Industry News
IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional society, signed a merger agreement with the honor society Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), a nonprofit, public-service organization comprising nearly 200 university chapters. The merger, which will go into effect by mid-2009 pending final approval, will make HKN the official honor society of IEEE, recognizing scholarship and academic excellence and identifying student leaders, young professionals and eminent scholars in the IEEE’s technical fields of interest. Under the agreement, HKN will become an organizational unit of IEEE, governed by the new IEEE-HKN Board of Governors. A restricted endowment will be created in the IEEE Foundation to support HKN’s educational, societal and recognition activities. In addition to holding HKN’s current assets, the new endowment will receive an initial donation of US$1.2 M from IEEE.
The Vitec Group, a worldwide provider of a wide range of equipment and services to the broadcasting, entertainment and photographic industries, announced the establishment of RF Extreme LLC, a new business unit within the company that comprises leading digital and analog video microwave brands, Nucomm, RF Central and Microwave Service Co. (MSC).
The Lumexis Fiber To The Screen (FTTSTM) system is airborne with the assistance of Tyco Electronics. This new system brings weight savings and unprecedented capability to the commercial airline industry as demonstrated during the maiden flight of the US Airways A320 launched February 3, 2009. The products supplied by Tyco Electronics aided a problem-free installation for the first US Airways A320 aircraft in Rome, NY. As an example of its commitment to customer satisfaction, Tyco Electronics closely assisted in the installation process, contributing to the successful delivery.
Based upon the success of the recent Tech Tours held in Bangalore and Chennai, India, ETS-Lindgren and Agilent Technologies announced plans to add three new cities in India to the Tech TourTM schedule for 2009. Newly added locations include Delhi, Pune and Hyderabad—all coming in June, 2009.
AWR, an innovation leader in high frequency electronic design automation (EDA), and Anritsu Co., a global provider of test and measurement solutions, announced AWR ConnectedTM for Anritsu, which makes Microwave Office high frequency design software a standard component of Anritsu’s new VectorStar MS4640A vector network analyzer (VNA). AWR Connected for Anritsu makes the MS4640A the first microwave instrument to physically integrate a full suite of design tools within its firmware. Microwave Office software provides all the tools necessary for high frequency IC, printed circuit board, and module design, including linear circuit simulators, electromagnetic (EM) analysis tools, and integrated schematic and layout, without leaving the measurement environment.
Visible Assets Inc. announced that the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has approved RuBee®, a long-wavelength, packet-based, magnetic transceiver protocol, as a new international standard designated IEEE 1902.1. Visible Assets and Seiko Epson Corp. sponsored creation of the standard and the workgroup and are responsible for its development.
Freescale Semiconductor, a supplier of 802.15.4 chipsets, announced it has shipped more than seven million IEEE® 802.15.4 and ZigBee® units in 2008 for the wireless sensor networks used in smart energy, industrial control and home entertainment applications.
VXI Technology Inc. announced that it has changed its name to VTI Instruments Corp. to more completely represent the applications and markets that it serves. VTI Instruments develops precision instrumentation for electronic signal distribution, data acquisition and monitoring on several open architecture platforms, including VXI, VME and LXI, which the company co-founded in 2004.
Elcoteq SE, an electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company in the communications technology industry, marks the 10-year anniversaries of its Dongguan high volume manufacturing plant and its Hong Kong management support office in China. Elcoteq was one of the first EMS companies to recognize Chinese customer demand for local manufacturing and support services, establishing Elcoteq Dongguan and Elcoteq Asia Ltd. in 1999. Elcoteq factories in China manufacture communications technology products such as wireless communications terminal products, home communications products and network equipment.
L-com Global Connectivity Inc. has announced that its Boca Raton, FL facility has been ISO 9001-2008 certified. This location houses engineering, sales and manufacturing for L-com’s HyperLink brand wireless products.
Laird Technologies Inc., a global leader in the design and supply of customized, performance-critical components and systems for advanced electronics and wireless products, was chosen in a global selection as one of the Top 100 M2M companies for 2009 by M2M Magazine.
Contracts
Herley Industries Inc. announced that it has received an option award exceeding $4.7 M to supply Tactical Instrument Landing Systems (TILS) for both the F/A-18E/F/G and E-2D Naval aircraft. The AN/ARA-63 TILS is a microwave landing system that provides precise elevation and azimuth guidance information necessary for critical aircraft carrier landings.
Elcom Technologies Inc. announced receipt of orders totaling $2.4 M for Elcom’s UFS and IBS lines of frequency synthesizers. The orders reflect Elcom’s growing market share in threat simulation and antenna test, respectively. Elcom believes the orders reflect an increasing need by defense contractors and defense departments around the world to more accurately emulate aggressor capabilities as combat aircraft are exposed to increasingly sophisticated hostile environments. Elcom was selected due to its leading fast switching speed capabilities, low phase noise, high frequency agility, fine frequency resolution and flexible modulation & attenuation.
RF Industries Ltd. announced that its RadioMobile division has received a $76,000 follow-on purchase order to provide IQ Mobile systems to a major California County Fire Agency.
RF Micro Devices Inc. (RFMD), a designer and manufacturer of high performance semiconductor components, announced the company’s RF7168 dual-band GSM/GPRS transmit module (TxM) has been selected to support multiple MediaTek GSM/GPRS handset platforms based on MediaTek’s MT6139 and Othello®-G transceivers. MediaTek is a provider of GSM/GPRS cellular platforms and accounts for the majority of GSM/GPRS handsets produced by handset manufacturers in China.
