Around the Circuit
INDUSTRY NEWS
ITT Industries has acquired Kaman Sciences Corp. , which will be known as ITT Systems & Sciences Corp. The State College, PA facility will continue to support the earth station market with its telecommunications products, including Locus amplifiers and systems.
Hawthorne Partners LCC has acquired resistive and electromechanical component manufacturer The Ohmite Manufacturing Co. Inc. of Skokie, IL. The terms of the sale were not disclosed. James C. Horne, Ohmite’s current president, has been named CEO. He replaces the former owner, Max Sanders, who is retiring. Andrew A. Thomas, a managing director at Hawthorne Partners, will become chairman of the board of Ohmite.
Microwave component manufacturer Mica Microwave Corp. has purchased certain assets of Device Technology Inc. for an undisclosed amount. The assets purchased encompass all inventories, backlog, supplies and capital equipment used in Device Technology’s daily operations. All rights to the Device Technology trade name and product design and technology also were included in the purchase. The newly named Mica Microwave Corp., Device Technology Product Group was recently scheduled to move to the Mica facility located at 7017 Realm Dr., San Jose, CA 95119. All telephone and fax lines will be forwarded to this address.
Portable antenna and battery pack supplier Centurion International Inc. , Lincoln, NE, has opened a sales, marketing, and research and development facility in the UK. Centurion International Ltd. is located at 2A, Alton Business Park, Gatehouse Way, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP 19 3XU, UK +44 (0) 1296-339-808, fax +44 (0) 1296-489-949 or e-mail: eurosales@centurion.com.
CTS Frequency Controls , a division of CTS Corp. located in Sandwich, IL, has changed its name to CTS Reeves Frequency Products in an attempt to more clearly define the new integrated business formed between the Frequency Controls operation and Reeves-Hoffman , which was acquired by CTS Corp. in October 1997. The companies are currently integrating sales forces, customer service, product offerings and manufacturing strategies to maximize customer satisfaction.
The Electronic Industries Alliance’s (EIA) board of governors has approved the elevation of the association’s Government Division to sector status and authorized the division’s name to be changed to the Government Electronics and Information Technology Association (GEIA). The GEIA joins several existing industry sectors within the EIA, including the Telecommunications Industry Association; Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association; and Electronic Components, Assemblies, Equipment and Supplies Association. Operationally and functionally, the GEIA will remain an integral operating element within the EIA’s organizational structure.
DuPont Photomasks Inc. (DPI) , Round Rock, TX, has announced plans to construct a new photomask production facility in Singapore to service the growing number of semiconductor manufacturers in that area and throughout Southeast Asia. Approximately $50 M will be invested in the project over the next five years. The new facility will be equipped with the most advanced production equipment available and is expected to be operational in 1999. In related news, DPI has entered into an agreement with privately held MicroUnity Systems Engineering Inc. to supply customers using MicroUnity’s optical proximity correction (OPC) software with photomasks and to engage in cooperative technology development. The OPC software adds subresolution features to the photomask design data, allowing the semiconductor manufacturer to control optical distortion and increase the yield of high performance semiconductor devices.
Siemens Microelectronics Inc. has opened a surface acoustic wave filter design center at its Special Products Division facility in Iselin, NJ. The new facility also will expand Siemens’ design capabilities in Munich and Singapore and shorten time to market.
Suss Advanced Lithography Inc. has moved to a new facility that reportedly is equipped with enough space to build more than 20 x-ray lithography steppers per year and has expansion space available to allow up to 80 systems to be built per year. The new facility is located at 21 Gregory Dr., South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 652-0055, fax (802) 652-0825.
Application-specific IC supplier American Microsystems Inc. (AMI) , Pocatello, ID, is doubling the size of its Boston Design Center and hiring additional staff to better serve customers in the communications and industrial markets. The design center, which serves AMI customers such as GE, Xerox, Hewlett-Packard, Ascend and Northern Telecom , has moved from its present 1700-square-foot facility to a 4400-square-foot facility at 1 Andover Technical Center, Andover, MA 01810. The company reports that the expansion became necessary due to dramatic growth in its business on the eastern seaboard and a change in the way it is expected to support its customers.
