Printed Electronics are being developed by over 3,000 companies, universities and research institutes worldwide. Although a significant percentage of these developers are located in the U.S., Germany, Japan and South Korea, there's a lot of research effort in other countries, even if the concentration of active companies active is lower.

In this week's PCB Asia Week, the PCB industry looks very active, with companies such as TECHWISE Circuits increasing their technical know-how, while others, including TUC, ramp up their exports. Chunghong, on the other hand, is raising capital through a listing on the TSE.

Northstar Electronics, Inc. today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Northstar Network Ltd., has received a revised Master Purchase Order from Lockheed Martin to increase the value of NNL's P-3 contract by US $9.1 million, to a total of US $16.4 million.

HP is set to start pushing netbooks strongly and plans to become the second-largest netbook brand in 2011, surpassing Samsung Electronics and Asustek Computer.

HannStar Board has revised its shipment guidance for notebook PCBs from growth to decline for the third quarter of 2010, while peer companies, including Gold Circuit Electronics, Tripod Technology and Dynamic Electronics, also expressed conservative views over third-quarter shipment outlooks.

The PCB manufacturing industry is growing in leaps and bounds. This has led PCB manufacturers, distributors and suppliers to launch competitive services to attract more customers via an online presence.

"Since no positive conclusion has been reached in its attempts to renegotiate its debts and finance its last investments, Cire Group had to be filed for insolvency on August 3, 2010."

Although the first tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) appeared in the mid-80's as a feature of top-range luxury vehicles, it is only in recent years that they have seen widespread adoption worldwide. Most drivers in the USA must recognize the symbol below, a warning light incorporated in dashboards of all new vehicles after 2007 (although phase in started in 2005), that informs drivers on whether tire pressure is getting dangerously low.

After successful development of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) daytime persistent surveillance system, BAE Systems has been awarded an additional $49.9 million contract to develop the advanced processor for the agency's nighttime, infrared system - the Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance - Infrared (ARGUS-IR).

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Russia Defence and Security Report Q4 2010" report to their offering.

In this week's PCB Asia Week, the PCB industry looks very active, with companies such as TECHWISE Circuits increasing their technical know-how, while others, including TUC, ramp up their exports. Chunghong, on the other hand, is raising capital through a listing on the TSE.

Enthone Inc., a business of Cookson Electronics, has introduced ENTEK OM. The patented Organic Metal process delivers a visible, highly conductive PWB final finish that offers both ease of inspection and in-circuit testing (ICT).

Today's video equpment operates at gigabit rates, necessitating the use of large coaxial BNC connectors. Non-optimized BNC footrpints can cause impedance mismatches, reflections and signal loss. In this paper, Tsun-kit Chin of National Semiconductor discusses some common issues with BNC footprints, such as problems with the connector-to-board transition, and offers techniques for transparent footprint designs.

We live in a service-driven society. It's a big market out there, and we can accept or reject products or services as we see fit. So, it's really darn important for a company selling a product or service to provide customer service at a standard that meets (or exceeds) the consumer's expectations.

Enthone's research has focused on providing a solderable surface finish for PCBs containing organic nanometal. The first universal nanofinish was proposed four years ago. Now, the new-generation nanofinish with organic metal-Ag complex performs as well as any other surface finish with regard to aging resistance, discoloration and solderability.

Global sales of semiconductors grew to $25.2 billion in July, an increase of 1.2% from June when sales were $24.9 billion and an increase of 37% from July 2009 when sales were $18.4 billion, the SIA reported. Year-to-date sales total $169.2 billion, an increase of 46.7% from the $115.3 billion reported for the first seven months of 2009.

Compared to the previous year, the PCB Division increased its net proceeds during the period by 27.3% to CHF 17.8 million (first half of 2009: CHF 14.0 million); During the period, the ES Division achieved net proceeds of CHF 44.8 million (first half of 2009: CHF 41.5 million).

Is North America falling behind the rest of the world in HDI technology development? Not if Dan Smith can help it. "The New Mr. HDI" is putting together the first IPC HDI certification course and exam. We caught up with him and discussed the HDI course, what it takes to be an instructor and Happy Holden's 400-gig "data dump."

Authors from Sandia National Laboratories investigate the solderability of current immersion Ag technology after exposure to conditions that simulate long-term storage followed by bake out environments prior to actual reflow assembly.

Roy Porat, who has been with Camtek since 2001 serving in various positions in the United States and Asia, and for the past two years as General Manager of the company, is to succeed Rafi Amit as CEO. Amit will become Active Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Today's video equpment operates at gigabit rates, necessitating the use of large coaxial BNC connectors. Non-optimized BNC footrpints can cause impedance mismatches, reflections and signal loss. In this paper, Tsun-kit Chin of National Semiconductor discusses some common issues with BNC footprints, such as problems with the connector-to-board transition, and offers techniques for transparent footprint designs.

