Around the Circuit
INDUSTRY NEWS
Epitaxial Products International Ltd. and Quantum Epitaxial Designs Inc. have merged in an effort to provide the highest quality optoelectronic and electronic epitaxial wafers to the semiconductor market. The new International Quantum Epitaxy plc (IQE) will also draw on the proven strengths of its constituent businesses to further enhance customer service for the foundry production of epitaxial wafers.
Microwave multifunction module manufacturer REMEC Inc. , San Diego, CA, has completed its acquisition of Airtech plc . Currently, 42,628,630 Airtech shares (representing 93.6 percent of the company's issued share capital) have been validly tendered. REMEC will acquire 100 percent of the outstanding shares of Airtech, and Airtech's shareholders will receive 0.0372 of a share of REMEC common stock for each Airtech share. All of the conditions of the transaction have been satisfied or waived and the acquisition will be accounted for as a pooling of interests.
The rapid growth of new customers and new applications for its RF, wireless and optoelectronic product lines has prompted California Eastern Laboratories (CEL), Santa Clara, CA, to create three new strategic business units organized around the offerings of NEC Corp. , its business partner for more than 30 years. The new units include Silicon Products , GaAs Products and Optoelectronic Products . A fourth strategic business unit has been organized to support CEL's Integrated Solutions Group . The reorganization is intended to allow the company to respond more quickly to customer needs and market opportunities.
American Technical Ceramics , Huntington Station, NY, has initiated a comprehensive program to support the European market with a direct presence in Northern and Central Europe. The company's new offices in Stockholm, Sweden and Munich, Germany will complement its existing UK operations with sales/customer support in their respective regions.
ARCOM Inc. , Salem, NH, has completed the first phase of a manufacturing automation upgrade of its microwave and mm-wave product lines. (The company recently brought a fully automatic pick-and-place machine on line as well as a high capacity reflow furnace.) The next phase of the upgrade (currently in qualification) includes the addition of automatic wire bonding and fully automated dispensing capabilities. The increased capacity is expected to allow ARCOM to stay ahead of the growing production demands for point-to-point radio components and to enter into larger volume applications such as local multipoint distribution systems and other point-to-multipoint opportunities.
RF and microwave filter and multiplexer supplier Reactel Inc. has moved to a new 10,000-square-foot stand-alone building located at 8031 Cessna Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD 20879 (301) 519-3660, fax (301) 519-2447. The facility houses manufacturing, assembly, testing and office space, and offers up to 10,000 square feet of expansion capability.
Wafer probing technology developer Cascade Microtech Inc. , Beaverton, OR, has leased a 60,000-square-foot facility to support its growing Pyramid Probe business. The facility will allow the company to triple the manufacturing capability of the probes, which have generated record bookings due, in part, to communications network demands driven by heavy Internet traffic.
Terrestrial microwave equipment provider Gabriel Electronics Inc. , Scarborough, ME, has opened a new sales office in Mexico City to support the increasing demand for its products and offer technical support to the Mexican and Central American markets. Alfredo Vázquez has been named regional sales manager responsible for the continued sales, sales support and new product training in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. The office is located at 1ra. Cerrada de Osa Mayor 384, Col. Unidad el Rosario, 02100 Mexico D.F., Mexico (52) 5 394 9054, fax (52) 5 394 3796 or e-mail: gabriel_mexico@csi.com.
SALIES SA has relocated to Zi des Radars, 9 rue Diderot, 92353 Grigny, France +33 1 69 02 25 60, fax +33 1 69 02 25 99 or e-mail: ventes@salies.fr.
Advanced information technology provider Magellan Corp. has formed a new Wireless Communications Business Unit to design and market a variety of communications products for consumer, commercial, industrial and government applications. Under the direction of VP and GM Tom Hunter, the unit will maintain dedicated engineering, product development, marketing and sales functions with the assistance of Magellan's Santa Clara and San Dimas, CA facilities as well as its technology research and development center in Moscow, Russia.
