Industry News
Symmetricom Inc., a leader in precise time and frequency products and services, announced the acquisition of Timing Solutions Corp., a privately held company based in Boulder, CO, that provides high performance time and frequency products and services for government, aerospace and military markets. Under the terms of the agreement, Symmetricom paid approximately $8 M in cash.
Andrew Corp., a leader in communications systems and products, has agreed to acquire EMS Wireless, a Norcross, Georgia-based division of EMS Technologies Inc. Under the agreement, Andrew will pay $50.5 M in cash for EMS Wireless, a major designer and manufacturer of base station antennas and repeaters for cellular networks in North America. Its customers include the major wireless operators in the US.
Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. announced the signing of an agreement to acquire Alphasem, a supplier of die bonder equipment, from Dover Technologies International Inc., a subsidiary of Dover Corp. The purchase price is $30 M, subject to a working capital adjustment.
RF Micro Devices Inc. (RFMD) announced that, as a result of the pending merger of Jazz Semiconductor with a wholly owned subsidiary of Acquicor Technology Inc., RFMD expects to sell its equity interest in Jazz Semiconductor for an aggregate cash consideration of approximately $24 to $27 M. Upon completion of the merger, which is expected in the first quarter of calendar year 2007, Jazz Semiconductor will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Acquicor.
Vishay Intertechnology Inc. and International Rectifier Corp. (IR) announced they have reached an agreement for the sale of IR’s Power Control Systems (PCS) business to Vishay. The PCS business includes IR’s Non-focus Products business and certain product revenue from its Focus Products business, including certain discrete planar MOSFETs, discrete diodes and rectifiers, discrete thyristors, and automotive modules and assemblies. The PCS business accounted for revenue of approximately $300 M, or 26 percent of revenues in IR’s June-ending fiscal year 2006. The PCS business is expected to be sold for approximately $290 M in cash.
RF Monolithics Inc. (RFM) announced it will offer its recently acquired asset management software through and under the name of its subsidiary, Aleier Inc., and discontinue use of the Caver-Morehead Systems brand. The new name reflects the expanded scope that RFM plans for Aleier.
Interplex NAS, a manufacturer of metal stamping, insert molding and a full line of solder and flux bearing edge clips, has announced the completion and move to its new corporate headquarters in Northvale, NJ. The new 54,000 square foot facility allows the company to further its streamlined design philosophy by having all aspects of the engineering process under one roof. For more information, contact Joseph Praino, national sales manager, Interplex NAS, 232 Pegasus Avenue, Northvale, NJ 07647 (201) 768-8388 or e-mail: joe.praino@us.interplex.com.
Applied Wave Research Inc. (AWR®) announced that in order to better serve the company’s rapidly expanding Japanese customer base, it has opened a dedicated sales, marketing and support center in Japan, and has appointed Michiyoshi Endo as managing director. A graduate of the Tohoku Institute of Technology with a BS degree in electronics engineering and telecommunications, Endo-san worked as an applications engineer at Kyocera Co. Ltd., before moving into sales and marketing, strategic planning, customer service and business development for various high technology software and hardware companies in Japan and Asia.
D2 Technologies announced that it has opened a Design Center in Maynard, MA, just outside of Boston. The center will be focused on the development of software products for mobile communication devices. Zigurd Mednieks, chief software architect, heads the Design Center. Mednieks is a widely respected technologist, and the author of books and book chapters on telephony and programming published by leading publishers.
EDO Corp. announced it has opened a new facility to manufacture state-of-the-art battlefield communications systems in Charleston, SC. The operation employs 50 people, with a projected growth to 70 in 2007. The new facility is responsible for supporting the Transition Switch Module (TSM) program, a key component of the Marine Corps network-centric battlefield communications strategy. In 2005, EDO was awarded a contract with a maximum value of $240 M for the procurement of multiple configurations of TSMs.
UltraSource Inc., a supplier of custom thin film circuits and ceramic interconnect devices, has announced the expansion of the company’s cleanroom facilities at its corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility in Hollis, NH. Citing increased customer opportunities and business expansion, UltraSource has commenced building an additional 1500 square feet of cleanroom manufacturing space. The added cleanroom space brings the total cleanroom space at UltraSource to 6000 sq. ft. and will allow for optimization of lean manufacturing cells to enhance manufacturing productivity and product flow.
Endwave Corp., a provider of high frequency RF modules for telecommunications networks, defense electronics and homeland security systems, announced the completion of the relocation of its corporate headquarters. The new address is: Endwave Corp., 130 Baytech Drive, San Jose, CA 95134 (408) 522-3100, fax: (408) 522-3197, www.endwave.com.
