INDUSTRY NEWS
Micronetics Inc. announced that its president and chief executive officer, Richard S. Kalin , was killed in a car accident. Micronetics' board of directors has appointed David Robbins as its interim chief executive officer and director. No further details are known at this time.
Ducommun Technologies announced the acquisition of DBP Microwave Inc . Their objective is the fusion of two highly synergistic product lines, each with a well established reputation and recognized for their heritage of special capabilities and services. This new alliance will offer comprehensive, top quality selections of electromechanical coaxial switches, backed by its customer service.
Littelfuse Inc. announced it has acquired Teccor Electronics Inc. , a subsidiary of Invensys plc, for $44 M in cash plus a future payment of $5 M contingent on sales of Teccor products reaching $107 M for the calendar year 2005.
Advanced Power Technology (APT) announced that it has reached an agreement with Cree Inc. for purchase of SiC ZERO RECOVERY™ Schottky Diode die for packaging and selling of finish products under the APT brand name. APT intends to primarily address market segments not currently served by Cree, mainly using alternative packaging and innovative engineering.
Taconic announced it has purchased Teradyne 's laminate facility in La Verne, CA. The former Synthane Taylor plant will be used to manufacture TacPreg® prepregs and TacLam® laminates for high layer count high speed digital and microwave applications.
RFMW Ltd. announced that it has signed an agreement with Sirenza Microdevices . RFMW Ltd. was recently formed to provide both customers and suppliers with a focused distribution of RF and microwave components and semiconductors, as well as component engineering support. Sirenza has been focused on providing wireless and wireline OEMs with a growing number of RF and microwave semiconductor solutions. The recent addition of Vari-L, along with Sirenza's RFIC and power module capabilities, allows the company to offer novel solutions in modular and military applications.
Vectron International will take over the SAW production site in Neuchâtel/Switzerland, previously part of the Temex group. This production site has been especially successful in the development and production of higher frequency SAW components. With this acquisition the Vectron group will be able to expand its range of front-end filters for the telecommunications market. This will enable the group to cover SAW applications with its own products. So far the product range was mainly restricted to IF applications. This transaction is part of Temex's on-going initiative to reduce the number of its industrial centers. The production site in Switzerland will continue to be a design and wafer manufacturing site and operate under the name of Vectron Frequency Devices Swiss GmbH. The responsibility for all SAW activities of the Vectron group will remain with Telefilter GmbH in Teltow, Germany.
M/A-COM announced an agreement with Ford Motor Co. to provide GPS navigation system antennas for several of its vehicle lines. Under the terms of the agreement, M/A-COM's GPS antennas will be installed across several Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicle platforms. The internally mounted antennas provide GPS reception for customer convenience services such as onboard mapping and destination routing.
The Swedish high tech company Pendulum Instruments AB has entered into a global strategic alliance with the American company XL Microwave . Pendulum Instruments will sell XL Microwaves' products through its global distributor network, except in North, South and Central America.
Elcoteq Network Corp. announced it has signed an agreement to manufacture wireless LAN systems for Strix Systems Inc. Elcoteq will manufacture the systems in its Monterrey, Mexico plant.
SUSS MicroTec and Danish Electronics , Light & Acoustics (DELTA) announced a further milestone in their MEMS test cooperation: MEMUNITY is a community exclusively for those involved, or simply interested, in MEMS testing.
Ximetrix Systems has signed a distributorship agreement for North America with MITS Electronics for the sales, support and service of its printed circuit board prototyping, multi-layer lines of equipment and accessories. MITS products provide a solution for rapid, chemical free, in-house, production of prototype printed circuit boards at the highest level of mechanical milling accuracy available.
RF Logic LLC announced a manufacturing agreement with GC Protonics/Exceltek located in China. All engineering designs will be completed in a new 20,000 sq ft facility in Hudson, NH, and all high volume manufacturing will be completed in a 150,000 sq ft factory in Guang Dong, China. Both facilities are compliant to all appropriate ISO 9000 requirements. The mission of the partnership is to provide customers with the benefit of a dedicated engineering team that can conduct in-depth assessments of customer applications and recommend optimal interconnect solutions, with the advantage of lower pricing from China.