Electronic component distributor Richardson Electronics Ltd. , LaFox, IL, has opened a new office in China to better serve its customers who require electron tubes, RF/microwave and wireless components, medical imaging components and display products in the medical, broadcast, wireless and industrial heating markets. The new Richardson Electronics Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. will serve as a stocking location to expedite the delivery of products to Chinese customers with all orders billed in local currency, making it easier for customers to purchase imported goods. Cui Wei, a 25-year veteran of electronic distribution in China, has been named district sales manager of the new subsidiary, and Alan Chen has been named Asia product manager for medical products to service the company's medical imaging customers throughout the Pacific Rim. The new office is located at Unit F2, 20/F, Zao Fong Universe Building, No. 1800 West Zhong Shan Rd., Shanghai 200233, China 86-21-6440-0807, fax 86-21-6440-1293.
Test instrument and system developer Telecom Analysis Systems Inc. (TAS) has opened a new product development and support facility that will employ the 35 new employees who joined TAS as a result of its recent purchase of Noise Com 's wireless and satellite test business. TAS occupies approximately 15,000 square feet of the building, which is located at 3 Industrial Ave., Mahwah, NJ 07430 (201) 684-9200, fax (201) 684-9210. The company's corporate headquarters remain in Eatontown, NJ. Dale Sydnor, former chairman of Noise Com, will head the facility as VP and GM.
Towcester, Northants, UK-based GEC-Marconi Materials Technology Ltd. has changed its name to Marconi Materials Technology . The name change does not affect any existing contracts.
American Microsystems Inc. (AMI) , Pocatello, ID, has adopted the Cadence Affirma NC Verilog series simulator as one of its in-house simulators. The device replaces the Cadence Verilog®-XL simulator, which has been used by AMI since 1997. According to AMI, the simulator's dramatic speed improvement over its predecessor makes it the best choice for the digital application-specific IC (ASIC) registration called for by shrinking geometries and system-on-chip designs.
Motorola has appointed Allgon Telecom Ltd. as one of two strategic vendors worldwide for base station antennas. Allgon passed the Motorola quality audit at its factory in Fort Worth, TX and its corporate plant in Stockholm, Sweden in April.
Passive flexible and rigid waveguide assembly and component manufacturer Continental Microwave and Tool Co. Inc. (CMT) , Hampton, NH, has signed an exclusive agreement to manufacture dielectric waveguide assemblies using W.L. Gore & Associates' dielectric waveguide. CMT is currently offering these low loss assemblies in WR22, WR28, WR42 and WRD180 versions and is planning to offer WR10 and WR15 types in the near future.
SierraCom , a division of Sierra Networks Inc. located in Hopkinton, MA, has begun production shipments of its self-contained, pulsed RF sources for the calibration of tactical air navigation (TACAN) and identification friend or foe (IFF) test sets. The model 2760 source was developed under contract with the US Air Force to be the standard source for calibration of TACAN and IFF test equipment such as the A/N-UPM 155. The units, which were shipped to the Air Force Metrology and Calibration Lab in Heath, OH, are a more reliable version than the older, tube-based sources they replace. Output power is adjustable from 10 to 2300 W in 0.1 dB steps over a frequency range of 960 to 1215 MHz. A separate low power port with IFF pulse format is also provided.
Standard and precision waveguide manufacturer H. Rollet & Co. Ltd. , Hertford, Herts, UK, has appointed Mega Industries as its principal distributor in North America. Mega Industries carries stock of standard waveguide in OFHC copper and 90/10 bronze to MIL-W-85 specifications. Bare invar and aluminum are also available for distribution throughout the US, Canada and Mexico.
Microwave Distributors Co. , Islandia, NY, has been named an authorized distributor of E-Z Form Cable 's semirigid cable, delay lines and cable assemblies; RF Industries ' connectors and cable assemblies; and Telegartner 's coaxial connectors and data/voice transmission and fiber-optic cables.
