Cascade Microtech announced that it has won a Global Technology Award for its Grypper ball grid array (BGA) test socket. Sponsored by "Global SMT & Packaging" magazine, the award was delivered in November at Productronica in Munich, Germany.

Introduced in January 2007, the Grypper fine-pitch socket tests 0.4 mm and 0.5 mm pitch devices where the printed circuit board (PCB) cannot accomodate external fasteners or additional hardware. The Grypper socket is suited for chips designed for mobile and consumer applications, where fine-pitch BGA devices can be socketed right on the actual production or evaluation RF circuit board without any additional PCB area overhead.

The Global Technology Award winners were selected by a panel of international judges, who chose products worthy of being recognized as “the best in the world.” Entries were evaluated based on innovation, speed, quality, cost effectiveness, environmentalism, and ease of use and maintenance.