CPS Technologies, a leader in the design and production of metal matrix composites, has announced a strategic partnership with sp3 Diamond Technologies Inc. (sp3), a supplier of DiaTherm™ diamond heat spreaders and diamond products for solving thermal management challenges in high performance applications. Geared towards meeting the growing market need for electronics packages with enhanced thermal dissipation requirements, the two companies are partnering to provide AlSiC packages with diamond pins.
Tektronix Inc. announced that it is working with LitePoint Corp., a provider of advanced wireless test solutions, to create an end-to-end test solution for WiMAX. The effort between LitePoint and Tektronix, including new test tools for troubleshooting WiMAX application design utilizing a Tektronix Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer, will address the full value chain of test needs from pre-development through to final production test. The collaboration will provide fast time to production and low cost per test manufacturing solution for WiMAX.
Skyworks Solutions Inc. announced that Broadcom has selected its WLAN 802.11n 2 × 2 multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) front-end module (FEM) reference design to complement its Intensi-fi™ draft-802.11n chipsets. The proposed 802.11n Wi-Fi® specification significantly increases the wireless range and speeds the transfer of data, empowering more robust applications to be effectively run over public hotspots and private networks.
BAE Systems, National Instruments and Phase Matrix Inc. (PMI) announced a joint initiative to develop a PXI Express-based synthetic instrument for military and commercial RF and microwave applications. PMI is currently developing a 100 kHz to 26.5 GHz family of downconverter modules in a 3U PXI Express-compatible format to support PXI RF and microwave applications. BAE Systems, a leader in synthetic instrument systems, plans to build a next-generation synthetic instrument based on the new downconverter module family, using National Instruments PXI Express chassis, controllers and intermediate frequency (IF) digitizer modules as well as National Instruments LabVIEW graphical development software for host and FPGA-based signal processing.
Tyco Electronics and Versatile Systems Inc. announced the expansion of the SyncSeer™ system capabilities by adding M/A-COM RFID components to the SyncSeer system. The SyncSeer system is an intelligent, technology infrastructure and information management system comprised of hardware and software for companies in the entertainment, retail, health care, government and education marketplaces. Under the terms of the alliance, M/A-COM Inc. will provide multi-protocol fixed and embedded UHF RFID readers and antennas.
A Development Test Mode for the WiMAX 802.16e protocol conformance test solution has been released by Aeroflex and AT4 Wireless (formerly known as CETECOM Spain) on behalf of the WiMAX Forum. The availability of the Development Test Mode gives first-line WiMAX equipment manufacturers, chipset developers and protocol stack developers an early opportunity to test both subscriber and base station functionality and interoperability throughout the development phase of their products.
Harris Corp.’s Broadcast Communications Division Radio Business Unit has donated its Platinum Series® Z5, 5 kW, solid-state, FM transmitter to the first independent Iraqi women’s radio station, Radio Al-Mahaba. The new Harris transmitter will transmit within a 60 to 90 mile radius of the station’s Baghdad location and will reach people in approximately half of the 18 provinces.
Silicon Laboratories Inc., a leader in high performance, analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs, recently celebrated ten years of mixed-signal innovation. By fundamentally changing semiconductor architectures, Silicon Laboratories has achieved multiple industry firsts in the communications, wireless, networking, power and microcontroller markets. Silicon Laboratories has built a portfolio of market leading products leveraging mixed-signal trade secrets, a world-class engineering team and more than 700 issued or patent pending innovations.
WJ Communications Inc. announced that it has successfully achieved certification from the South Korean government Ministry of Information Communication (MIC) for its RFID UHF WJR7090 reader module and is now approved for sale in Korea.
Palomar Technologies, a supplier in precision automation equipment and process development for microelectronic assembly, announced that it has been recertified as meeting the requirements of ISO 9001/ANSI-ASQ Q9001:2000 and is registered by SGS.
PSI-TEC Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of PSI-TEC Holdings Inc., announced that the company’s independent laboratory results came back positive, confirming the thermal stability of its Perkinamine electro-optic materials. Thermal stability as high as 350°C was confirmed.
Contracts
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $120 M to provide the US Army with five Enhanced AN/TPQ-36 radars. The contract was awarded by the Army’s Program Executive Officer-Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO-IEW&S); the radars—also known as the EQ-36 Counterfire Target Acquisition Radar—will be delivered within 36 months.
The Evans Capacitor Co. has won a $3.03 M contract from Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Controls, Orlando, FL, to supply capacitor banks for Lot III production of the Apache helicopter Arrowhead Program. Arrowhead is the Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision System (MTADS/PNVS) for AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. Evans will supply two specially built and packaged capacitor banks for the system. It will manufacture approximately 250 Arrowhead ship sets by the end of 2007.
