations over many years. At Babcock International plc, the engineering services group, he was chief executive from 1993 to 1997. From 1997 to 2001, Salmon was executive vice president of ABB Alstom Power and president of Alstom's Energy Sector. From 2001 until March of this year, he was executive vice president of Alstom SA.

In May, Cookson announced that Stephen Howard intended to relinquish the role of group chief executive, after the identification and appointment of a successor. Howard will step down as on July 19, and will continue as an executive director until the end of the year.

The company also announced the appointment of Jan Pieter Oosterveld as a non-executive director, with immediate effect.

Oosterveld spent his career at Royal Philips Electronics. Until his retirement in March, he was a member of the Group Management Committee, CEO of Philips Asia Pacific, Chairman of the Board of Directors of LG.Philips LCD Seoul, South Korea and Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of LG.Philips Displays NV, Hong Kong.

www.cooksongroup.co.uk

Indium Corp. (Clinton, NY) has promoted Leo M. Devine to market development manager for wave solder products.

In this role, Devine will be responsible for the marketing of the company's fluxes, chemicals and alloys for through-hole circuit board assembly.

Devine has several years of industry experience. He will be based in the company's global headquarters in Clinton.

Indium is a supplier of electronics assembly materials including solder pastes, solder preforms, fluxes, lead-free solder alloys, underfill materials and die-attach materials.

www.indium.com

UP Media Group Inc. (Atlanta, GA) announced the final conference program and event schedule for PCB Design Conference East 2004—the premier East Coast conference and exhibition for printed circuit board engineering, design and manufacture professionals.

The ninth annual PCB East 2004 will be held at a new venue, the Radisson Hotel Manchester, in Manchester, NH, a location that's central to the New England technology corridor and a short distance from Canada's "Silicon Valley North."

PCB East 2004 features a theme that is extremely relevant and on target for today's PCB designers, engineers and managers: "Education For Your Most Pressing PCB Design Challenges, Including Lead-Free, Embedded Components, High Speed and PCB Design Fundamentals." In fact, more than a third of this year's 36 Professional Development and Technical Conference courses focus on the challenges posed by lead-free printed circuit board design/manufacture/assembly, embedded components and high-speed design.

Additionally, over 80% of this year's courses are new to PCB East, with the rest returning due to popular demand.

"When conference attendees participate in classroom discussions, show floor presentations, networking events and vendor-sponsored activities, they learn about PCB design/manufacture technologies and techniques that they can take back to their employer and share with their coworkers," said UPMG President Pete Waddell. "Participating in a terrific technical conference like PCB East is a win-win situation for everyone involved—our attendees, their companies, and our exhibitors."

PCB East 2004 features a five-day conference program of targeted Professional Development and Technical Conference courses, plus a keynote address, a variety of free special networking events, and a terrific two-day exhibition of the industry's hottest products and services. The three-day technical conference (Oct. 5 - 7) includes 26 short courses—19 of them new to PCB Design Conference East.

Also offered: 10 Professional Development Certificate Program courses, including seven full-day tutorials and three two-day Design Excellence Curriculum courses for which attendees will receive certificates of completion.

The two-day exhibition begins Oct. 5 at 10 a.m.

Registration for the two-day exhibition and most special events is free.

www.pcbeast.com

Attitudes were upbeat at the annual SMTA/IMAPS Upper Midwest Industry Appreciation Day on June 2, 2004, as attendees and exhibitors looked to network with customers and gather sales leads during the small exhibition. The one-day event is designed to showcase surface-mount materials and services from adhesives to laser stencils to flip chip underfills.

Hosted at 3M (St. Paul, MN) headquarters for the third time, the show sold out, attracting more than 170 attendees and 55 exhibitors.

"Compared to a year ago, business is picking up and we're a lot more hopeful than we were last year at this show," said Richard Brooks, technical manager at Indium Corp. of America, supplier of electronics assembly materials.

Representatives from other companies—including JMW Enterprises and 3M—agree that business has been picking up.

"We were fortunate that we remained busy even during the downturn due to the nature of our business [selling pre-owned electronic assembly equipment]," said Brian Ebbinger, sales manager for JMW Enterprises. "Electronics manufacturing is booming across the board. We're anticipating that business will continue to increase throughout the year."

"Business in electronics has been very promising," said Greg Eick, market development manager for 3M Electronics Markets Materials Division, a supplier of adhesives, tapes, abrasives and specialty fluids and gases to electronics manufacturers. "We've seen double digit sales increases every quarter. With the help of great networking opportunities like this show, we continue to gather solid leads and meet our goals."

"This is our first year exhibiting and we're pleased with the number of quality leads we've received," said Cris Smith, national sales manager for Global Stencil, a supplier of surface-mount stencils, inspection templates and customized parts. "The return on investment at smaller shows like this more than covers the cost of attending. The show also provides a personable venue to meet with current and potential customers, which aligns directly with our philosophy of offering a high level of customer service."

www.smta.org

www.3M.com/electronicmaterials

International Manufacturing Services Inc. (IMS, Portsmouth, RI), a manufacturer of thick film resistors and substrates to the electronics industry, has announced the appointment of DM Associates Inc. (Columbus, OH) as the company's representative in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and western Pennsylvania.

DM Associates is a manufacturer's representative in the central U.S. with sales offices in Columbus and Cleveland, OH, and Indianapolis and South Bend, IN.

IMS also recently announced the availability of lead-free compatible thick film chip resistor components for customers transitioning to lead-free circuit assembly. The products feature lead-free end terminal metallizations designed for compatibility with all lead-free alloys and flux systems currently available.

www.dmassociatesllc.com

www.ims-resistors.com