In an effort to support new markets, Arlon, Materials for Electronics , Rancho Cucamonga, CA, has expanded its research and product development facilities. The expansion included a 300 percent growth in research project space in the existing development laboratory, a 200 percent growth of the analytical laboratory and increased pilot plant capacity, and is expected to permit significant upgrades in analytical capabilities with additional personnel to support growth in new products and markets.
In its second expansion since 1994, RF Power Components Inc. has added 5000 square feet to its Bohemia, NY facility. The company reports that the expansion reflects continued success in the sales and marketing of its line of passive components. In addition, the expansion will increase the production floor area as well as the shipping, customer service, engineering, test and quality control departments.
Wireless telecommunications equipment provider Glenayre Western Multiplex , Sunnyvale, CA, has entered into an alliance with digital equipment supplier Intraplex Inc. to provide broadcasters with high quality, fully digital T1/E1 Schottky transistor logic (STL) solutions based on spread spectrum technology. The solution will integrate the Intraplex STL PLUS and Glenayre Western Multiplex’s LYNX.sc spread spectrum radio to provide an alternative to congested analog STL frequencies, conventional analog leased lines or public T1 circuits. In related news, Glenayre Western Multiplex has been certified to the ISO 9001 quality system standard.
Richardson Electronics Ltd. is expanding its exclusive agreement with Quantum Data of Elgin, IL to provide inventory, service and financing to third-party terminal maintenance and original equipment manufacturer customers. Richardson is now authorized to distribute Quantum Data products in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, Italy, France and Spain.
Tucson, AZ-based Synergistic Technology Group Inc. has announced long-term affiliations with Syfer Technology Ltd. of Norwich, UK and CARON Enterprises Inc. of Girard, PA. The affiliations include marketing, sales and distribution arrangements whereby Synergistic Technology Group will sell and distribute the companies’ products throughout Canada, Mexico and the US.
Trimble Navigation Ltd. , Sunnyvale, CA, and Siemens Semiconductors , Munich, Germany, have formed an alliance to develop next-generation components and software based on Trimble’s Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Siemens Semiconductors will design, manufacture and market ICs for GPS applications and Trimble will license its GPS software to purchasers of those ICs, providing a complete system-level solution that includes both hardware and software.
Wandel & Goltermann GmbH and Co. and Teradyne Inc. have announced a partnership agreement to develop test solutions for communications products. Wandel & Goltermann’s IMPACT test solutions for communications products will be integrated into Teradyne’s Spectrum 8800 series versa module Eurocard extension for instrumentation manufacturing test platform. The companies will provide total, customized solutions for customers who require combined functional and in-circuit test of communications circuit boards. In related news, Wandel & Goltermann has acquired a 100 percent stake in Switching Test Solutions AG (STS) of Zurich, Switzerland. STS is a test equipment joint venture started at the beginning of 1997 by Wandel & Goltermann Management Holding GmbH and Alcatel Schweiz AG of Zurich, Switzerland. Previously, Wandel & Goltermann held a 40 percent share in the joint venture.
Thin-film circuit manufacturer Diablo Industries , Minden, NV, has announced a shift in strategy to handle orders for volume production quantities as well as the company’s traditional prototype and small-lot quantities. Sputtering capacity has been quadrupled by adding a CPA four-target/loadlock sputtering system, bringing total capacity to 400 2" X 2" substrates daily. In addition, a new RF sputter etch capability allows the company to manufacture a broader range of custom-built products.
High reliability component supplier General Microwave Corp. , Amityville, NY, has extended the warranty on all of its products to two years effective immediately.
At an estimated cost of $5.7 M, high performance ceramic package manufacturer Kyocera America Inc. is adding an automated flip-chip assembly line to its IC packaging wire-bond assembly operation in San Diego, CA. When completed in the fourth quarter of this year, the assembly line is expected to be one of the first of its type in the US. The new 5000-square-foot line, which houses a class 10,000 clean room, will be able to assemble land-grid array, ball-grid array and pin-grid array ceramic flip-chip packages with lead counts above 300 inputs/outputs.