Microsemi Corp., a manufacturer of high performance analog/mixed-signal integrated circuits and high reliability semiconductors, has announced that Congress has appropriated $1.8 M to allow Microsemi’s Power Products Group (formerly Bend, Oregon-based Advanced Power Technology) to develop technology related to the use of silicon carbide semiconductor components in military avionics applications. It is expected that the program will be administered by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
Agilent Technologies Inc. and AT4 Wireless (formerly known as CETECOM Spain) announced that Agilent’s Measurement Systems Division and Wireless Business Unit have won a contract valued at more than US $1 M jointly with AT4 Wireless for fixed and mobile WiMAX conformance test and regulatory test systems with Telecom Technology Center Taiwan.
RF Industries’ RF Neulink Telemetry Division announced it has been awarded a $77,000 order for modified models of its flagship NL6000 wireless modem from Lockheed Martin.
IKE Micro, a build-to-print contract manufacturer serving the defense and commercial markets, announced that it was awarded a large order from a division of Tyco Electronics. IKE Micro received an order from M/A-COM, Lowell, MA, for 13,500 amplifier assemblies to support a military radar program. The order will be completed in 2007.
Steve Karlovic
Financial News
Credence Systems Corp. reports sales of $109.6 M for the third quarter of fiscal 2006 ended July 31, 2006, compared to $111.9 M for the same period in 2005. Net loss for the quarter was $461.4 M ($4.61/per share), compared to a net loss of $41.7 M ($0.43/per share) for the third quarter of last year.
PulseWave RF™ Inc. (formerly PropheSi Technologies™ Inc.), a fabless semiconductor company providing modules for the wireless infrastructure market, announced that it closed a $30 M Series C funding round led by Oak Investment Partners. Existing PulseWave RF investors, including Austin Ventures, Bay Partners and Genesis Campus, also participated in the round. PulseWave RF will use the funding to commercialize its Class M power amplifier module, a digital power amplifier architecture for wireless base stations. In addition, the investment will support the company’s expansion of its operations, sales and marketing and engineering teams.
Jacket Micro Devices (JMD), a supplier of small, high performing RF modules, announced it has received $12 M in venture funding. New investor Intersouth Partners led the round with participation from existing investors Noro-Moseley Partners, Sevin Rosen Funds and Imlay Investments. The new round of financing will be used to expand product development and ramp production of the company’s recently introduced products for 802.11n applications.
Alfredo Perez
Chip Estimate Corp., a provider of architectural-level chip planning solutions, announced that it has raised $3.5 M in expansion financing in two closings. ITU Ventures, who participated in the original seed funding of the company, led this round. The company has raised $5.5 M since its inception in 2003, and will use the latest round to fund working capital growth and accelerate the product roadmap for establishing tight and meaningful integration of architectural plans with industry-leading EDA implementation systems.
New Market Entry
ElectroMagneticCareers.com, a new career web site focused exclusively on RF and microwave, antenna, radar, EMC and related test engineers, was launched in October 2006. Bringing together employers and engineers within the industry, ElectroMagneticCareers.com facilitates talent hunt for employers and job search for microwave and RF engineers. With the variety of related expertise categories, one can now pin-point the exact skill set matching a project’s needs.
Personnel
EADS North America Defense Test and Services announced the appointment of Steve Karlovic to vice president of business development and customer support, with responsibility for worldwide business development, sales and customer support in addition to corporate communications. Prior to joining the company, Karlovic was responsible for related logistics programs at Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training and Support in Orlando, FL.
Mark Perhacs
Micronetics Inc. announced that Kevin Beals has joined the company as vice president of business development. Beals brings nearly 25 years of related design and sales experience with highly integrated technologies for military and commercial electronic markets. Most recently, Beals served as district sales manager at M/A-COM Inc., where he had contributed for the past 15 years.
Paratek Microwave has opened a new advanced engineering Design Center in the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake, IL, naming Keith Manssen, vice president of engineering for commercial products, to run the operation. Manssen comes to Paratek with over 25 years of wireless and mobile phone industry experience, most notably with Motorola where he spearheaded the development of its highly successful StarTAC and GSM phones.
Technical Communities Inc. announced that Alfredo Perez will join the company as a vice president-business development. Perez, who will be based in the Washington, DC-area, comes to Technical Communities from IPIX Corp., Reston, VA, where he was vice president of sales. As a vice president-business development, Perez will assume responsibility for a strategic approach to the company’s continued business expansion of GSA distribution of IT products and services. He will be directly responsible for the establishment of agreements between Technical Communities and manufacturers as well as ongoing sales strategy.
David Hsiao
Advanced Control Components Inc. announced that Mark Perhacs has joined the company as the director of sales and marketing. Perhacs has spent the last 18 years in the RF and microwave industry. His experience includes sales and business development for companies focused on the commercial and military industries. Most recently he was the sales manager for Aeroflex-KDI Integrated Products in Whippany, NJ. Perhacs will be managing all of the foreign and domestic representatives, as well as setting marketing strategy for the company’s products. He may be reached via phone at (732) 460-0212 x267 or e-mail: mperhacs@advanced-control.com.
