MINNEAPOLIS – IBM engineer Matt Kelly has been awarded the SMTA International 2013 Rich Freiberger Best of Conference for his presentation titled "Plasma Stencil Treatments: A Statistical Evaluation." The award was selected by attendees of the October conference.

GARDEN GROVE, CA -- OK International has named Christopher Larocca president, effective immediately. He supersedes Mark Cowell, who is retiring after 30 years with OK, the past eight as president.

NEENAH, WI -- Plexus appears to be weathering the impending loss of longtime top customer Juniper Networks. The EMS company's fourth-quarter operating margin was 5.1%, its highest mark since March 2008, and management expects margins to continue to top 5% in the coming quarters.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- After a decline in the second quarter of 2013 and a tepid expansion in the third, demand for touch-screen panels used in notebook PCs is set to rebound to double-digit growth during the last three months of the year. Shipments of touch panels for notebooks will amount to 4.9 million sheets in the fourth quarter, up 10% from 4.4 million in the third quarter, according to data from IHS. This follows a marginal 2% increase in the third quarter and a 5% drop in the second.