INDUSTRY NEWS
Frank Floyd Jr. died on October 16 after a long battle with ALS. He was 62. He was the founder and manager of the Massachusetts division of Standford Telecom after spending 25 years working at MIT-Lincoln Laboratories on the design and construction of communications satellites.
* 3M has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Robinson Nugent Inc., New Albany, IN, for approximately $115 M, including the assumption of debt. The merger is structured as a tax-free, stock-for-stock transaction, in which each outstanding Robinson Nugent common share will be exchanged for $19 of 3M common stock, subject to certain caller provisions.
* New Focus Inc., a supplier of fiber-optic products for next-generation optical networks under the Smart Optics for Networks™ brand, has signed a definitive agreement with JCA Technology Inc. under which New Focus will acquire JCA in a transaction valued at $600 M. The merger consideration is composed of $575 M of New Focus common stock and $25 M in cash. The merger will be accounted for as a purchase transaction and will result in significant goodwill based on the underlying book value of JCA's assets.
* Illinois Superconductor Corp. (ISCO) has entered into an agreement to acquire Lockheed Martin Canada's Adaptive Notch Filtering (ANF) business unit. The purchase of the ANF business involves the acquisition by Lockheed Martin Canada of 2.5 million shares of ISCO common stock, and is subject to certain closing conditions.
* Heraeus Inc. is incorporating the former precious metals powders business activities of PGP Industries into the existing product line offered by its Circuit Materials Division. The action follows upon the recent acquisition of selected PGP assets by W.C. Heraeus GmbH & Co. KG. In related news, the US-based Heraeus Inc., Circuit Materials Division and the company's PDF Group, Hanau, Germany, have been awarded QS 9000 certification.
* TRAK Communications, a Tech-Sym company announced the acquisition of Tech-Sym Corp. by The Veritas Capital Fund LP, a New York-based investment firm. Sold at $30 per share, TRAK Communications is now a privately held company, but remains the parent management company to its four subsidiaries: TRAK Microwave Corp., TRAK Microwave Ltd. (TRAK Europe), Tecom Industries Inc. and TRAK Ceramics Inc. (TCI).
* Centurion Wireless Technologies Inc., Lincoln, NE, (formerly Centurion International Inc.) has acquired Xertex Technologies Inc., Broomfield, CO, in a merger transaction. Xertex will operate as a division of Centurion Wireless Technologies.
* Everett Charles Technologies (ECT), Pomona, CA, has acquired Vitech Services B.V., Geleen, the Netherlands. The acquisition of Vitech will further augment ECT's role as a global provider of PCB test services and supply additional support to its worldwide customer base.
* REMEC Inc. has combined its Toronto-based Nanowave operation with Ascentia, Dallas, TX, to form a new advanced technology company that will design and produce custom MMICs, critical modules and integrated subassemblies for fiber-optic and broadband wireless communications systems. REMEC owns a 75 percent ownership in the new company.
* EMS Wireless, a division of EMS Technologies Inc., is establishing operations in Brazil, to offer a complete range of PCS/cellular basestation antenna products to the fast-growing South American market. A wholly owned subsidiary, EMS Wireless do Brasil, has been organized, and is expected to begin manufacturing operations in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil in January of next year.
* Huber + Suhner Inc., Essex, VT, is investing $5 M in construction and new equipment to expand its manufacturing facility by 43,000 square feet. The company has experienced tremendous growth in the past several years necessitating the expansion.
* SEMX Corp.'s Materials Group has completed a facility expansion for its ceramic packaging operation, which was acquired in April of this year by Polese Co., San Diego, CA. The new Materials Group headquarters is home to the ceramics division, which includes a modern clean room and support facilities.
* Corning Frequency Control Inc., a division of Corning Inc., has begun construction on a 40,000 square foot expansion of its operations facility in Mount Holly Springs, PA. The expansion is scheduled for completion early next year.
* Ansoft Corp. has opened two Advanced Training Centers and a new support office in Shanghai, China. These new offices will allow the company to increase the number of highly trained engineers to develop next-generation RF, wireless and telecommunications products.
* Microwave Communications Corp. (MCC), Valencia, CA, has completed recapitalization and alignment with Springboard Capital LLC, Los Angeles, CA, and London, UK. Part of this new partnership includes incorporating the new company and changing its name to Microwave Communications Co. Inc. It will continue to operate from its headquarters in Valencia.