Electronic test and measurement accessory supplier ITT Pomona Electronics , Pomona, CA, is celebrating its 50th anniversary with plans to expand its product offering to the industrial MRO customer. Currently, the company offers nearly 8000 products designed for applications ranging from test labs to field service and plant maintenance.
The Thin Division of Mini-Systems Inc. has established the Mini-Systems Inc. Reliability Program (MSIRPTM) to provide customers with real-time data on similar products. Through MSIRP, continuous testing is conducted on products the company has fabricated that are similar in design and composition to a customer’s job. The test data are accompanied by a certificate of conformance, displayed in a graphical representation and plotted against standard military criteria. Product samples are selected at random by inspectors in the production line and sent to the quality assurance department for testing.
UK-based satellite communications equipment manufacturer Advent Communications Ltd. , Chesham, Bucks, UK, has been awarded a 1998 Queen’s Award for technological achievement for the development of its NewSwift motorized mobile satellite newsgathering information transmission and reception system.
Waveguide assembly supplier Litton Airtron , Morris Plains, NJ, has received the Navy’s prestigious AEGIS Excellence Award for its work on the AEGIS weapon system program. Airtron, which is the first supplier to receive this award five times, was nominated by Lockheed Martin . AEGIS is a radar and missile defense system that provides US Navy warships with state-of-the-art defense capabilities in a variety of theaters.
RF/microwave and mm-wave solutions provider M/A-COM , Lowell, MA, has received Northrop Grumman Corp. ’s World Class Supplier Award for its work on the AN/ALQ-135 internal countermeasures program. Judged on quality and delivery performance, business assessment and statistical process control, M/A-COM received an overall performance rating of 98 percent.
Durel Corp. , a joint venture of Rogers and 3M located in Chandler, AZ, has been certified to the ISO 9001 quality system standard for its line of electroluminescent lamps and inverters.
Telecommunications product manufacturer Larus Corp. , San Jose, CA, has received ISO 9001 certification.
Ceramic electronic component manufacturer TUSONIX Inc. , Tucson, AZ, has been certified to the ISO 9001 quality system standard.
FINANCIAL NEWS
Northrop Grumman Corp. reports sales of $2 B for the first quarter, ended March 31, compared to $2.1 B last year. Net loss was $12 M (18¢/share) due to a previously announced pretax charge of $180 M ($1.70/share after tax) for costs related to the company’s proposed combination with Lockheed Martin. Net income for the first quarter last year was $84 M ($1.27/share).
SGS-Thomson Microelectronics reports sales of $998.3 M for the first quarter, ended April 4, compared to $940.5 M for the same period last year. Net income was $90.2 M (65¢/diluted share), compared to $90.5 M (65¢/diluted share) for the same period last year.
Linear Technology Corp. reports sales of $126 M for the third quarter, ended March 29, compared to $95 M last year. Net income was $47.2 M (59¢/diluted share), compared to $34 M (43¢/diluted share) last year.
Radiall Inc. reports record year-end 1997 bookings and billing of $21.5 M. This 35 percent growth rate is attributed to the expanding telecommunications market and a change in the sales structure of the company. Record growths also are expected for this year’s figures.
CONTRACTS
Linear power amplifier and related subsystem designer and manufacturer Microwave Power Devices Inc. , Hauppauge, NY, has been awarded a $7.4 M contract to supply 700 W pulsed, high power RF amplifiers to Litton PRC Inc. The contract commences immediately with shipments scheduled to begin at the end of the second quarter of this year and continue throughout 1999.
Condor Systems Inc. , has been awarded a $6.6 M contract from Naval Air Systems Command for the Shipboard Advanced Radar Target Identification System II (SARTIS II) program, which will equip all US Navy AEGIS-class cruisers with an updated commercial-off-the-shelf version of the SARTIS noncooperative target recognition system. The SARTIS II system will be developed jointly by Condor Systems East , Sterling, VA, and Condor Systems West , San Jose, CA.
