Printed Circuit Design & Fab - June 2008 - (Page 10)

AROUND thE world in BRIEF Increased E-Glass Production in China. Nan Ya Plastics and PPG Industries have started the third stage of their joint venture (JV) glass furnace project called PPG Fiber Glass (Kunshan). The accumulated annual capacity for all three furnaces adds up to over 110,000 tons, and puts the Kunshan project on track to become the largest e-glass fiber manufacturing facility in the world. The new furnace will increase capacity to 110,000 metric tons in China and about 200,000 metric tons in Asia. NAM Identifies Lobby Funders waShinGton – After losing several appeals, the National Association of Manufacturers released the names of 65 companies that provided significant funding to the trade group for first-quarter lobbying activities. A new lobbying law requires trade groups and coalitions to divulge names of members that give more than $5,000 in a quarter for lobbying activities. The failure to comply was $250,000 in fines and up to five years in prison. Making More of Moore. Professor stan Williams of Hewlett Packard has helped develop memristors, an entirely new type of electronic device, which could make ICs smaller and much more efficient. The new component, described by HP scientists, was theorized as possible almost 40 years ago, but have only recently been fabricated, the team wrote in the journal Nature. They have been called the “fourth basic building block of circuits” after capacitors, resistors and , inductors. First quarter lobbying expenditures of more than $2.2 million. Donors included the American Petroleum Institute, AT&T Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Northrop Grumman, Clorox and U.S. Steel, among others. In the first quarter, the group lobbied patent reform, taxes, trade agreements, climate change, energy-related legislation, transportation, tort reform, highspeed Internet deployment, health and immigration reform. COOL TOOL University of colorado Wins Darpa Funds BOULDER, CO – A University of Colorado at Boulder research center, along with Lock- Graduates Staying in India. Indian technical graduates are increasingly choosing to find work at home, rather than take jobs in western countries. According to a new survey, between 1964 and 2001, the number of graduates staying in India was 65%, but this number increased to 84% between 2002 and 2008. The report stated that between 1964 and 2001, 60% of graduates believed that western countries offered the best employment prospects. The number of graduates considering relocation to a western country since 2002 has been on a steady decline. heed Martin Corp. were awarded a $1.5 million contract to develop technologies designed to significantly improve thermal management in electronic devices. Heat dissipation remains a major problem for consumer and military electronic systems designed today. The university received an 18-month contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the first phase of a project to replace the copper heat pipe, commonly used in electronics and space systems with a thermal ground plane made of flexible polymer materials. Lockheed Martin, a long-time partner in the research, provided the first grant to for an early phase of the project in 2002. “Lockheed Martin considers it a unique opportunity to benefit from CU researchers and incorporate their innovative thermal management solutions into future aerospace systems,” said Suraj Rawal, senior manager at Lockheed Martin Space Systems. Other industry sponsors are being sought to participate in the project. EDA Industry Continues to Expand San JoSE, ca – According to a report by the EDA Consortium Market Statistics Service (MSS), the electronic design automation industry’s (EDA) Q4 2007 revenue grew 6.7% to $1.6 billion, as compared to $1.5 billion in Q4 2006. The four-quarter average growth rate for 2007, as compared to the same four quarters in the prior year, was 9.1%. Companies tracked in the report employed 27,563 in Q4 2007, up 7.7% from Q4 2006. North America, the largest region using EDA technology, purchased $735.9 million of EDA products and services in Q4 2007. While this represents a 5.6% decrease as compared to Q4 of 2006, the average growth rate over four quarters was up 2.8% for North America. Western Europe revenue was up 9.8% in Q4 2007 with revenues of $316.9 million, showing an average growth rate over the previous four quarters of 9.9%. The 2007 Q4 revenue from Japan increased 30.4% to $316 million with the four-quarter average increase at 10.1%. The remainder of countries employing EDA technology continued to expand revenue growth by a combined 22.1% to $233.8 million, with an average increase over the previous four quarters of 30.8%. EI Secures $148.6 Million Contract. The U.s. Department of Defense has awarded endicott Interconnect Technology (eI) a $148.6M contract modification for the continuation of its program to produce card frame assemblies. The program includes organic semiconductor packaging, multi-chip modules, printed circuit boards, functionally tested circuit board assemblies and engineering services support. This contract modification period runs from May to December 2008. 10 printEd circuit dESign & fAB JUNE 2008

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Printed Circuit Design & Fab - June 2008 Contents Our Line Market Watch Around the World Happenings ROI Tip Jar Interconnect Strategies Final Finish Forum DFA/DFT Signal Integrity From the Field DFA Fab Basics Drill Off the Shelf Marketplace Ad Index BGA Bulletin

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - June 2008

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