* Tanner Research Inc. and MOSIS have formed a strategic alliance that allows Tanner to offer quick-turn and low cost IC design and fabrication services. Under the partnership, Tanner has committed to provide design tools, services and IP products to customers, while MOSIS will provide prototyping and small volume production services.
* Micronetics Wireless Inc. has entered into a strategic joint venture with Hollis Electronics Co. to co-develop its next generation Wave3G Communications Testing Platform.
* Analog Devices Inc. has signed an agreement with Nortel Networks to mutually develop integrated optical MEMS switching elements for Nortel's high port-count photonic cross connect switches.
* NurLogic Design Inc. has signed an agreement with IBM to offer high performance standard cell and I/O components to customers of IBM's SiGe, 0.25-micron process technology. This technology is an ideal solution for building many of the essential chips used in wired and wireless communications products.
* Racal Instruments Inc., Irvine, CA, has formed a strategic alliance with PX Instrument Technology Ltd., Bray, Ireland, for worldwide turnkey system integration of PX Instrument Technology's PXI bus-based products. This agreement partners two members of the PXI Systems Alliance.
* Windward Technologies Inc., Tellumat Ltd. and Plessey have expanded their distribution agreement to have Windward distribute the Tellumat HighReach™ Narrow Band Microwave products and Plessey Spread Spectrum products in the US.
* Motorola SPS and Atmel have signed a licensing agreement that will enable the companies to provide a reliable supply of RF BiCMOS technology.
* TRW's new production line for indium phosphide (IP) integrated circuits will include one of Temescal's latest innovations in electron beam evaporation systems, the model FCE-2700A. TRW's new facility is the world's first high volume InP production line.
* NEC Electronics Inc. and Luxxon Corp. have signed a strategic alliance agreement to develop streaming multimedia solutions for wireless Internet devices. The solutions will accelerate the development and adoption of wireless devices and enable universal multimedia communication.
* Agilent Technologies Inc. and SynTest Technologies Inc. have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide chip design consulting services. SynTest will initially work with Agilent customers as they design chips with multiple function blocks, which are capable of being tested concurrently instead of sequentially, resulting in a significant cost-of-test reduction.
* Alpha Industries is expanding its distribution relationship with Insight Electronics to include Europe and Asia. The partnership will allow Alpha to reach a greater number of customers with enhanced efficiency and responsiveness. In related news, Alpha has been named to Forbes magazine's annual list of the 200 Best Small Companies in America. Alpha ranked 138th overall on the list, which requires companies to exceed specific financial requirements based on value and growth.
* REMEC has received an initial deployment order for hub antennas for a wireless access system from Lucent Technologies. In related news, REMEC has been accepted as an "Adopter" member of the Broadband Wireless Internet Forum (BWIF). The BWIF is a consortium of companies that have joined together to establish and promote an open broadband fixed wireless standard based on Vector Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing.
* The crew of NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery will install a EMS Technologies Inc. Ku-band communications antenna during its mission to the International Space Station. The antenna is capable of automatically tracking NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System communication satellites while transmitting at data rates up to 75 mbps.
* According to a new study by ElectroniCast Corp., the global filter optic communication connector/mechanical splice consumption is driven by a dramatic increase in bandwidth demand beyond the limits of copper. The consumption in 1999 was $716.5 M, and this value will increase at an annual growth rate of 18.9 percent per year over the next five years to $1.7 B in 2004.
* RF Industries Ltd., San Diego, CA, has been named one of the 200 Best Small Companies by Forbes magazine.
* Advanced Power Technology has received the Boeing International Space Station Exceptional Company Performance Award. The award recognizes outstanding performance by companies from across the US that provide the products and services to support the International Space Station.
FINANCIAL NEWS
* STMicroelectronics Inc. reports sales of $2.04 B for the third quarter, ended September 30, compared to $1.27 B for the same period last year. Net income was $415.3 M (45¢/diluted share), compared to $135.3 M (15¢/diluted share) for the third quarter of 1999.
* Cree Inc. reports record sales of $37.6 M for the first quarter of FY 2001, compared to $20.7 M for the same period last year. Net income was $12.66 M (34¢/diluted share), compared to $4.55 M (14¢/diluted share) for the first quarter of FY 2000.