Tracor Aerospace Inc. , a subsidiary of Tracor Inc. , and partner Femtometrics Inc. have won an engineering, manufacturing and development program award to develop chemical warfare agent detectors for the US armed services. Under the terms of the contract awarded by the Human Systems Center at Brooks Air Force Base, San Antonio, TX, Tracor received $4.7 M for the first 15-month phase with an option valued at $11.4 M for the second phase. A subsequent five-year production contract worth up to $400 M will be awarded upon program completion.
General Microwave Corp. , Amityville, NY, has been awarded two major follow-on contracts with a combined value of $1.3 M for the fabrication of integrated microwave assemblies. The contracts, which were awarded by undisclosed customers, call for the design and production of more than 800 units to be delivered in the current fiscal year for use in electronic warfare simulators being built for the US government.
Pascall Electronics Ltd. , Ryde, Isle of Wight, UK, has been awarded a £700 K contract from GEC Marconi Radar & Defence to supply logarithmic IF amplifiers for use in the Tornado Aircraft Radar Homing and Warning Receiver.
PERSONNEL
Microwave Instrumentation Technologies LLC has appointed David R. Loveless COO. Previously, Loveless served as a management consultant assigned to assist in the company’s transition from a division of Scientific-Atlanta to an independent entity. The company also has named David M. Deans and Lawrence H. Tveten to its board of managers. Currently, Deans is president of Rockwell Automation’s Intecolor Corp. and Tveten is former VP and GM of Naval and Maritime Systems for Hughes Aircraft Co.
CTS Reeves has named Walter A. Zarris VP and GM of the integrated frequency products operations and Robert P. Emge VP of CTS Reeves Frequency Products. Formerly, Zarris was president of Reeves-Hoffman and Emge was GM of the AMP Circuits Division of AMP Inc.
Richardson Electronics Ltd. has announced several personnel appointments, including Pierluigi Calderone as VP/managing director and Charles Acurio , Bart Petrini and Robert Prince as executive VPs. Previously, Calderone was regional sales manager at Richardson Electronics Italy Srl; Acurio and Petrini were senior managers at the company’s Display Products Group and Electron Device Group, respectively; and Prince held product and worldwide sales management positions.
Douglas P. Foster has been promoted to VP, sales at Watkins-Johnson Co.’s Telecommunications Group. Foster joined the company in 1996 from GTE Government Systems where he served as director of national programs.
Dennis Deck has been named western regional sales manager at Amplifonix. Previously, Deck was a sales manager at L3 Communications, Narda Microwave – West.
Bill Lustig has been appointed sales manager at Thunderline-Z.
Addelco has named R. Tom Flanagan sales engineer. Flanagan has held positions with F.C.I., M.J. Research, Narragansett Electric and New England Power Service Co.
Precision Tube Co.’s Coax Division has appointed Douglas S. Kaplan director of sales and marketing for its semirigid and flexible coaxial cable and cable assembly products. Most recently, Kaplan was director of sales and marketing for a line of electrical enclosures used in potentially explosive environments.
Mark J. Sullivan has been hired as director of marketing and development at CirQon Technologies Corp. Sullivan has held various executive positions in marketing, sales, operations and design engineering for companies such as MIC Technology, Toko America and Amphenol Corp.
Inmet Corp., an MCE company, has named Craig Lindberg director of technical marketing. Previously, Lindberg was employed at ITT GaAsTEK for more than four years and at Motorola SSTG for more than six years.
Mark Chiappetta has joined the Global Optoelectronics Group of AMP Inc. as an optoelectonics development engineer. Most recently, Chiappetta was involved in fiber-optic developments at Molecular Optoelectronics Corp.
Hewlett-Packard Co. has named Edward "Ned" W. Barnholt head of its newly formed Measurements Organization (formed by the recent Test and Measurement and Measurement Systems organizations merger). Barnholt will continue to manage the Test and Measurement Organization until he names a successor later this year.