MEMGen Corp. has changed its name to Microfabrica Inc. The name change was implemented in order to represent the company's microdevice manufacturing capabilities more accurately.
Fox Electronics Inc. has announced the opening of a new, larger office and distribution center in Hong Kong to support its growing business in the Asian-Pacific region. The new office is being headed up by Stephen So, managing director of Fox Electronics-Asia. The facility now includes a complete sales and technical support operation and supply chain system.
Dielectric Laboratories Inc. (DLI) announced that it has opened a sales office in ShangHai, China, under the registered name of Dielectric Laboratories Asia Trading (ShangHai) Co. Ltd. (DLAT) located at Finance Square, Suite 1307, 333 Jiujiang Road, ShangHai 200001, China. Quangang (Frederick) Xu has been named the China business manager. In related news, DLI opened its new distribution center in the Waiguoqiao Free Trade Zone in Pudong. The facility is managed by ShangHai Kinetetsu Logistics Co. Ltd. Mao (Simon) Yangning joined DLI as the key account manager for the Suzhou area.
Trompeter Electronics announced that the company has begun systematically relocating its California manufacturing operations to Mesa, AZ. Mesa is the headquarters of Semflex, a sister company to Trompeter. At the conclusion of the move the two companies will be co-located on the Mesa campus.
Bioconnect , a division of RF Industries Inc., announced the relocation of facilities to San Diego, CA from Lake Elsinore, CA. All of Bioconnect's operations, including manufacturing, sales and administration, have relocated within the parent company's facility in San Diego.
The 30 MHz Attenuation Measurement System formerly located at the Boulder laboratories of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been relocated to the US Army Primary Standards Laboratory (APSL) at Redstone Arsenal, AL. Installation of the system at the APSL was completed by NIST personnel in May 2003.
Elcom Technologies Inc. has been recommended for ISO 9001:2000 certification by Underwriter's Laboratories Inc.
Rosenberger , a manufacturer of RF coaxial connectors, announced it has been successfully certified according to the new ISO/TS 16949:2002 by Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Zertifizierung von Managementsystemen mbH.
Anritsu Co. announced that it has recently received approval on an additional 10 RF test cases from the global certification forum (GCF), giving the company a total of 50 GCF approved test cases.
CONTRACTS
TriPoint Global Communications announced it has received multiple contracts totaling $12 M to supply satellite communications equipment to an international military secure satellite communications network. The multi-year program is expected to exceed $20 M over the next several years. Under terms of contracts, TriPoint Global's VertexRSI brand will provide ground stations featuring a 9 m antenna, as well as 2.4 m Flyaway antennas and ancil-lary satellite communications equipment including block and synthesized converters used to transmit and receive satellite signals. VertexRSI will also provide a 1.5 m shipboard antenna to support an upgrade program.
REMEC Inc. announced that it has received a $9.1 M subcontract from Northrop Grumman Corp. for the Lot 5 production release for the Longbow Hellfire including integrated microwave oscillators, filters and mixers under this production follow-on subcontract for a total quantity of over 20,000 microwave products. Deliveries will commence starting in November 2003 and are scheduled to complete in April 2005.
Technical Research and Manufacturing Inc. announced an award by BAE Systems, IEWS to design, develop and supply critical control components to be used in the antenna array architecture of the armed forces next generation F-35 joint strike fighter. The multi-year contract was awarded to TRM after a competitive proposal on the basis of design innovation, timely delivery and overall product value.
Marki Microwave received its first order from Academia Sinica, Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics (ASIAA), for 4-lag correlator modules for use on the array for microwave background anisotropy (AmiBA) project. The modules, designed in collaboration with ASIAA, will be used in instrumentation for measuring the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effects and the polarization of the cosmic microwave background. AmiBA consists of an interferometric array mounted on a steerable platform. Prototypes are currently being tested on Mauna Loa and expected completion date is early 2004.