* Microwave Power Devices Inc. reports sales of $13.008 M for the third quarter, ended September 30, compared to $16.417 M for the same period last year. Net income was $277 K (3¢/diluted share), compared to $345 K (3¢/diluted share) for the third quarter of 1999.
* Superconductor Technologies Inc. reports sales of $1.6 M for the third quarter, ended September 30, compared to $659 K for the same period last year. Net loss was $4.1 M (23¢/share), compared to $2.9 M (43¢/share) for the third quarter of 1999.
* Merrimac Industries Inc. and Micro-Multifunction Modules (MMFM) have closed a private placement of common shares and warrants for aggregate cash proceeds of $4.6 M. The company issued to the investors 360,000 units at a price of $12.80 per unit, each unit consisting of a share of common stock and a three-year, non-redeemable detachable warrant to purchase an additional share of common stock exercisable at a price of $21.25.
* Illinois Superconductor Corp. has received a $5 M equity investment from Elliott Associate LP and another institutional investment firm under common management. This investment took the form of a common stock purchase at $2.75 per share.
* Murata Electronics North America announced record sales for its Contract Electronics Manufacturing (CEM) group. Formed in 1997, the group's sales have risen from $30 M a year to nearly $175 M over the fiscal year ending March 31, 2000.
CONTRACTS
* M/A-COM SIGINT Products, Hunt Valley, MD, has been awarded a contract by the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Virginia Beach, VA, to supply a large quantity of collection microwave receivers over a five-year period. Under the terms of the contract, SIGINT Products will supply an estimated 30 to 45 receivers per year for use in the US Navy's Cluster Spectator, Cluster Snoop and Cluster Robin microwave collection systems. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.
* Gabriel, Scarborough, ME, was awarded a contract to supply 1000 26 GHz subscriber antennas to Israeli system provider Floware Wireless Systems Ltd., Yehuda, Israel. This award is the first stage of a much larger contract.
* Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, has selected EMS Technologies Inc., Atlanta, GA, to supply universal radomes for its IV-SP aircraft. The radomes support both direct broadcast television and satellite communications, and will be installed for customers who elect those options. Financial terms were not disclosed.
PERSONNEL
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Most recently, Dietz was director of product management for Teradata Systems at NCR Corp., San Diego, CA. * TRiMEGA Electronics LLC, turnkey provider of process critical materials, systems and services for the worldwide electronics industry, has appointed Robert M. Nolan president. * Paratek Microwave Inc. has appointed Peter Nohren chief operating officer. Most recently, Nohren was VP of broadband networks for Ericsson.
* East Coast Microwave Distributors Inc. has promoted Betsey Ginz to VP of sales. Previously, Ginz served as the company's top outside sales person.
* Integration Associates, a leading supplier of semiconductor products for the communications, medical, industrial and automotive markets, has appointed Jan Nilsson VP, marketing. Previously, Nilsson served as director of marketing for Vishay Intertechnology Inc.'s Siliconix power IC and Telefunken infrared data communications business units.
* Excellon Automation has appointed Jim Morrison director of market research and business development. Morrison brings 15 years of experience in manufacturing solutions to the company.
* NEC electronics has named Yukio Kabeya general manager of the company's Automotive Strategic Business unit, Dallas, TX. Kabeya transferred from the company's 3rd System LSI division in Japan, where he was a senior manager of the System LSI Operations unit. * Lambda Electronics Inc. has appointed Jeffrey M. Frank general manager. Previously, Frank was in a similar position with Deltec Electronics. * Taconic has promoted Suzanne Seymour to internal sales manager of the Advanced Dielectric Division (ADD). Previously, Seymour held various positions in manufacturing, quality and technical sales within the ADD business. * Champion Technologies has named Cor van den Heuvel European sales and marketing manager. Cor brings a background in the electronics industry to Champion, having held several product management positions with ACAL Netherlands.
* Micro Networks Corp. has appoint-ed Timothy E. Flynn corporate controller. Flynn will assume the responsibility of cost accounting, budgeting and financial reporting for the company. |
San Diego, CA, has named Jim Hjerpe Kaskade president. Previously, Kaskade was VP of marketing and sales. In related news, the company named James E. Dietz VP of marketing and sales. 