Barbara A. Pierce has been appointed marketing communications manager at ANADIGICS Inc. Most recently, Pierce was marketing and business development manager at OpenCon Systems.
Centurion International Inc. has appointed Vincent D. Abrams to the newly created position of product manager. Abrams’ experience includes 10 years in marketing, management, research and sales with major companies in Pennsylvania, Florida and Nebraska.
Anh Vu has joined Channel Microwave Corp. to assist in expanding the company’s product lines. Formerly, Vu was chief engineer at Ocean Microwave.
Nearfield Systems Inc. has named Daniël Janse van Rensburg senior applications engineer. van Rensburg brings 11 years of technical experience to the position, including work in microwave antenna measurement systems, computational electromagnetics and antenna design, and analysis and manufacturing for space applications.
REP APPOINTMENT
Hermetic module and RF and high reliability capacitate glass-to-metal seal manufacturer Thunderline-Z , Hampstead, NH, has named several companies to represent its products, including DFS Associates for coverage in upstate New York, Poschmann Associates for coverage in Long Island and KL Marketing for coverage in southern California.
WEB SITES
A.J. Tuck Co. , Brookfield, CT, has developed a Web site to provide information on its electroforming process and capabilities. The site can be accessed at http://www.ajtuckco.com.
Electromechanical switch manufacturer Dow-Key Microwave , Ventura, CA, has designed a new and expanded Web site that details its 150-page print catalog, sales representatives and job opportunities, and provides a product part number search engine. The site’s address is http://www.dowkey.com.
Emerson & Cuming Microwave Products , Randolph, MA, has developed a new global Web site at http://www.
emersoncumingmp.com that features the latest developments in microwave absorbing materials, related products and design information. A general application index provides technical product data and recommendations. Product samples and quotations also can be requested.
The Georgia Tech Research Institute, Atlanta, GA, has launched its first Web-based technical journal targeted at scientists, engineers and research sponsors. The Journal of Technology will be updated quarterly and can be accessed at http://www.gtri.gatech.edu/jot/. Articles in the first edition include "Automating Information Exchange between Self-describing Databases" and "Object-oriented Design Techniques Applied to an Integrated Support Station."
Ledtronics Inc. , Torrance, CA, has redesigned and expanded its Web site at http://www.ledtronics.com to feature information on products, related markets, and custom design and engineering solutions. Product samples and detailed product information can be requested.
LNR Communications Inc. , Hauppauge, NY, has developed a Web site that provides information about the company and its employees, products and systems. The site’s address is http://www.lnr.com.
Magnum Microwave Corp. , a subsidiary of REMEC Inc. located in San Jose, CA, has designed a Web site at http://www.magnummicrowave.com that details its products and includes specification summaries and mechanical outline drawings that can be downloaded.
MCE Companies Inc. has added downloadable product data sheets to its Web sites at http://www.weinschel.com, http://www.kditriangle.com and http://www.inmetcorp.com. Once downloaded, the PDF data sheets can be viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0.
Optotek Ltd. , Kanata, Ontario, Canada, has updated its Web site to include information on the new EMSight™ electromagnetic simulator. A trial copy of the simulator as well as a demonstration version of the company’s MMICAD™ linear simulator software can be downloaded from http://www.optotek.com.
PCB Engineering Inc. , Milpitas, CA, has developed a new Web site that contains information listed in the company’s hard copy brochure along with an on-line circuit board fabrication quote sheet. The site can be accessed at http://www.pcbengineering.com.
Sector Microwave Industries Inc. , Deer Park, NY, has developed a new Web site that highlights its line of waveguide and coaxial switches. Technical information for each product as well as details about the company are available at http://www.sectormicrowave.com.
Technical Research & Manufacturing Inc. , Bedford, NH, has launched a Web site at http://www.technicalresearch.com that provides information on the company and its products, including technical specifications for signal processing components.