We live in a service-driven society. It's a big market out there, and we can accept or reject products or services as we see fit. So, it's really darn important for a company selling a product or service to provide customer service at a standard that meets (or exceeds) the consumer's expectations.

Enthone's research has focused on providing a solderable surface finish for PCBs containing organic nanometal. The first universal nanofinish was proposed four years ago. Now, the new-generation nanofinish with organic metal-Ag complex performs as well as any other surface finish with regard to aging resistance, discoloration and solderability.

Is North America falling behind the rest of the world in HDI technology development? Not if Dan Smith can help it. "The New Mr. HDI" is putting together the first IPC HDI certification course and exam. We caught up with him and discussed the HDI course, what it takes to be an instructor and Happy Holden's 400-gig "data dump."

Authors from Sandia National Laboratories investigate the solderability of current immersion Ag technology after exposure to conditions that simulate long-term storage followed by bake out environments prior to actual reflow assembly.

What is "rheology" and why does "everything flow?" Chet Guiles examines the science of rheology and how understanding the rheology of the prepregs you use, during the time they melt and flow, can help a process engineer manage and control the lamination process.

Flexible circuit cables offer some significant advantages for facilitating the movement of data between elements of a system that must also be moved or flexed. However, there is a balancing act involved and there is more than one master to be served to create a system that is robust, reliable and easily manufacturable.

In "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," Robert M. Prisig contrasts his regular and ongoing daily approach to motorcycle maintenance with his friend's alternate view of leaving well enough alone between service center-based maintenance. What has this got to do with accurate impedance measurement, you may ask? Read on!

Casey Cooper, Microelectronics Lab Manager at STI, talks about the company's various educational, training and technology offerings and provides an overview of the company's newly-developed and tested embedded die assembly. The new assembly is being evaluated by some military product developers for high-reliability applications.

Interconnect separation is usually expressed as a crack that propagates at the internal interconnection. This failure mode produces a crack that is wedge-shaped, with the large end on the side of the foil closest to the middle of the PWB. An interconnect failure frequently develops slowly over time, accumulating damage at a constant rate after onset.

We live in a service-driven society. It's a big market out there, and we can accept or reject products or services as we see fit. So, it's really darn important for a company selling a product or service to provide customer service at a standard that meets (or exceeds) the consumer's expectations.

Is North America falling behind the rest of the world in HDI technology development? Not if Dan Smith can help it. "The New Mr. HDI" is putting together the first IPC HDI certification course and exam. We caught up with him and discussed the HDI course, what it takes to be an instructor and Happy Holden's 400-gig "data dump."

What is "rheology" and why does "everything flow?" Chet Guiles examines the science of rheology and how understanding the rheology of the prepregs you use, during the time they melt and flow, can help a process engineer manage and control the lamination process.

Flexible circuit cables offer some significant advantages for facilitating the movement of data between elements of a system that must also be moved or flexed. However, there is a balancing act involved and there is more than one master to be served to create a system that is robust, reliable and easily manufacturable.

In "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," Robert M. Prisig contrasts his regular and ongoing daily approach to motorcycle maintenance with his friend's alternate view of leaving well enough alone between service center-based maintenance. What has this got to do with accurate impedance measurement, you may ask? Read on!

Interconnect separation is usually expressed as a crack that propagates at the internal interconnection. This failure mode produces a crack that is wedge-shaped, with the large end on the side of the foil closest to the middle of the PWB. An interconnect failure frequently develops slowly over time, accumulating damage at a constant rate after onset.

When electroless copper is deposited on the polyimide substrates used for flex and rigid-flex circuits, adhesion must not be compromised. The goal is to minimize stress (both compressive and tensile) to the best extent possible. The first critical factor is the control of the copper deposition rate.

We all know the buzz words: impedance, 50 ohms, 10%, balanced lines, CTE, dielectric constant and loss and countless more. In this new series, PCB 101, I will break down some of these buzz words in layman's terms in the hopes that more people will understand what's happening inside the circuit.

Solder-free and 3-D assembly will help bridge the performance and density gaps needed to extend Moore's Law, as lithography on silicon runs out of steam. It will offer America the chance to restore her electronic manufacturing mojo and provide for her security. Please, America, don't miss this chance to leap-frog the rest of the world!

According to Mark Thompson, timing can make or break your controlled impedance board. With many jobs going through turnkey environments, late communication about impedance issues takes valuable time out of the fabrication process and can delay delivery of product, leaving the end-user and the turnkey assembler unhappy.