TeleCommunication Systems has received orders with a value of $3.8 million from the U.S. Army for antenna systems, quad band satellite emulators and other support equipment.

Lockheed Martin recently hosted the Strengthening the Middle Atlantic Region for Tomorrow (SMART) organization and the initiation of its new space technologies group.

BAE Systems has been awarded a contract to provide a Link 16 network management system to the Finnish Air Force. Supporting the operation of Finland's F-18 aircraft, the system will enable ground command and control operators to connect to, and maintain contact with, their fast jets across the entire country.

It's not just the military that's at risk. Chips perform key roles in countless commercial products, as well as phone links, banking networks, electronic grids and nuclear power plants. Given the flood of phony chips, counterfeit parts can be found everywhere.

Northstar Electronics, Inc. today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Northstar Network Ltd., has received a revised Master Purchase Order from Lockheed Martin to increase the value of NNL's P-3 contract by US $9.1 million, to a total of US $16.4 million.

After successful development of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) daytime persistent surveillance system, BAE Systems has been awarded an additional $49.9 million contract to develop the advanced processor for the agency's nighttime, infrared system - the Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance - Infrared (ARGUS-IR).

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Russia Defence and Security Report Q4 2010" report to their offering.

Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, has been awarded a 2 1/2 year, $18 million contract to produce telemetry modules supporting the U.S. Air Force Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM).

TiaLinx, Inc., a developer of miniaturized mm-wave radars with integrated radio and antenna arrays, today announced the launch of the Eagle45-W, a hands-free precision Sense-Through-the-Wall Imager.

Elbit Systems Ltd. announced today, further to its announcements of June 15, 2009 and September 14, 2009, that it signed an agreement to acquire all the shares of Soltam Systems Ltd., Saymar Ltd. and ITL Optronics Ltd., that are currently held by Mikal Ltd. and its subsidiaries.

"Outstanding operational performance and increased customer demand across most key market sectors propelled LaBarge’s sales and earnings to record levels in the company’s fiscal 2010 fourth quarter and full year," said Craig LaBarge, CEO and President.

Is North America falling behind the rest of the world in HDI technology development? Not if Dan Smith can help it. "The New Mr. HDI" is putting together the first IPC HDI certification course and exam. We caught up with him and discussed the HDI course, what it takes to be an instructor and Happy Holden's 400-gig "data dump."

Neways Electronics International N.V. (Neways) recorded a fully organic increase in net turnover of approximately 25% in the first half of 2010 compared to the first half of 2009. This strong increase was due to a clear and broad-based rise in demand in the EMS market.

Casey Cooper, Microelectronics Lab Manager at STI, talks about the company's various educational, training and technology offerings and provides an overview of the company's newly-developed and tested embedded die assembly. The new assembly is being evaluated by some military product developers for high-reliability applications.

Developers of mil/aero and other high-rel applications depend on solid failure analysis. Paul Reid discusses how thermal cycling will cause a robust plated through-hole to crack slowly over time. Plotting a resistance graph of damage accumulation allows technologists to determine onset, rate of accumulation and whether the damage is accelerating linearly or exponentially.

"I am very pleased with our fourth quarter results as API had the strongest quarter in the company's history," said CEO, Stephen B. Pudles. "Our acquisition strategy and cost-cutting initiatives have shown considerable success and have enabled the company to achieve positive net income, which we expect to continue into fiscal 2011."

The sales increase was primarily due to increased sales of flex heater and coil insulation products for the general industrial market as a result of the economic rebound and increased sales of PCB materials related to the telecommunications infrastructure in China.

"Our facilities are busy with solid backlogs and high levels of capacity utilization," said Kent Alder, President and CEO. "The added capacity and diversity of the Asia Pacific operations fits extremely well with our growth strategy as a global company."

Suntron Corporation's Phoenix facility has received a perfect score on four consecutive semi-annual surveillance audits required by the AS9100 aerospace quality management certification.

"By expanding our presence in Europe, Labtech is a welcome addition to our portfolio of businesses," said Russell Shaller, VP and GM of Teledyne MEC. "Coupled with our Teledyne Cougar microwave component business in the U.S., Labtech's component business augments our already strong position in the field of custom, high-performance microwave components."

Is North America falling behind the rest of the world in HDI technology development? Not if Dan Smith can help it. "The New Mr. HDI" is putting together the first IPC HDI certification course and exam. We caught up with him and discussed the HDI course, what it takes to be an instructor and Happy Holden's 400-gig "data dump."