VP of human resources. Giles will serve on the company's senior management team and participate in setting strategic direction for the company, with responsibility for leading all global human resource and organizational development activities. In related news, the company appointed Deborah Stockman marketing communications manager. Stockman brings 16 years experience in marketing and marketing communications to the company, and most recently was with Newer Technology. 
Technologies has announced a series of personnel appointments. John C. Wilber has been appointed VP of the Custom Systems business. Wilber is responsible for the overall development of the Custom Systems business and the day-to-day management of a number of strategic programs for the company, which require the coordination and integration of numerous products, systems and services. Syed Tariq has been appointed VP of applications engineering. Most recently, 
Tariq served as the VP of engineering. Finally, Jeffrey A. Fordham has been named VP of engineering. Previously, Fordham was the engineering project manager at the company. 
Roger L. Wieting VP and general manager of its Rockaway, NJ facility. Wieting will be responsible for the overall direction of the facility's Electronics Products business. Most recently, Wieting served as VP and general manager of the Vertex Control System Division (VCSD). In related news, the company appointed Stephen A. Coffey manager, customer service. Previously, Coffey served in a variety of managerial roles at CommScope Inc. 
Communications company, has named Craig Oldaker director of programs for TRAK Microwave subsystems business. Previously, Oldaker was manager of contracts and marketing with Metric Systems Corp., a sister subsidiary to TRAK Microwave. In related news, the company appointed David Alonzi sales and marketing manager for the Timing product line. Alonzi will be responsible for the product sales, marketing and overall growth of TRAK Timing products. Most recently, Alonzi was national sales manager for Spectracom Corp. 
REP APPOINTMENTS
* Universal Microwave Corp., Odessa, FL, has named three firms to represent its products in the US. dBm Technical Sales will cover New England, Youngewirth & Olenick will cover Arizona and New Mexico, while Trionic Associates will cover Long Island, Metro New York and New Jersey.
* SV Microwave© Inc., West Palm Beach, FL, and its Commercial Products Group has appointed new representatives and distributors to sell its microwave products in the North American territories. Blackhart Sales Inc. will cover Arizona, New Mexico, Clark County, Nevada and El Paso County, Texas. CTC Sales Corp. will cover Oregon, Washington and British Columbia and Micro Sales will handle Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia and Michigan. N&W Sales Inc. is the representative for Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, while Wavelink Associates will cover Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and South Carolina.
* Brush Wellman's Powder Metal Products group has appointed several new manufacturing representatives due to increased market demand for copper/tungsten heat sinks in telecommunication and optoelectronic applications. The group has expanded its representation in the US to include Scientific Devices, Flourtown, PA, M&S Sales, Palatine, IL, Dossett Industrial Sales, Burleson, TX, Micro Marketing, Apopka, FL, O&S Sales, New Bedford, MA, and Charles Reed Enterprises, Placentia, CA. Additional sales support offices are located in Japan and Europe.
NEW MARKET ENTRY
* Universal Microwave Corp. (UMC) designs and manufactures high performance voltage controlled oscillators, ceramic resonator oscillators and synthesizers for the wireless market. UMC is located at 2339 Destiny Way, Odessa, FL 33556 (877) 375-9332, fax (727) 376-7271.
WEB SITES
* Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) has launched e-commerce capabilities on its Web site, www.tiris.com, offering customers an easy, convenient way to purchase its radio frequency identification products (RFIP) online. TI is initially offering ten of its field-proven, low frequency RFID products.
* BURLE INDUSTRIES INC. has launched an updated International Web site, www.burle.com, that offers convenient purchase of its most popular Power Tube and Channeltron® products over the Internet. The site offers thousands of pages of technical data, and contains an e-commerce system that allows products to be purchased in US and Euro dollars.
* Berkeley Nucleonics Corp. (BNC) has launched version 1.5 of its corporate Web site, www.berkeleynucleonics.com. The BNC site now offers user-specific online training seminars on nuclear spectroscopy systems, new product application content and a fast-link to the customer service department.
* MicroJoin Inc. has launched its new Web site, www.microjoin.com. The site is quick to load, features a drop-down main menu bar, easy navigation, dynamic graphics and animation. Visitors are self-guided through photos and informational tables along three paths: applications, processes and products, to select the product or technology that fits their needs.