Industry News
Rosenberger of North America LLC and Agilent Technologies Inc. announced that they have signed an agreement for Rosenberger to purchase assets and to license technology used by Agilent at its Santa Rosa, CA, cable assembly shop. Upon completion of the sale, Agilent will obtain these products and services from Lancaster, PA-based Rosenberger. Financial details were not disclosed, but the sale of this business is not expected to be material to Agilent’s financial results.
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Integrant Technologies Inc., Seoul, Korea, an innovator in the field of high performance analog circuits designed for reconfigurable RF signal processing. The acquisition is expected to increase ADI’s revenue by approximately one percent of sales in each of the next few quarters. Under the terms of the definitive stock purchase agreement, ADI expects to pay approximately $127 M in cash at the closing in exchange for substantially all of the outstanding shares of Integrant.
ADC and Andrew Corp. announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement to create a global leader in wireline and wireless network infrastructure solutions. The transaction, which was approved by the boards of directors of both companies, will build upon the complementary strengths of each company to create significant growth opportunities and global economies of scale to expand earnings. For the most recent reported 12 months as of May 31, 2006, combined sales for the two companies on a pro forma basis totaled approximately $3.3 B.
Laird Technologies announced that they have signed an agreement with RFMD® to jointly develop RF systems for the wireless industry. Laird and RFMD engineers will work together on developing integrated modules with built-in antennas to meet the cellular industry’s need for more capabilities in smaller handset sizes. Products that result from the collaboration are expected to be available for sampling in 12 to 18 months.
United Monolithic Semiconductor and Ansoft Corp. announced the implementation of a GaAs IC design methodology for millimeter-wave frequencies utilizing on-chip electromagnetic extraction and a new Ansoft Designer®/Nexxim® RF design kit for the PH15 PHEMT process.
Modelithics™ and American Technical Ceramics Corp. (ATC) announced a collaboration to develop substrate-scalable models for a wide variety of ATC’s RF/microwave and Hi-Power passive components. The initial models will be made available starting in Q3 2006. These new Global Models™ represent entire families of ATC components on a continuous range of common substrate types and thicknesses.
Applied Wave Research Inc. (AWR®) announced that AWR and Computer Simulation Technology (CST) are cooperating to integrate CST MICROWAVE STUDIO® 2006, a three-dimensional electromagnetic technology, with AWR’s Microwave Office® circuit design software suite. The cooperation is part of AWR’s ongoing open systems strategy and leadership position in providing best-in-class EM tools for RF and microwave design.
Fairchild Semiconductor has expanded its Global Power Resource™ design centers to nine worldwide with the addition of a facility in São Paulo, Brazil. This new design center responds to the burgeoning high technology markets in South America. Fairchild is focusing on the South American region, projected by WSTS to have a 14 percent growth rate in 2006 and nearly 10 percent in 2007, to support its manufacturing customers.
Locus Microwave Inc. announced that effective immediately the company has moved to a new location in suburban State College, PA. The new location increases the facility size by three times and is specifically designed for the design and manufacture of RF and microwave products. The new address is: Locus Microwave Inc., 176 Technology Drive, Suite 200, Boalsburg, PA 16827 (814) 466-6275 or fax: (814) 861-5195.
TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. announced the intent to open a new design and support center in High Point, NC. The facility will be known as the North Carolina Design Center, and is part of TriQuint’s ongoing program to work more closely with strategic partners and customers in the development of next-generation wireless modules and components.
EM Research Inc. has relocated into an upgraded, modern facility to accommodate significantly increased engineering and manufacturing demands. The new facility incorporates over 15,000 square feet of design, manufacturing and administration capacity. The company’s mailing address is: PO Box 10430, Reno, NV 89510-0430.
M2 Global Technology Ltd. announced the company has expanded its San Antonio, TX headquarters. The new 25,000-square foot facility is located at 5714 Epsilon Drive, San Antonio, TX 78249.
Spacek Labs Inc. acknowledges the performance of its W-band front-end components on NASA’s CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar satellite. The company provided the LO source active X6 multiplier and both the up and downconverting mixers for the first satellite-based, millimeter-wave cloud radar. The satellite was successfully launched on April 28th, 2006. The Cloud Radar was activated for the first time on May 20th returning stunning cross-section images of a frontal system in the North Atlantic.
Radio Waves Inc. announced that all of the company’s telecom antenna products are now compliant with the RoHS standard.
Merrimac Industries Inc. announced it has been granted a patent for its Multi-Mix® Microtechnology from the United States Patent and Trademark Office entitled “Coupler Resource Module.”
Contracts
Anaren Inc. has received a $6 M award from Lockheed Martin for electronic subassemblies that will help US Navy helicopters detect and identify enemy radar. Designed to process radar signals detected by a receiver, Anaren’s Passive Ranging Subsystem is a major component of the AN/ALQ-210 Electronic Support Measures system, a sophisticated device carried aboard military helicopters and fixed wing aircraft to warn of possible threats. Anaren will deliver 31 passive ranging subsystems to Lockheed Martin starting in April 2007.
TRAK Microwave Corp. announced that it has been selected by a South Korean Prime Contractor to supply a sophisticated RF/microwave subsystem valued in excess of $4.5 M for use by a critical Korean Navy program. Over the three-year period of performance of the contract, TRAK will deliver 122 subsystems, inclusive of engineering services.