The US Air Force recently announced that it has selected KOR Electronics to design, build and deliver three of its latest generation Radio Frequency Target Generators (RFTG). Designed specifically to handle a broad spectrum of radar, RF and target generation applications, the RFTG designs will integrate highly sophisticated software and state-of-the-art microwave components to orchestrate solutions to overcome some of the most challenging problems in high fidelity RF signal generation.
TriQuint Semiconductor, an RF product manufacturer and foundry services provider, announced that it has fulfilled initial production orders from Northrop Grumman Corp. to support the F-35 Lightning II fire control radar system. The F-35, also referred to as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), is being developed by Lockheed Martin Corp. with primary partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. The program is forecast to deliver several thousand aircraft by the mid-2030s.
Financial News
Exalt Communications, a provider of high performance licensed and license-exempt microwave radio systems for wireless backhaul applications, announced that it has raised $15 M in Series C funding. InterWest Partners led the financing, joining existing investors Velocity Interactive Group and Trinity Ventures, who were full participants in the round, on the company’s board of directors. Exalt will use the funds to accelerate international growth, expand marketing and sales to carriers, governments and enterprises, strengthen its presence in North America and continue expanding its product portfolio.
Wavesat Inc., a supplier of broadband wireless semiconductor solutions, announced the company has secured its latest round of funding, raising $11.7 M CAD. Existing investors led by BDR Capital, BDC Capital and Multiple Capital participated in the round. Proceeds will be used to further strengthen the company’s leadership position in the 4G Broadband market.
New Market Entries
RF Connections, a woman owned small business, is a new concept in business representation and technical consulting. President and founder of RF Connections, Ruth Fawson, worked alongside some of the pioneers of the RF connector industry for more than 40 years and has extensive experience with RF connector and cable assembly design. Fawson represented her former company’s interests at military and industry connector meetings and spearheaded QPL programs as project manager and design engineer. RF Connections offers manufacturer representation at key military accounts. Technical consulting includes creation and implementation of custom training modules, research reports applicable to the defense market and technical design services. RF Connections is also an independent woman owned, small business distributer of custom and difficult to find microwave product. For more information, visit www.rf-connections.com.
DKN Research, a research and engineering firm in Haverhill, MA, and NY Industries, a circuit board manufacturer in Ohtsu, Japan, launched a prototype and engineering service for Printable Electronics. The firms utilize state-of-the-art facilities and offer a broad range of experience with printing technologies for microelectronics and packaging. For more information, visit www.dknresearch.com.
Personnel
Yoichiro Kega has been appointed president for ALPS Electric Europe GmbH. Based at the European headquarters in Düsseldorf, Germany, he will be responsible for further strategic developments and the successful implementation of the company’s products in the European market. Kega has worked for ALPS for almost 25 years in different positions including European sales manager and domestic sales senior manager at the headquarters in Japan and as business planning manager at ALPS Peripheral Division.
Crane Aerospace & Electronics, a segment of Crane Co., has announced the appointment of Charles “Bud” Jewett as business development director for the Electronics Group. Jewett will be responsible for strategic business relationships, partnerships and new business development. He will be based in Annapolis, MD. Prior to joining Crane, Jewett worked in business development with Harris Government Communications Systems where his focus included US Naval communications, data links and networking solutions. Jewett is a retired US Navy Captain with 30 years of experience as a Naval Flight Officer and a leader in acquisition and systems engineering at the Naval Air Systems Command.
Lark Engineering announced the appointment of Paul Courville, Design Engineering Operations, whose responsibilities include R&D, designing and implementing into production new multi-function microwave designs. Previously, Courville worked for REMEC Defense & Space, 147th Combat Communication Squadron and Cohu Electronics.
Sabritec, a custom connecting devices manufacturer, announced the addition of Robert Fake to its sales and marketing staff as western regional sales manager. Fake brings a great deal of insight and experience into the company’s organization working for over 20 years in OEM sales and product marketing management primarily within the engineering interconnect industry. Most recently, Fake was the business devel-opment manager with a major military cable solution provider. His knowledge in a wide variety of connector products will provide the necessary support to all of the company’s product lines in support of its rapidly growing business. Fake will be based out of Orange County, CA, and be focused on business development, market expansion, sales rep and major account management for the western region of the US.
Rep Appointments
San-tron Inc., a manufacturer of RF coaxial connectors and cable assemblies, has announced the hiring of a new field sales representative to handle customer relationships in Istanbul, Turkey. IMCA Elektronik is a knowledge-based marketing company specializing in generating demand in the electronic components and semiconductors industry. Located in Istanbul, Turkey, IMCA will be servicing accounts for customers throughout the country. They can be reached by phone at +90 212 483 39 12, e-mail info@imca.com.tr, or on the web at www.imca.com.tr.
Modelithics Inc. announced that ICON Design Automation Pvt. Ltd. will be the company’s representative in India. Modelithics and ICON Design Automation have signed a comprehensive agreement designed to support India’s market for high accuracy RF and microwave simulation models and characterization services.
Mouser Electronics Inc. announced it reached a worldwide distribution agreement with Vectron International, an industry leader in precision frequency control products. Mouser’s stock includes Vectron’s crystal oscillators and surface acoustic wave (SAW) products.
XMA welcomes NW Sales LP as the company’s manufacturer representative for the TX, AR, OK, LA territory. Established in 1972, NW Sales is a well-respected manufacturers’ representative firm serving the leading OEMs in the commercial, defense and petrochemical markets in the four-state territory of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.