Centerline Technologies announced the appointment of Robert Naugler to the position of operations manager. In this capacity, Naugler is responsible for the day-to-day operation of Centerline Technologies’ lapping, polishing and dicing operations. His responsibilities also include the supervision of quality, production and statistical process control. Naugler has extensive experience in operations management, process development, and research and development.
Auriga Measurement Systems LLC announced the addition of Agostino Augie Papetti as director of global marketing. Papetti has 40 years of experience focusing on global marketing and building strong customer relations. Previous to Auriga, Papetti was employed by Agilent Technologies and Hewlett Packard in a variety of sales and marketing positions focusing on the microwave and millimeter-wave business segments, the aerospace and defense market, and the GaAs Foundry Infrastructure. At Auriga, Papetti will refine the company’s strategy to grow the global marketing enterprise to support the three core Auriga business lines of modeling and design services, characterization instruments, and test and measurement systems, and to expand into related fields.
Elcoteq SE announced that Richard Appleby has joined Elcoteq as director, America Operations. Formerly vice president of North America Manufacturing for Foxconn, Appleby has over 25 years of experience in the electronics manufacturing industry. At Elcoteq, Appleby will be responsible for all aspects of operations management.
Fox Electronics announced David Hsiao has been hired as its new manager of sales and marketing for Fox Asia Pacific. Hsiao will manage Fox’s rapid growth in this area, which includes Taiwan and China. He will also open a new Fox office in Taiwan. In addition, Hsiao will be responsible for the marketing and sales of Fox’s full range of frequency control products. Before joining Fox,
Hsiao worked as managing director of sales for Hosonic Electronic Ltd. at the Hosonic headquarters, and as vice president at Hosonic (HK) International Co. Ltd. The Fox Asia Pacific’s sales headquarters is located at 4/7 Gold & Silver, Commercial Building, 12-18 Mercer St., Central, Hong Kong.
XMA Corp. announced the appointment of Thomas Kuhn as senior microwave component engineer. In this position, he will be responsible for expanding XMA’s new product design introductions along with fresh inputs for the manufacturing teams at XMA’s Manchester, NH, and Tianjin, China facilities. Kuhn has several years experience in New Product Design and Technical Support of Manufacturing.
RFMW Ltd. announced it has appointed Richard Sisterson as the new sales engineer for the San Diego, CA territory. Sisterson comes to RFMW Ltd. from CK Associates, the manufacturer’s rep for M/A-COM, MuRata, Intersil and Honeywell. Prior to that, he spent five years with Future Electronics as a technical solutions manager and the regional analog and RF specialist for the San Diego region.
Rep Appointments
Electronic component distributor Digi-Key Corp. and Antenova Ltd. announced the signing of a global distribution agreement. Based in Cambridge, UK, Antenova is a developer and supplier of high performance integrated antenna solutions for a wide range of wireless applications for mobile handsets, portable devices and other consumer electronics. Antenova products are available for purchase directly from Digi-Key and are featured in its print and on-line catalogs.
Aethercomm Inc. announced it has appointed K-Tech Sales as the company’s exclusive sales representative covering northern California. K-Tech Sales will represent and support Aethercomm’s entire product offering. The company can be reached at: 100 Century Center Court, Suite 405, San Jose, CA 95112 (408) 437-1808 or visit www.ktechsales.com.
Teledyne Relays has added Mouser Electronics Inc. as an authorized global distributor of its switching products.
Palco Connector announced the appointment of Jaytech Sales as the company’s newest sales representative, covering the New England states. Palco designs and manufactures catalog and custom RF and microwave coax connectors, contacts and cable assemblies. Jaytech is located in Dracut, MA, and may be reached by phone (978) 453-8797 or e-mail: richjerome@comcast.net.
Reactel Inc., a manufacturer of RF and microwave filters, multiplexers, switched filter banks and sub-assemblies to the commercial, military, industrial and medical industries, announced the appointment of VP Electronics as the company’s representative in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. For more information about VP Electronics, visit www.vpelectronics.com or call Vince Pirro at (410) 489-9554.
LNX Corp. announced the appointment of Special-Ind as its representative in Italy. Special-Ind brings 50 years experience in the marketing of microwave products for the defense and commercial business. LNX designs and manufactures microwave and millimeter-wave products combined with digital technology for the same markets. Special-Ind can be reached at 02-6074741, fax: 02-66800493 or e-mail: specialind@specialind.it.
G.T. Microwave Inc., Randolph, NJ, announced the company’s appointment of domestic representative, Odyssey 1, to cover Colorado and Utah. The members of Odyssey 1 were allotted the task of covering prospective customers in the Midwest region of the United States. The company’s headquarters is stationed at 970 East 3300 South #7A, Salt Lake City, UT 84106. The company’s web site can be located at www.odyssey1.biz.