Sprague-Goodman Electronics Inc. , Westbury, NY, has appointed Brothers Electronics Inc. a franchised distributor of its trimmer capacitor and specialty and surface-mount inductor lines. Brothers Electronics currently operates from three locations in New Jersey, one in Massachusetts and one in Florida.
Electronic communication product and system provider Aydin Telemetry , a division of Aydin Corp. located in Newtown, PA, has been certified to the ISO 9001 quality system standard and MIL-Q-9858A military specification by Defense Contract Management Command, Philadelphia.
Microwave dB 's Newbury Park and Chatsworth, CA facilities have been granted Registered Firm status under ISO 9001 for the design and manufacture of RF, microwave and mm-wave amplifiers, oscillators, antennas, subassemblies and assemblies for the wireless and telecommunications markets. The registration also applies to the company's thick- and thin-film substrate fabrication and manual-to-automated built-to-print contracting services.
New Jersey-based Mitec Wireless has received ISO 9001 certification. The company's Montreal, Quebec, Canada facility is scheduled for a similar ISO 9001 audit this month.
Nearfield Systems Inc. has been certified to the ISO 9001 quality system standard for its organization and manufacturing of antenna measurement products.
SV Microwave , West Palm Beach, FL, has been granted qualification approval for its Blind Mate BMA series connectors under the new MIL-PRF-31031 high performance specification. The company is the first to be listed as a qualified source.
San Jose, CA-based analog IC and specialty wafer foundry process manufacturer IMP Inc. has been awarded US patent no. 5,861,719 covering regulated power supplies for electroluminescent lamps.
The IPC Designers Council has welcomed two new chapters, bringing the total number of worldwide chapters to 30. The new local chapters representing southeastern MI and Seattle, WA are intended to give printed wiring board layout designers an additional way to meet and exchange ideas.
PIN diode switch, switch/filter bank and microwave integrated assembly manufacturer MVS - Microwave & Video Systems Inc. , Danbury, CT, has received the US Government's 1998 Small Business Administration's Award of Excellence Certificate.
Microwave Power Devices Inc. (MPDI) , Hauppauge, NY, has been named Rockwell Collins Inc. 's 1999 Commercial Subcontracts Supplier of the Year. MPDI received its first satellite communications amplifier order from Rockwell Collins in 1995 and is currently in the production stage of two major satellite communications amplifier programs with the company that are valued at $38 M.
FINANCIAL NEWS
Northrop Grumman Corp. reports sales of $2.1 B for the first quarter, ended March 31, compared to $2 B for the first quarter last year. Net income was $88 M ($1.26/diluted share), compared to a net loss of $12 M (18¢/diluted share) for the same period last year.
Andrew Corp. reports sales of $172 M for the second quarter, ended March 31, compared to $196.9 M for the second quarter last year. Net loss was $20.8 M (25¢/share), compared to a net income of $24.1 M (27¢/share) for the same period last year. The company reports that the significant losses are due to a restructuring charge as well as to lower spending by US wireless infrastructure customers and industry-wide price pressures.
Watkins-Johnson Co. reports sales of $65.2 M for the first quarter, ended March 26, compared to $68.7 M for the first quarter last year. Net income was $2.9 M (43¢/diluted share), compared to $9.7 M ($1.15/diluted share) for the same period last year.
Stanford Telecommunications Inc. reports sales of $165.4 M for the year, ended March 31, compared to $153.3 M in 1998. Net income was $1.3 M (10¢/share) in 1999. Sales were $40.3 M for the fourth quarter, compared to $40.4 M for the fourth quarter last year.
ANADIGICS Inc. reports sales of $25 M for the first quarter, ended April 4, compared to $18.8 M for the first quarter last year. Net income was $1.2 M (8¢/diluted share) before special charges, compared to a net loss of $382 K (3¢/diluted share) for the first quarter of 1998.
Robinson Nugent Inc. reports sales of $18.7 M for the third quarter, ended March 31, compared to $19.7 M for the first quarter last year. Net income was $508 K (10¢/share), compared to a net loss of $3.3 M (67¢/share) for the same period last year.