FINANCIAL NEWS
Ansoft Corp. reports sales of $10.7 M for the first quarter of fiscal 2004 ended July 31, 2003, compared to $9.3 M for the same period in 2003. Net loss was $1.2 M (0.10¢/per diluted share), compared to a net loss of $3.3 M (0.28¢/per diluted share) for the first quarter of last year.
Cree Inc. reports sales of $64.1 M for the fourth quarter ended June 29, 2003, compared to $37.8 M for the same period in 2002. Net income was $11.4 M (0.15¢/per diluted share), compared to a net loss of $22.5 M (0.31¢/per diluted share) for the fourth quarter of last year.
NEW MARKET ENTRY
WJ Communications Inc. announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with Alien Technology Corp. , a provider of electronic product code compliant radio frequency identification products. WJ is applying both its radio expertise and RF semiconductor integration intellectual property to address the need for low cost RFID readers capable of working in real world environments. WJ's reader design and technology offer a reduction in reader cost and size. RFID technology allows companies to locate, identify and monitor their inventory remotely.
Polymer Assembly Technology (PAT), a new company founded by industry veteran Jim Clayton, has opened its doors to offer flip chip technology featuring high density, low temperature processing through the use of polymer conductive adhesives. PAT's founder and president was previously the director of R&D at Polymer Flip Chip Corp. and brings over 30 years experience in micro-electronic assembly and packaging to bear on this technology.
PERSONNEL
Eagleware Corp. announced the appointment of Alex B. Best to its board of directors. Best is a part-time consultant with Cox Communications, having retired from Cox in December 2000 after 14 years as first vice president of engineering and later as executive vice president. Before joining Cox, Best completed a 20-year career with Scientific Atlanta where he was involved with the company's cable TV product development and business applications.
Merrimac Industries Inc. announced the appointment of Fernando L. Fernandez to its board of directors. Fernandez is the director of Institute Technology Initiatives at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. Prior to this appointment, he was director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the central research and development organization of the Department of Defense.
ITT Industries Inc. named Brenda L. Reichelderfer , senior vice president of the corporation, to president of ITT Industries, Cannon. She succeeds Gerard Gendron, who is resigning. Reichelderfer was previously president of ITT's motion and flow control segment.
Vishay Intertechnology Inc. has promoted Glyndwr Smith to executive vice president. In addition to serving in his new position of executive vice president, market intelligence, Smith will remain assistant to the CEO. He is also chairman of the board of Siliconix Inc.
TRU Corp. announced that Mary S. Bennett has joined the company as vice president, worldwide marketing and sales. She replaces Douglas E. Snader , who was named to head TRU Consulting Services, a new division of the company. Bennett joins TRU from Xerox Corp., where she was director of North America Operations for the company's Multilingual Knowledge Management Solutions business unit.
Phase Matrix Inc. announced the appointment of Mike Granieri as vice president of business development for the aerospace and defense market. Granieri will be responsible for implementing strategies that will influence the future directions and growth of the company's sales in the defense marketplace. He brings more than 30 years of diversified management experience in engineering, marketing and sales of electronic test and measurement instruments in the aerospace/defense markets.
Roland Steffen is the new head of the test and measurement division at Rohde & Schwarz. His responsibilities include development, production and marketing of the company's T&M instruments and systems. Along with his new position, Steffen has been appointed to the company's corporate management. His predecessor, Michael Vohrer, is moving to the executive board.
Park Electrochemical Corp. announced the election of Murray O. Stamer as chief financial officer, as well as senior vice president. Stamer has held several financial positions at the company since 1989. He was elected senior vice president, finance, in March 2001, and has been serving in the capacity of chief financial officer since that time.
Antenna manufacturer MAXRAD Inc. has named Tom Golder vice president of sales. Golder brings over 30 years of sales experience in the wireless land mobile radio and broadband microwave industries, with a strong background in channel access management.
David Wayne has been appointed vice president, engineering, at MI Technologies. In this position, Wayne is responsible for managing the com-pany's engineering group, which includes product development, contract engineering and development of hardware and software engineering solutions for customer data acquisition, analysis, measurement and control requirements.
