Industry News
Herley Industries Inc. announced that it has acquired the assets of Communication Techniques Inc. (CTI) for $15 M, in an all cash transaction. Herley will also assume certain of the company’s liabilities. CTI is located in Whippany, NJ.
Spectrum Control Inc. announced that it has acquired all of the outstanding common stock of Salisbury Engineering Inc. (SEI). SEI, a privately-held company in Delmar, DE, designs and manufactures a full line of RF and microwave components and systems used primarily in military and aerospace applications. Annual sales for the company were approximately $4 M in the calendar year 2003.
Fujitsu Compound Semiconductor Inc. announced that its parent company, Fujitsu Quantum Devices Ltd., and the Electron Device Department of Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., consolidated its compound semiconductor device businesses into a joint venture company, Eudyna Devices Inc. Eudyna Devices Inc. will be engaged in everything from development and manufacturing to sales of a wide variety of compound semiconductor devices.
Milmega Ltd., a UK-based designer and manufacturer of high power microwave amplifiers, has been acquired by its management team, Pat Moore, managing director; Graeme Goodall, finance director; and Dominic FitzPatrick, technical director. The structure of the buyout allows for the continuing development of the power amplifier product that the company is known for and the further expansion during 2004 of its US-based sales support and service activities.
David Bernstein announced the acquisition of the Filter Networks division of EMI Technologies Inc., Easton, MD. The company’s operations are being relocated to new and larger facilities at 408 Coles Circle in Salisbury, MD, and all current employees will be retained. Bernstein was formerly the VP of manufacturing for K&L Microwave and has over 30 years of experience in the manufacture of precision electronic components for the RF/microwave and wireless communications industry.
Cree Inc. announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the gallium nitride substrate and epitaxy business of Advanced Technology Materials Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of ATMI Inc., through an asset purchase transaction. Under the terms of the agreement, Cree will purchase the assets of the business, including related intellectual property, fixed assets and inventory, in exchange for cash. The parties anticipate that the acquisition, which is subject to certain third party approvals and other customary conditions, will close during the fourth quarter of Cree’s fiscal year ending in June. The acquisition will be accounted for under the purchase method of accounting with no resulting goodwill. The transaction is not expected to have a material effect on Cree’s earnings per share.
Agilent UK has established South Queensferry Division, a new electronic products and solutions group (EPSG). This is a significant development for Agilent UK, as it is the first RF and microwave focused division to be led from the United Kingdom. The move recognizes the RF and microwave expertise that South Queensferry has built up over several years of working as a remote member of US-led organizations. The operation will not only seek to benefit from its close connections with European companies but will also serve worldwide markets.
Hittite Microwave Corp., a supplier of complete MMIC-based solutions for communication and military markets, has opened a fifth international office, Hittite Microwave Co. Ltd., Beijing, China. This office will increase the company’s presence to better serve its expanding customer base in northern China.
TDK Research & Development Corp. announced the opening of a new prototyping facility for low temperature co-fired ceramic products. The facility is located within the existing design center in Phoenix, AZ, enabling the complete LTCC product design and prototyping under one roof. In addition, a new TDK LTCC Web site, www.tdkltcc.com, has been launched.
WJ Communications Inc. announced plans for the opening of a representative office for the greater China region. Jackwin Paul has been named chief representative and will be based in WJ’s regional facility to be located in Shenzhen, China. In related news, WJ announced membership as a solution partner in the EPCglobal organization. EPCglobal is working to help facilitate standardization and cooperative development of radio-frequency identification tag and reader protocols and to drive the adoption and implementation of RFID technology for global supply chain management.
Vector Fields Ltd., the Oxford (UK)-based specialist in software for simulation of electromagnetic fields, RF and microwave systems, expands with a new office in the US in response to increasing customer sales in its largest market. From Cambridge, MA, the company will now provide sales and support services in the Boston and New England region. Vector Fields US headquarters will remain in Aurora, IL.
Intense Photonics is expanding the workforce and facilities at its UK semiconductor fabrication plant, to handle demand from new markets. The initial focus of the optoelectronic chip manufacturer has been on the telecommunications sector, but this has now broadened, with printing and defense markets now featuring heavily in the company’s multi-million dollar order book.