Microwave Power Devices Inc. (MPDI) reports sales of $17.2 M for the first quarter, ended March 31, compared to $11.4 M for the first quarter last year. Net income was $832 K (8¢/diluted share), compared to $183 K (2¢/diluted share) for the same period last year. MPDI attributes these record-breaking first-quarter earnings to strong growth in the commercial wireless telecommunications marketplace.
SEMX Corp. reports sales of $10.9 M for the first quarter, ended March 31, compared to $14.5 M for the first quarter last year. Net income was $4.2 M (69¢/share), compared to a net loss of $659 K (11¢/share) for the same period in 1998.
Boonton Electronics Corp. reports sales of $6.8 M for 1998. Net income quadrupled to $143 K (9¢/share) over 1997's $31.3 K (2¢/share). The company attributes these record-breaking results to the success of its high quality test instruments that satisfy niche requirements in the growing cellular/wireless communications market.
American Microsystems Inc. (AMI) is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) within the next nine to 21 months to fund continued growth and expansion. Initially, the IPO team will comprise key members of AMI's business staff and establish an operations base in new quarters located in San Diego, CA. The site reportedly will leverage proximity to potential investment partners, key customers and the company's Idaho headquarters.
Powerwave Technologies Inc. 's registration statement relating to the public offering of 2,000,000 shares of its common stock has been declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. All of the shares offered are being sold by the company for $26.75 per share. Net proceeds from the sale are expected to total approximately $50.2 M. Powerwave Technologies has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to 300,000 additional shares of common stock to cover any overallotments. Approximately $22.5 M of the net proceeds from the offering will be used to discharge indebtedness incurred in connection with the company's October 1998 acquisition of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s RF power amplifier business. The balance will be used for general corporate purposes, including the funding of working capital requirements and the expansion of the company's sales and marketing activities.
CONTRACTS
Advanced digital communications product and system manufacturer Stanford Telecommunications Inc. (Stanford Telecom) , Sunnyvale, CA, has received a $12.5 M production contract for the manufacture, test and installation of the Replacement Satellite Configuration Control Element (RSCCE), a telemetry, tracking and command system that controls and monitors telemetry data from the US Army's Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) III satellites. (Stanford Telecom's Satellite Ground System operation developed the RSCCE under a contract with the Army's Communications Electronics Command.) Under the terms of the contract, Stanford Telecom will develop software enhancements and manufacture 18 RSCCE systems to be installed in the Army Space Command's DSCS operations centers at various locations around the world.
Hewlett-Packard Co. has received a $10 M contract from Korea-based LG Semicon calling for several model HP 95000 high speed memory test systems. The units will be used to test 16 Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM) devices simultaneously.
The Defense and Civil Systems Business Unit of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) , Munich, Germany, has signed a contract with Finland-based Nokia Telecommunications for the volume production of 58 GHz transceiver front-end modules. The modules are intended for use in Nokia Telecommunications' new Nokia MetroHopper series mm-wave radio link system, which forms part of the Nokia Metrosite Capacity solution for high density GSM networks.
Cascade Microtech Inc. has been selected by IMEC, the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre of Leuven, Belgium, to supply $1.4 M worth of eight-inch wafer probe stations. The agreement calls for Cascade Microtech's automatic probers and analytical stations.
NEC America Inc. (NEC) has announced that its microwave radio department will upgrade a segment of the private microwave radio network used by PNM (Public Service of New Mexico), an electric and gas utility company based in Albuquerque. The agreement, which is valued at $600 K, includes the purchase of NEC 2600 series radios and turnkey services for path engineering, installation, test and turnup, and product training. The project targets a total of five hops currently linked with 2 GHz analog radios. The radios will provide 6 GHz digital operation and greater transmission capacity on those links. The upgrade will be performed on the portion of the network that links PNM's Power Operations Center with the San Juan Generating Station.
