Under one roof

The event aims to provide a showcase of the latest technologies and applications available to electronics engineers and designers by effectively housing nine exhibitions in one. Visitors to the event will be able to see groupings covering: test and measurement; photonics and lasers; solar and green design; production and assembly; embedded; EMS; wireless; design and development; and components. The latest companies to sign up for the event include Syntech, VTECH SMT, Quadra Solutions, Quantum CAD, Adaptsys, Jabil, Veolia Environmental Services, Exception Group, CML Innovative Technologies and Telonic Instruments. National Electronics Week (NEW) event director Claire Jeffreys said: "We all know that times are tough right now. But that's all the more reason to visit NEW. It's … a great use of visitors' time, jam packed with free educational and networking opportunities. We want to show the world exactly how much the UK has to offer." Premier EDA Solutions is collaborating with NEW to offer what it says is an 'exciting new conference' as part of the event. Open to electronics design professionals, engineering managers and technicians, the UK Design Innovation Conference will provide a platform for learning, discussion and networking. "The needs of the UK electronics design community are broad, deep and wide." says Phil Mayo, Premier EDA's managing director. "Irrespective of the current economic climate, design professionals need a national event where they can 'toe dip' into new technology developments, design techniques, industry comment and such like. The UK Design Innovation Conference provides the ideal vehicle for this." The conference provides a programme of technical sessions, organised into three tracks for each of the exhibition's three days. These tracks cover subjects associated with: advanced pcb technologies; intermediate pcb design techniques; and design considerations beyond the pcb. Industry experts have been invited to contribute non commercial materials targeted at electronics design professionals in order to maximise their learning experience. In addition to the technical programme, there will also be three special sessions for each exhibition day: * Keynote welcome address * Panel discussion on a topical subject * A personal view on the impact of electronics design, delivered by a leading UK based electronics company. The UK Electronics Alliance will also support the event. The alliance of major UK trade associations will be providing a range of free seminars on the business issues affecting the electronics industry – covering the economy, technical skills and the rise of counterfeit components. UKEA's Roger Rogowski said: "By rejecting more hypothetical technical content in favour of a discussion of real business issues, I think that UKEA's contribution will ensure that visitors can justify a trip to the show – since it really is the best use of their time. The UKEA seminars and workshops are a great opportunity for visitors to gain information on the current burning issues affecting our sector. As part of the UKEA programme, SEMTA's Darren Race will be giving a presentation on the Sector Compact, a scheme where the Government has pledged £65million to support qualifying staff training in the electronics sector. In addition, Business Link's Andy Berrow will highlight the opportunities that exist for UK electronics businesses to access Government support. Meanwhile, Farnell's Directives expert Gary Nevison will discuss developments to the RoHS and REACH Directives. The programme will also take a look at counterfeit electronic components, a major supply chain issue. UKEA will be looking to raise awareness through a workshop featuring presentations from industry experts including Rochester Electronics' Peter Marston, AFDEC's Adam Fletcher, General Dynamics' Dave Akhurst and Soldertec's Tom Perrett. Rogowski will also describe an online database of suspected counterfeit components and a directory featuring information on the issue. One stand likely to be the centre of activity will house Bloodhound; Richard Noble's latest land speed record project. The Bloodhound team will be have a model of the car at the show, along with one of its EJ200 jet engines. Video footage will also be presented. Noble will also be delivering a presentation discussing the innovation behind Bloodhound's electronics systems. Contract electronics manufacturer Exception will have its iconic technology tour bus at National Electronics Week. The bus, says the company, will help to lift the lid on topics such as advanced pcb manufacture, the introduction of newer and improved high speed, low loss laminates and the latest developments in micro component assembly. A number of technology workshops will take place each day of the event. Exception's sales and marketing director Garry Myatt commented: "The event will show designers and manufacturers how technologies that were previously seen as 'too hard' or just unreliable can now play a central role in better performance – especially as outsourcing becomes a common occurrence in manufacturing." The stop at NEW is part of a nationwide tour being undertaken by the bus. Visitors to Exception's stand will be able to take part in workshops that provide practical guidance on the use of some of the innovative processes being pioneered by Exception. The company's engineers and partners will be offering hands on advice on such topics as the use of high density interconnect technology, flexi-rigid pcbs, impedance modelling and the latest developments in laminates and pre-preg materials. Other topics to be covered include design for manufacture and design for volume. Sessions on realising high pin count FPGAs and the initiatives for an effect layout along with the pros and cons of copper-filled vias will also be included. Future Technology Devices International will showcase its recently launched range of USB 2.0 Hi-Speed devices and development modules at NEW. The fifth generation of USB to UART/FIFO devices developed by the company, the chips offer support for applications requiring USB 2.0 interconnect at 480Mbit/s. The dual channel FT2232H allows one USB port to connect to two separate interfaces without a USB hub chip. Each channel may be configured independently to support a range of modes. The FT4232H allows one USB port to connect to four interfaces, again without a USB hub chip. Both devices support UART transfer rates up to 12MBaud and asynchronous FIFO speeds up to 10Mbyte/s. Synchronous FIFO mode (FT2232H only) will reach speeds up to 25Mbyte/s and the MPSSE channels can support 30Mbit/s. GOEPEL electronic will be demonstrating its technological knowledge in the fields of Automatic Optical Inspection and JTAG/Boundary Scan. Amongst the inspection highlights will be the company's OptiCon AdvancedLine for high end and high quality production. This is equipped with the Chameleon module, providing 360° angled view inspection. Also on show will be OptiCon BasicLine, a standalone system for manual loading and simple adaptation for pcbs, single components and complex assemblies. There will also be Jtag/Boundary Scan innovations. These include the latest software version SYSTEM CASCON 4.5, new software tools for the emulation with VarioTAP, and the JULIET fixture solution. GOEPEL will also display several low cost solutions for boundary scan applications, as well as the world's broadest hardware product range. Vicor will be featuring a new educational initiative for power design engineers. Provided on cdrom, PowerTechtorials serve as a one on one tutorial, containing technical presentations and lab demos that can be revisited as needed. The company says the tutorials address everyday technical issues and answer real world questions on power system design topics, providing engineers with practical advice for solving design challenges that arise in a broad range of different applications.