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

AROUND thE world in BRIEF valor Guiding Chinese Design education. SHenZHen, CHInA – valor computerized Systems has signed an agreement establishing a technological partnership with the Guilin university of electronic Technology (GueT). valor and GueT will cooperate to encourage technical talent and develop and promote new technology within the industry. valor provided GueT with software, including DFM, SMT programming, optimization, program conversion and process engineering, to be integrated into courses in undergraduate and postgraduate studies programs. eastern european expansion. orADeA, roMAnIA – Connectronics romania has opened a 16,000 square meter factory with capacity for more than 1,000 employees. The factory in romania will produce printed circuit boards and wiring harnesses for the automotive and telecommunications sectors. The Connect Systems group currently has eight factories in europe. fair trade. SAn JoSe, CA – The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has announced its strong support for the office of the united States Trade representative (uSTr) in its efforts to protect tariff-free trade in electronic products. These products have been duty-free since the implementation of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) in 1997. “Free and fair trade is vitally important to the health of the u.S. semiconductor industry, said SIA president George Scalise. ” nanotech Health risks. neW yorK – Increasing concern over emerging scientific evidence that nanoparticles may cause adverse health risks could put pressure on officials to produce regulations governing the use of nanotechnology. A study published this month in Nature Nanotechnology found that at least one nanomaterial, carbon nanotubes, appears to mimic the behavior of cancer-causing asbestos in the lung. Waste Not, Want Not Scrap pcBs Turned into “Liquid gold” ROMANIA AND TuRkEY – Scientists claim to have found a method to turn PCBs into material suitable as fuel, or for industrial use. In a recently released report called Feedstock Recycling from the Printed Circuit Boards of Used Computers, the process reportedly reduces the remains of a printed circuit board to a material called pyrolysis oil, which can be further refined like petroleum for fuel, or can be used by industries to make other chemicals. While the researchers noted that the waste equipment was difficult to recycle because of additives, heavy metals, and toxic flame retardants contained in PCBs, in their report, the scientists describe the steps used to eliminate or remove almost all of the hazardous compounds from the material. The process reportedly uses high temperatures, catalysts, and chemical filtration to remove the toxic elements, with the end result being an oil that can be safely used as fuel or raw materials for a number of consumer products. Cadence and Mentor Graphics Publish Book on ovM SAN jOSE, CA AND WILSONvILLE, OR – Cadence Design Systems and Mentor Graphics have announced the publication of a book on Open Verification Methodology (OVM). The Stepby-Step Functional Verification with SystemVerilog and OVM is written by Dr. Sasan Iman. The book provides a claimed guide and reference for adopting a functional verification methodology, learning the SystemVerilog language, and using the OVM library to build a verification environment for a realistic design example. The book reportedly contains more than 500 pages of original technical content. “Dr. Iman brings together all the essential elements to understand the use and application of the OVM,” said Dennis Brophy, director at Mentor Graphics. “This book has everything design and verification engineers would want to know to apply the OVM to their most pressing challenges.” “This book walks the reader through the OVM as well as the SystemVerilog language constructs upon which it is built. The breadth of this book and its pragmatic approach make it an invaluable resource for both novice and experienced verification engineers.” said Ted Vucurevich, CTO at Cadence. Latest OeM push to “green” needs More Science uSA, ASIA – PC and electronics vendors including Dell, HP, Samsung and Sony have requested that copper clad laminate (CCL) manufacturers begin incorporating leadand halogen-free materials into component production. The companies have also have asked that CCLs be completely free of these materials by late 2009, according to industry reports. The primary halogen found in laminate materials is bromine and the source is typically TBBPA. In an exhaustive human health and environmental risk assessment conducted in the EU, where TBBPA was found to be safe for as a monomer to be reached with epoxy resins for the manufacture of printed circuit board laminate materials. Currently, the level of lead- and halogen-free CCLs used in the industry is only 3% to 5%, but electronics makers moving toward “green” technologies are expected to push the rate to 30% within the next 18 months, reports say. The rationale for this move is not based on the current science. Industry sources report that only Iteq, Hitachi, Nanya PCB and Panasonic are currently producing halogen-free CCLs, and that costs for the use of traditional materials such as FR-4 are rising, but some companies say that production for traditional CCL products will not likely decline soon due to demand from China-based customers. In one study related to the cost of implementing halogen free laminates, it was determined the transition could more than double the cost of traditional TBBPA based FR-4 materials. In an industry still reeling from the massive cost increases that accompanied RoHS regulation compliance, putting more bad science ahead of real science, begs the question, “Where the benefit?” JULY 2008 10 printEd circuit dESign & fAB

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