Radio-system-on-a-chip developer Philsar Electronics Inc. , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, has signed an agreement with IBM under which IBM will manufacture wireless communication ICs for Philsar using its advanced SiGe technology and Philsar will grant the licensing rights of certain intellectual property to IBM. Philsar plans to work with IBM to integrate SiGe technology into several of its Radio Signal Processors where high performance and low power consumption are required, including products for emerging wireless networking applications.
TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. , Hillsboro, OR, and RF Integration Inc. , Billerica, MA, have signed an agreement to utilize RF Integration's RFIC product development services in conjunction with TriQuint Semiconductor's GaAs IC foundry to provide customers with turnkey RFIC product development capabilities. Under the terms of the agreement, RF Integration will be responsible for product development from project inception through preproduction and TriQuint will provide wafer manufacturing, die packaging and IC testing services throughout the production period.
PERSONNEL
K&L Microwave Inc. has appointed Lou Abbagnaro president. Most recently, Abbagnaro was president of Pace Inc., which, under his leadership, introduced many innovative products, achieved continual growth for more than 10 years and became a market leader in its product areas.
Guy Campbell has been named group president, wireless products and distributed communications systems at Andrew Corp. where he will be responsible for the company's wireless accessories and distributed communications systems, including Voyager series hands-free kits, battery saver/chargers, batteries, leather cases, mobile antennas and mounting hardware. Campbell joins the company from Ericsson Inc. where he held a number of senior management roles, including VP, wireless business systems.
Picosecond Pulse Labs Inc. (PSPL) has appointed J. Scott Andrews CEO to replace company founder James R. Andrews who will remain as chairman of the board and assume the role of CTO. Most recently, J. Scott Andrews was director of international marketing at 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. He has served on the PSPL board of directors since 1992.
Watkins-Johnson Co. has promoted Scott G. Buchanan to the positions of executive VP, CFO and treasurer. Previously, Buchanan held a succession of finance and management positions at the company.
Ducommun Technologies Inc. has named Doug Kirk VP, marketing and sales responsible for global marketing and sales functions for the company's AEI space-qualified stepper motors and resolvers, DMT RF/microwave coaxial and waveguide switching products, Jay-El illuminated panels and switch button switches, and D/B Cameras surveillance cameras. Kirk has more than 20 years of exper-ience in the aerospace industry, including positions at Rogerson Aircraft Corp., Trimble Navigation, AAR Corp., Honeywell and Sperry Commercial Flight Systems.
Robert Hannon has joined Boonton Electronics Corp. as CFO to oversee the company's financial transactions and implement programs that will continue to create strong financial stability and profitability. Previously,Hannon was treasurer, CFO and president of Artisan Controls Corp.
James M. Miller has been named VP, sales and marketing at Filtronic Solid State. Miller joined the company in 1998 as western regional sales manager. His background includes positions as program manager of defense and aerospace contracts at Link Simulation and VP, business development at Litton Solid State.
Stellex Micro-wave Systems Inc. (SMS) has appointed R. Dean Merkley VP, sales and marketing responsible for developing and managing wireless subsystems products, including components, microwave devices and yttrium iron garnet products. Previously, Merkley was VP, sales and marketing at Filtronic Solid State. In addition, SMS has named Frank Moore director of marketing, wireless business development to address the high performance, high bandwidth connectivity solutions required by the rapidly growing broadband wireless market. Moore brings to the company more than 20 years of experience in business development and marketing and sales at companies such as P-Com, Cylink and National Semiconductor.
Robert Perelman has joined Times Microwave as VP, commercial sales and marketing responsible for the LMR cable product line as well as other commercial cable products. Previously, Perelman was VP, sales at Eupen Cable USA.
PG Narayanan has been named VP and chief technology officer at ADC Telecommunications Inc. Prior to joining the company, Narayanan was executive VP of Osicom.
American Technical Ceramics has made several new personnel appointments, including Mike Giacalone as VP, advanced product operations, Ted Heil as director of marketing, Sidney Arnow as eastern regional sales manager and Eugene Pinto as western regional sales manager. Most recently, Giacalone held executive positions at Electro-Technik and its subsidiaries Res-Net and Tepro, Heil held a design engineering position at UNITEL, Arnow was president of US Technical Marketing Inc. and Pinto handled sales of commercial antenna products at Dorne & Margolin Inc.
