SHENZHEN – The 2011 International Printed Circuit & Electronics Assembly Fair attracted 33,868 visits for its 10th anniversary.

TUNIS, TUNISIA – Viscom AG has opened a branch to support the printed circuit board inspection OEM’s North African customers.

The manufacturer of optical and x-ray inspection systems said the new office will provide a free hotline service, training, and applications services. The site will also carry out installations.

CAMBRIDGE, MA – MIT and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed an online, searchable database of more than 18,000 chemical compounds.

The project, a direct outgrowth of MIT’s Materials Genome Project, initiated in 2006 by Prof. Gerbrand Ceder, compiles data previously scattered in many different places, most of them not even searchable. The site’s tools can predict how two compounds react with one another, what that composite’s molecular structure is, and how stable it would be at different temperatures and pressures. It slashes the months of work it once took to consult tables of data, perform calculations and carry out precise lab tests to create a single phase diagram to a matter of minutes.

The tool could revolutionize product development in fields from energy to electronics to biochemistry, its developers say. The site computes many materials’ properties in real time, using the supercomputing capacity of the Lawrence Berkeley Lab.

More than 500 researchers from universities, research labs and companies have used the new system to seek new materials for lithium-ion batteries, photovoltaic cells and new lightweight alloys for use in cars, trucks and airplanes. Access is free, but requires registration.

BURNABY, CANADA – The founder and president of contract electronic manufacturer Dorigo Systems has acquired the business assets and operations of printed circuit board fabricator Enigma Interconnect.

SINGAPORE -- Halogen-free compounds might be "greener," but researchers are finding their metallurgical effects leave a lot to be desired.

JIANGXI, CHINA – Ryder Electronics will open a 280,000 sq. ft. manufacturing site here in 2012, with plans to eventually increase the size to 430,000 sq. ft.

GLENVIEW, IL -- Illinois Tool Works' Power Systems and Electronics segment today reported November quarter revenue rose 18% year-over-year, continuing a long recovery.

KARLSKOGA, SWEDEN -- Kitron will shutter its electronics manufacturing services plant here due to falling demand and the transfer of its largest customer to a company site in China.

SHANGHAI -- A gas explosion at a Pegatron-owned metal casing factory here injured 61 workers, putting 23 in the hospital, the company reported.

NEWBURYPORT, MA – Rochester Electronics and BAE Systems have partnered to add more than 250,000 solutions for end-of-life semiconductors used in military and aerospace applications.

Developed from Rochester's wafer and die bank inventory, the recreated semiconductor devices are manufactured with the authorization of the original semiconductor manufacturer, and are guaranteed to be form, fit and functional replacements that match the original semiconductor's performance.

BAE provides the Advanced Component Obsolescence Management product and obsolescence management services.

The partners have produced a “decoder ring” that translates Rochester wafer and die products to finished goods manufacturing part numbers. Rochester wafer and die storage lab stores more than 10 billion die.

No financial terms were disclosed.

MUNICH -- Global demand for surface mount placement equipment remained at a high level this fall, with North America and Europe making up for persistent shortfalls in China.

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Despite the continuing global macroeconomic problems, semiconductor inventory overbuild early this year, and current DRAM oversupply, semiconductor revenues will grow 3.1% to $305 billion in 2012, according to IDC.