Thales Communications Inc. announced the promotion of Ken Leighton to director of tactical communications product management. The promotion coincides with a restructuring of Thales' tactical radio business development group to better position the company for continued growth. The department's name has been changed to tactical communications business development. Leighton has been an employee with the company since 1999. He will be responsible for the continuing business efforts related to Thales' existing tactical radio products, which includes the MBITR and its associated derivatives, as well as various other systems.
Universal Microwave Corp. announced the appointment of Steven C. Revert as the new vice president of sales and marketing located in the Tempe, AZ worldwide sales and customer support center. Revert has over 28 years of experience in the RF and microwave industry. Most recently he was vice president of the RF power product business unit for the Avnet RF and microwave division.
Lenthor Engineering announced the addition to the management group of John Rolle in the position of director of quality. Rolle brings over ten years of first-hand board fabrication experience as well as his background in quality systems and management. Rolle will be overseeing the completion of Lenthor's ISO certification and military qualification programs.
Rusty Myers has joined Maury Microwave Corp's engineering team and will lead the development of the company's microwave component line. He will be responsible for the complete product development process and transition to production.
MICRO-COAX announced the appointment of Jeanne E. Ploshay as inside sales manager of the microwave transmission line products for commercial, military and space applications. Ploshay was formerly enterprise resource planning and business analyst with the company. In her new position, Ploshay will manage the inside sales operation at MICRO-COAX, ensuring that all activities, from sales to quotation and customer satisfaction are conducted properly. She will be responsible for streamlining the sales operation as well.
Raltron Electronics Corp. announced a series of new personnel assignments that include two new hires and a promotion. Appointed as general manager for Raltron's US manufacturing operations in Miami, FL, is Stanley Vogt , with responsibilities for all manufacturing, quality, planning and purchasing functions related to that facility. Vogt has 29 years of management experience in electronics manufacturing. Chuck Husted rejoins the company assuming the position of engineering director, adding to his previous six-year history with the company. Husted previously worked for NDK in engineering management. Promoted to vice president of worldwide quality assurance, with responsibility for total Raltron quality performance, Scott Stemper will concentrate on all quality control issues concerning the company's products from all of the company's manufacturing operations. Stemper joined Raltron six years ago as director of quality.
REP APPOINTMENTS
The RF connector division of RF Industries announced the addition of RF Power Exchange as a distributor and representative for the South American markets.
Gruber & Associates Inc. announced the expansion of the company with the addition of Jerry Moran , covering Tennessee and northern Alabama, and Paul Flaig responsible for Florida. Further information is available via the Web site, www.grubersales.com.
Aries Electronics announced that Component Technology Inc. has joined Aries' manufacturers representative network, covering Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. Component Technologies represents several OEM electronics components manufacturers throughout this region, as well as in Mexico.
Computer Access Technology Corp. (CATC) announced it has signed three new manufacturer representative firms to enhance its sales and support coverage on the West Coast. Joining the CATC sales channel are Syntek in the Pacific Northwest, and Ward/Davis Associates and HyWire Associates in northern California and Nevada.
Applied Wave Research Inc. (AWR™) announced the appointment of additional sales representation in Europe and Asia. Under the terms of the agreements, Kataros Co. Ltd. and Euan Information Technology in Korea, eVision Systems GmbH in Germany and Setup Electronica in Spain will provide electronic systems and integrated circuit designers with AWR products and support.
WEB SITES
Aeroflex Inc. announced it has redesigned and relaunched its Web site at www.aeroflex.com. The Web site incorporates the new Aeroflex corporate identity and integrates all the products from Aeroflex's eight product divisions into one complete, searchable site.
Filtronic announced its new Web site at www.filcs.com following the integration of the Filtronic Solid State Division in Santa Clara, CA, and Filtronic Compound Semiconductor Ltd., Newton Aycliffe, UK. The new Web site features datasheets for cloned products from Santa Clara as well as new additions to the company product line, along with product and site search capabilities allowing quick access to datasheets, S-parameters, application notes and direct links for on-line purchases.