Tokyo Electron Arizona Inc. (TAZ), a subsidiary of Japan-based Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL), has appointed Kevin Lally senior director of global sales, marketing and service responsible for developing and managing a cohesive global sales and support organization and fostering a strong relationship between TEL customers and the company's sales and service teams. In addition, he will oversee worldwide sales, product management and marketing of TAZ's PVD systems as well as field process and support, field operations, training and customer satisfaction efforts. Prior to joining TAZ, Lally served as the business unit manager for CVD metallization at Tokyo Electron America, the US headquarters for TEL sales and service.
Alpha Industries has named Chris Conlin director of worldwide sales responsible for leading all sales activities, including inside sales management, strategic account development and independent sales representatives and distributors. Conlin brings to the position more than 25 years of sales, marketing and general management experience in the electronics market and was most recently VP, sales and marketing at RF Monolithics Inc.
Dhrubes Biswas has been named manager of advanced materials at ANADIGICS Inc. responsible for managing partnerships with external epitaxial material vendors to establish next-generation technologies and internal epitaxial capabilities. Prior to joining the company, Biswas was manager of the GaAs Materials Operations at Alpha Industries where he was responsible for the production and engineering groups. In related news, ANADIGICS has named John Smith as its first Fellow in recognition of his major contributions to the company's IC solutions for broadband and wireless communication systems. Smith is responsible for many of ANADIGICS' technical innovations, including contributions to its community antenna television tuner receivers, which helped position ANADIGICS as a leader in the cable set-top box tuner market.
ARCOM Inc. has appointed Earle Stewart marketing manager responsible for its microwave and mm-wave product lines and for handling a number of ongoing programs for customers in Japan and Israel. Stewart brings to the position more than 20 years of experience in mm-wave technology, components and subsystems and was previously employed at Alpha Industries and Raytheon Systems Co. In addition, ARCOM has named Charlotte Guthrie human resources manager responsible for increasing the visibility of the company in the local workforce to attract the technical talent necessary to meet the demands of a fast-growing wireless company.
Palomar Technologies has added Zeger Bok and Kevin Seufert to its engineering support team. Bok will provide process engineering expertise and customer support for the company's fully automated and integrated equipment as well as a complete line of wire bonders. He will also develop interconnection techniques for use in chip-scale packages and ball-grid arrays. Seufert will provide on-sight support for Palomar Technologies' CBT 6000 series wide-area, dual-line thermosonic ball bonder. Previously, Bok was a process engineer in the ABS Plastics Division of Monsanto and Seufert was a field service engineer at Kulicke and Soffa.
James Truchard , president and CEO of Austin, TX-based National Instruments, has been named one of the 50 Best CEOs in the US by Worth Magazine. Truchard was chosen for steering his company to its 22nd consecutive year of double-digit growth.
REP APPOINTMENTS
Electromagnetic absorbing material developer Emerson & Cuming Microwave Products Inc. , Randolph, MA, has named Cain Technology-Southern California Inc. , Van Nuys, CA, as its sales and technical representative in Southern California.
Gabriel Electronics Inc. , Scarborough, ME, has appointed Hite Electronic Sales Co. , Mansfield, TX, to represent its terrestrial microwave point-to-point and point-to-multipoint antenna products, transmission line systems and pressurization equipment in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
High power, solid-state amplifier manufacturer MPD Technologies Inc. , Hauppauge, NY, has appointed several sales representatives, including Brennan Associates , Clearwater, FL, to cover Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee; DFS Associates , Carnillus, NY, to cover upstate New York; and Matrix Inc. , Chelmsford, MA, to cover Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island.
MVS-Microwave & Video Systems Inc. , Danbury, CT, has named L&M Engineering to represent its products in Southern California. Additional representation is being sought to service foreign and domestic markets.