  
Read The Trend Toward Black in Nickel Magazine.
Read “High Performance Characteristics of Lead – and
Cadmium-free Electroless Nickel,” by Mario Orduz, National Product
Manager, in the January, 2008 issue of Metal Finishing.
Read the story in December's Ceramic Industry on Electroless Plating,
by Don Gudeczaukas, Technical Director, Uyemura USA.
Colonial Circuits, a full service manufacturer of printed circuit
boards and long-time Uyemura customer, was honored with IPC’s
prestigious Peter Sarmanian Corporation Award at IPC’s Annual
Luncheon April 1 in Las Vegas.
Colonial Circuits serves military, space and commercial markets with
multilayer constructions, rigid, flexible and rigid/flex materials, blind/buried
vias and other elite skills. Headquartered in Fredericksburg, VA, Colonial
has operated Uyemura’s ENIG process for five years. The company has
had a prominent role in IPC’s standards development, including the 4-30,
1-10C and 7-32C task groups.
For more than 15 years, Colonial Circuits has hosted IPC DFM workshops,
assisting more than 300 designers with increasingly sophisticated PCB
fabrication technologies.
Colonial recently finalized plans to install Uyemura’s RGA 14 immersion
silver process. RGA Immersion Silver meets every requirement for a
RoHS and WEEE-compliant board finish and was chosen by Colonial for
its excellent BVH coverage, suitability with high-density mounting, and
chemical cost that is significantly lower than either competitor,
based on gm. of silver deposited.
 Uyemura congratulates Nilesh Naik, CEO of
One Source Group (Dallas TX) on his election
as Chairman of the Board of IPC. The
announcement was made April 1 at the
IPC Annual Meeting Luncheon.
A Board member since 2001, Naik has been
involved in the electronic manufacturing services
industry for 19 years. He is a past chairman of
the IPC PCB Management Council Steering
Committee and recently served as Board
Secretary/Treasurer.
One Source is a leading provider of printed circuit board design,
assembly, prototyping and mid to high-volume board fabrication.
The company is distinctive in also providing comprehensive assembly
services, including placement of flipchip and 0101 parts, and testing,
(including loaded board tests) and manufacturing.
Election Results are IN!
Don Walsh, Uyemura USA Director of Operations, has been elected
to a two-year term as Vice Chairman of the IPC’s PCB Suppliers Council.
He will then serve as Council Chairman. Don also chairs the organization’s
Environmental Regulations Subcommittee.
Dr. Toru Murakami, C. Uyemura & Co., will present
“High Corrosion-Resistant, Environmental-Friendly
Chrome Plating” at Sur-Fin. The talk is part of the
"Track III Technical Conference and is scheduled for
Wednesday, June 18.
Uyemura's advanced final finishing processes were on display
at IPC/Apex at the Mandalay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
The exhibit focused on KAT ENIG, Presa immersion silver, and
TCU immersion gold over copper, also our electroless gold products,
high throw electrolytic nickel, and acid copper. Umicore Galvanotechnik
precious metal electrolytic plating, and MEC copper etching processes
were also featured.
Tony Revier, Don Walsh and Tom Walsh, along with Hiroshi
Otake from our Osaka facility, represented Uyemura at the
Productronica International Trade Fair in Munich. The show
encompasses every facet of electronics production: logistics,
material flow, microproduction, organic electronics, photovoltaics
and “green” manufacturing and disposal. The show featured
1484 exhibitors from 35 countries, and more than 40,000 trade
visitors. The exhibit was in partnership with Uyemura’s European
distributor, Umicore Galvanotechnik. The 4-day event provided an
excellent forum for meeting with customers from throughout Europe,
Israel (where Tech-Knowledge is our distributor) and India (where
distribution is managed by RBP), as well as Canada and
South America.
The global market for electronic components is projected to
grow 6% to more than $410 billion US in 2008.
 From the Field
A recent conversation between a Uyemura
technical service specialist and a customer
brought to light a new policy one of our
competitors has implemented. To save
money, the competitor has instructed its
salespeople to “allocate field service time
based strictly on the customer’s dollar
volume.” We believe this policy shows an
appalling lack of understanding as to what’s
needed for customers to achieve their process
objectives, and for relationships to succeed.
Uyemura works diligently with all of its customers, and prospects,
to deliver our industry’s highest levels of technical support with the
greatest possible professionalism, and always with the goal of harmony
and goodwill. We think that is how we earn the business, and how
successful relationships are built, and kept strong.
Don Walsh
Director of Operations
Uyemura USA
 Interconnect Sourcing in Colleyville (Dallas),
Texas is owned by Mike Bennett, a 33 year veteran
of printed circuit manufacturing. He brings a wealth
of hands-on knowledge as a former owner of printed
circuit board shops, and years of experience in both
manufacturing and engineering. Bennett founded the
company in 2000 as a provider of exposure systems,
digital legend printing, tooling, glass phototools and
automation equipment. The firm’s primary focus
will be development of applications for Uyemura’s
ENIG, silver and tin processes in Texas, Oklahoma,
Louisiana and Arkansas.
In the Pacific Northwest, LSG Inc., a firm well-known to many
PCB and GMF customers through its President, Lee Salazar, now
represents Uyemura in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.
Salazar has worked extensively with the metal finishing community,
and with all facets of printed circuit board assembly, including such
specialized areas as chemistries for PCB waste treatment,
since 1974. LSG is based in Snohomish, WA.
Uyemura is proud to recognize the excellent work of
Peridot Rodgers-Liston, who is helping in the rebuilding of
New Orleans via The St. Bernard Project. This program has
as its primary mission the removal of barriers for families
who want to move back to their homes. Founded by
volunteers in March, 2006, it is directly driven by the
specific needs expressed by community members.
The project includes a Support-A-Family program that
provides volunteer labor and building supplies, and a
Tool Co-Op and Community Center.
Peridot Rodgers-Liston is the daughter of Dr. David Liston,
our Director of Quality.
Uyemura commemorated the 20th anniversary of its Taiwan operations
with the dedication of a new headquarters – a trio of six-story interconnected
buildings that house offices, labs, R&D and specialty manufacturing. Included
in the manufacturing area are multiple automated hoist lines for final finishes
and acid and electroless coppers, plus reflow capabilities.
George Milad and Don Gudeczauskas were instructors for SMTAI
this year. SMTA is a prestigious international association of professionals
who specialize in electronic assembly technologies, including microsystems
and emerging technologies A paper jointly presented was titled Soldering
and Solder Joint Reliability for Selected Surface Finishes with LF SAC305 Alloy.
(Read the abstract here.)
In addition, Gudeczauskas and Milad conducted a half-day workshop,
Lead Free Surface Finishing for PWB. (Details here.) SMTAI’s annual conference and exhibition was held this year in Orlando.
Don Gudeczauskas is UIC’s Director of Technology. George Milad is
National Accounts Manager for Technology.
 Milad Speaks at IPCA Expo
in Bangalore, India
George Milad, UIC National Accounts Manager,
was a guest speaker at the Indian Printed Circuit
Association Conference, IPCA Expo in Bangalore.
His presentation was titled, “Solder Joint Reliability
for ENIG and ENEPIG, Final Finishes with SAC
and Eutectic Solder Alloys.” The India market
for electronic products is growing at a
staggering 30% annually, according on the
association, and is projected to exceed
$75 billion US per year by 2010.
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