Casey Cooper, Microelectronics Lab Manager at STI, talks about the company's various educational, training and technology offerings and provides an overview of the company's newly-developed and tested embedded die assembly. The new assembly is being evaluated by some military product developers for high-reliability applications.

Developers of mil/aero and other high-rel applications depend on solid failure analysis. Paul Reid discusses how thermal cycling will cause a robust plated through-hole to crack slowly over time. Plotting a resistance graph of damage accumulation allows technologists to determine onset, rate of accumulation and whether the damage is accelerating linearly or exponentially.

There's a chance that International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) and other regulations that dictate how North American companies handle controlled products will undergo dramatic alterations in the next few years.

Stephen Marshall details his experience during this month's IPC Executive Market and Technology Conference and Capitol Hill Day in Washington, D.C. The dual events provided both business and technology perspectives from OEMs in major market segments and ensured that Congress is listening to the needs and concerns of the industry.

This column is written from the viewpoint of you, the customer. What should you look for when qualifying a fabricator? Sure, you want the company to be IPC Class 3 6012 capable and ISO-certified, and you may need them to be ITAR-certified as well. But what other criteria can help you separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak?

With mission-critical, high-reliability PCBs, the study of barrel cracks is critical. When the failure criteria are set at 10% increase in resistance, a powerful method can be used. Paul Reid explains why stopping at 10% allows us to observe a ripening failure "dripping" with information, rather than a catastrophically failed circuit that is significantly deformed.

If your company starts using Asian design bureaus, you aren't necessarily out of a job - if you know how to make the case for your job. As one veteran PCB designer discovered recently, now is no time to be bashful about your value to the company.

IPC's Fern Abrams discusses the importance of efforts in Washington, D.C.: After five long years of lobbying on Capitol Hill, IPC's members finally feel as though Congress understands how vitally important our industry is to national security.

Ask any North American circuit board shop what their targeted markets are and most will include military in their response. But the allure of military market opportunities may be based on a lack of understanding of the underlying requirements.

Is North America falling behind the rest of the world in HDI technology development? Not if Dan Smith can help it. "The New Mr. HDI" is putting together the first IPC HDI certification course and exam. We caught up with him and discussed the HDI course, what it takes to be an instructor and Happy Holden's 400-gig "data dump."

Developers of mil/aero and other high-rel applications depend on solid failure analysis. Paul Reid discusses how thermal cycling will cause a robust plated through-hole to crack slowly over time. Plotting a resistance graph of damage accumulation allows technologists to determine onset, rate of accumulation and whether the damage is accelerating linearly or exponentially.

Stephen Marshall details his experience during this month's IPC Executive Market and Technology Conference and Capitol Hill Day in Washington, D.C. The dual events provided both business and technology perspectives from OEMs in major market segments and ensured that Congress is listening to the needs and concerns of the industry.

This column is written from the viewpoint of you, the customer. What should you look for when qualifying a fabricator? Sure, you want the company to be IPC Class 3 6012 capable and ISO-certified, and you may need them to be ITAR-certified as well. But what other criteria can help you separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak?

With mission-critical, high-reliability PCBs, the study of barrel cracks is critical. When the failure criteria are set at 10% increase in resistance, a powerful method can be used. Paul Reid explains why stopping at 10% allows us to observe a ripening failure "dripping" with information, rather than a catastrophically failed circuit that is significantly deformed.

If your company starts using Asian design bureaus, you aren't necessarily out of a job - if you know how to make the case for your job. As one veteran PCB designer discovered recently, now is no time to be bashful about your value to the company.

Ask any North American circuit board shop what their targeted markets are and most will include military in their response. But the allure of military market opportunities may be based on a lack of understanding of the underlying requirements.

It looks like the economy is on the mend. Momentum is building in all markets. Daily, news reports from around the world carry a similar upbeat message. Is the economic cloud finally lifting, or are we engaging in more false hope?

Lead-free solder technology has resulted in stresses on PTHs due to higher temperature excursions and cracks in solders that are more brittle than their tin-lead ancestors. Since most devices exhibit a mean time to failure that is cut in half with every 10 degrees C temperature increase, managing temperature is critical to product life expectancy.

As companies look for new ways to make more efficient use of resources, the lowest hanging fruit can be harvested from improvements to the provider/user partnerships throughout the supply-chain. The ability to create, capture and deliver value occurs during the exchanges between these partners.