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Menlo Park, CA – OK International announced that Mark Cowell has been named president, succeeding Michael Gouldsmith. Cowell has worked for OK and Metcal for 22 years, most recently as VP of engineering.

Gouldsmith, who started OK as a small tool company over 20 years ago and built it into an international firm, will remain as chairman and assist Cowell in the transition.

Gouldsmith said, “Mark has played a key role at OK and one of its predecessor companies Metcal and has been responsible for the design and development of its Smart Heat soldering tools. More recently, as a member of the Executive Management Team, Mark has played an increasing role in the overall management of the company and is the ideal person to fill this role."

San Diego — DEK USA will host a lead-free workshop on Sept. 22 -23, at its Schaumburg, IL, facility. The workshop is co-sponsored by KIC, Henkel Technologies, DEK, Vitronics Soltec and OK International.

The hands-on training program is designed for engineers and engineering management, and aims to provide participants with a broader knowledge of lead-free materials interactions, and the advantages and limitations of the process. A sample lead-free board will be produced and taken away by each attendee.

The workshop will feature hands-on production floor training in the following areas:

· Screen printing surface mount adhesives and solder paste, and placement
· Reflow profiling

· Inspection/analytical

· Rework

· Wave.

A detailed agenda will be available mid-July at kicthermal.com/index.html. Reservations must be made in advance.

NEW YORK -- Companies that concentrate on process change, global branding and strategic relationships have the potential to shake up the competitive SMT landscape while transitioning to lead-free manufacturing. So said Frost and Sullivan analyst Keith Sullivan during a recent Webcast on the impact of RoHS on the SMT market.

Sullivan claims companies can “help tilt the competitive landscape” by leveraging potential Pb-free market opportunities for existing products, including value-added services, back-end semiconductor markets and expanding to China. For new products, Sullivan suggests looking to potential software developments and diversification.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – A group of leading vendors of solder today released its final results from a lengthy investigation on lead-free alloys, finding an alloy of Sn96.5Ag3.0Cu0.5 to be the best candidate to replace tin-lead solder.

The three-year study also baselined a series of test methods for determining lead-free solder performance.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Jabil Circuit reported third-quarter profit climbed 48% on a 19% hike in sales. The top tier provider of electronics manufacturing services said May quarter earnings rose to $59.4 million, from $40.1 million a year ago.

Revenue rose 19% to $1.94 billion from $1.63 billion last year.

RENO, NV -- Electronic Evolution Technologies, a manufacturer of assemblies for the medical, RF/wireless, gaming, industrial and digital AV markets, will assume a 17,000 sq. ft. plant in Empalme, Sonora, Mexico.

The plant is located in the Bellavista Industrial Park and is run by the Offshore Group, a Tucson, AZ, provider of outsourced manufacturing services to companies in the aerospace, medical device, automotive, electronics and optics industries in Mexico.

EET will eventually employ between 50 to 100 direct labor workers, the company said.

In a statement EET president Sonny Newman said, "Our decision to establish an operation in Mexico was predicated on a desire to offer our customers a low-cost labor solution."

The Offshore Group runs industrial parks in Coahuila and Sonora and claims more than 35 manufacturers under contract that employ an aggregate 13,500 direct labor employees.