Financial News
Sirenza Microdevices Inc. reports sales of $20.9 M for the first quarter ended March 31, 2006, compared to $12.2 M for the same period in 2005. Net income for the quarter was $1.6 M ($0.04/per diluted share), compared to a net loss of $1.8 M ($0.05/per basic and diluted share) for the first quarter of last year.
RF Industries Ltd. reports sales of $3.8 M for the second quarter ended April 30, 2006, compared to $3.6 M for the same period in 2005. Net income for the quarter was $395,000 ($0.11/per diluted share), compared to $163,000 ($0.04/per diluted share) for the second quarter of last year.
New Market Entry
Precision Connector Inc., Franklin, IN, is a new coaxial connector manufacturer specializing in precision connectors. The company will offer adapters, cable connectors and receptacles in the following connector series: 1.85, 2.4, 2.92 and 3.5 mm. Also offered are SMA, TNC and N series to flexible low loss cable. For more information, contact Steve McGeary at (317) 346-0029.
Steven J. Schaefer
Personnel
Donald “Shep” Shepherd, founder and president of AR Worldwide RF/Microwave Instrumentation, announced the appointment of Jim Maginn to chief executive officer. Maginn has assumed the CEO position, leaving AR Worldwide founder and president Shepherd more time to focus on the company’s future growth plans. A fourteen-year veteran of AR Worldwide, Maginn, who previously held the post of chief operating officer, rose through the ranks from VP, engineering and manufacturing to become the first CEO to succeed Shepherd.
Cobham Defense Electronic Systems announced the appointment of Steven J. Schaefer to the position of president, Sensor and Antenna Systems. In this capacity, Schaefer is responsible for Atlantic Microwave, Atlantic Positioning Systems and Nurad Technologies Inc. Previously, Schaefer was senior vice president at Paratek Microwave and president of Kaydon Power and Data Group.
Larry Herring
Z-Communications Inc. announced the appointment of Mahadevan Sridharan (Sri) as the company’s president. Sri was previously vice president of engineering and marketing of Z-Communications. He holds a PhD degree in microwave circuit design and brings with him a wealth of experience spanning over 25 years in microwave component and system design and management. His diverse experience in design management and marketing combined with his vision for Z-Communications will provide a key role in the growth of the company.
SGMC Microwave announced the promotion of Larry Herring to the position of president. Herring has held the position of director of engineering since joining the company in 2001. His experience in the design and production of the firm’s precision RF, microwave and millimeter-wave products, make him ideally suited to lead the company.
CAP Wireless Inc. announced the appointment of R.E. “Skip” Hoover as vice president, sales. Hoover has held similar positions at M/A-COM, WJ and Sirenza Microdevices. He has extensive experience working in the RF analog devices and subsystems business in both commercial and military/aerospace markets. Hoover is a veteran of the US Air Force and holds a BS from Long Beach State University.
Donald Barnas
Aethercomm Inc. announced the addition of Donald Barnas to the company’s team as director of business development. In his role, Barnas will have global responsibilities of generating new business opportunities. Prior to joining Aethercomm Inc., Barnas was the director of design and manufacturing centers for Richardson Electronics Ltd. Barnas has held senior positions in engineering, sales and business development for M/A-COM and General Dynamics Corp.
LNX announced that Frank Magnante has joined LNX Corp. as chief scientist. Magnante will be responsible for the design and development of advanced microwave subsystems integrating microwave and digital technology for the EW and ECM markets. He brings over 40 years of experience in the design of advanced microwave subsystems. Before joining LNX, he served as vice president of engineering for a major defense contractor and led the design, development and implementation of EW and ECM systems used on platforms such as the F-15, F-16, Rapport and Nimrod.
To celebrate the achievements of Bill Trowbridge, founder and former chairman of Vector Fields Ltd., who retired last year, the company announced that it will issue an award for the best 2006 student paper. The award will be given for the best academic publication on work that uses either of Vector Fields’ electromagnetic design software, Concerto or Opera, which is published in the open literature between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006. For more information, visit www.vectorfields.com.
Rep Appointments
Mica Microwave announced the appointment of Jay Stone Associates as its exclusive sales representative for its line of isolators, mixers, gain equalizers and detectors for northern California and northern Nevada. Jay Stone Associates can be contacted at 2109 O’Toole Avenue, Suite M, San Jose, CA 95131 (408) 428-2500, fax: (408) 428-9000 or e-mail: sales@jsarep.com. In related news, Mica announced the appointment of Odyssey 1 as its exclusive sales representative in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Odyssey 1’s main office is located at 970 East 3300 South, Suite 7A, Salt Lake City, UT 84106 (801) 485-4728, fax: (801) 485-4753 or e-mail: donr@odyssey1.com.
Web sites
Mimix Broadband Inc. announced that it has launched its enhanced and redesigned web site (www.mimixbroadband.com) featuring a searchable product database that allows users to sort by category or application, as well as search for specific parts and product types. The site’s new design reflects the company’s expanded product offerings, worldwide sales coverage, application tools to support customers and technology development.
Micro-Mode’s new e-commerce site, www.smpconnectors.com, allows engineers to get high quality, high performance blindmate and threaded connectors quickly. The site features 360° product views along with data sheets and real time inventory. Account details are only a few clicks away and allow customers to easily check order status and download invoices safely and securely. The company stocks thousands of SMP, SMPM and MSSS connectors along with cable assemblies and tooling.