Aeroflex Inc. announced that its Aeroflex Test Solutions group has formed a partnership with TestMart. Under this agreement TestMart will provide a set of government marketplace services to better serve Aeroflex’s diverse federal and defense related customer base. The agreement authorizes TestMart to offer a catalog of Aeroflex products that will be made available for sale specifically in the government and military channel. Under terms of the partnership, Aeroflex’s test solutions that are applicable for military and government applications will be made available to all branches of the federal government, US military and authorized prime contractors.
SUSS MicroTec S.A., the French subsidiary of SUSS MicroTec AG, has signed a joint development program with IMEC, an independent nanoelectronics and nanotechnology research center to develop MEMS assembly and packaging. The partners will collaborate to develop innovative bonding technologies. Specifically, SUSS MicroTec has supplied IMEC with a FC150 automated device bonder to perform all bonding tests realized in the framework of this one-year research program.
Rosenberger has signed a licensing agreement with Huber + Suhner, Switzerland, and Radiall, France, for QMA RF coaxial connectors. Under the license the company is authorized to act as a Quick Lock Formula (QLF) manufacturer – this QLF standard guaranteeing full intermateability between connectors produced by the licensing parties. Consequently, Rosenberger QMA connectors – a subminiature connector series based on the SMA connectors’ interface – are designed for applications up to 18 GHz.
Fairchild Semiconductor announced that it has reached a licensing agreement with GEM Services Inc., to offer one of Fairchild’s most advanced MOSFET packaging techniques as open tooling for the power semiconductor market. This agreement will make Fairchild’s Ball Grid Array (BGA) power technology available for use by other semiconductor suppliers. Opening the tooling enables customers to multi-source their purchases of this previously proprietary BGA technology, thereby increasing product availability and lowering the customer’s supply chain risk.
Sonnet Software Inc., a provider of high accuracy, high frequency electromagnetic software for electronic design automation (EDA), announced its link to Agilent Technologies’ Advanced Design System (ADS), a provider of high frequency EDA design solutions. The Sonnet/ADS interface provides seamless translation between the ADS layout editor and Sonnet.
Centro de Tecnologia de las Comunicaciones S.A. (CETECOM), a provider of wireless test solutions, has been recently chosen by the State Radio Monitoring Center (SRMC) to supply Bluetooth conformance test solutions, BITE, in Beijing, China. This will allow SRMC to offer Bluetooth Qualification testing services to Chinese manufacturers.
In its ongoing commitment to provide good technological support and services to customers around the globe, Rockwell Automation announced that all five of its worldwide Technical Support Centers have achieved certification under the Support Center Practices Certification program.
TRAK Microwave Corp. obtained AS9100A registration and was certified by the NSF – International Strategic Registrations Ltd. (NSF-ISR).
Park Electrochemical Corp., originally incorporated on March 31, 1954, announced the 50th anniversary of its founding.
Integrated Engineering Software (IES) announced that 2004 marks its 20th year as a developer of high performance electromagnetic design and simulation software.
RF Micro Devices Inc. (RFMD) announced that Market Intelligence Center has recognized the company as Taiwan’s leading provider of power amplifiers for wireless handsets. According to a March 2004, report titled, “The Taiwanese Mobile Phone Industry, 2003 and Beyond,” Market Intelligence Center estimated that RFMD’s market share in Taiwan grew from 23.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2002 to 73.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003, an increase of approximately 216 percent. In related news, the company announced that it has begun pre-production shipments of its POLARIS™ TOTAL RADIO™ transceiver solution.
Ducommun Inc. announced that its Ducommun Technologies Inc. subsidiary’s Carson facility was honored last week at Boeing’s third annual company-wide awards program as “Common Aerospace Commodities” supplier of the year.
Richardson Electronics announced the company has been named 2003 RF Power Distributor of the Year by Motorola’s Semiconductor Products Sector (SPS). The company was recognized with this award for its demonstrated leadership in the wireless communications market and for the significant role played in promoting and selling SPS’ RF products.