Sanmina-SCI & Shocking to co-op

Shocking scientists will work with Sanmina-SCI development teams to formulate VSDM (Voltage Switchable Dielectric Materials) for inclusion in Sanmina-SCI's proprietary PCB structures. VSDM materials are specialty polymers that instantaneously change from insulators to conductors when a pre-programmed bi-directional voltage is applied. "ESD is a hot topic in the electronics business today," said George Dudnikov, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Sanmina-SCI's PCB and Backplane Divisions. "Many companies are faced with the challenges of protecting their expensive components from damage caused by voltage or current transients. On-chip ESD protection is available but hampers chip design and performance. Discrete devices are also effective but consume valuable surface real estate and do not protect every component. Sanmina-SCI has been studying different approaches to utilize the PCB as a platform for providing ESD protection to these chips." The Electrostatic Discharge Association (ESDA), headquartered in Rome, New York, estimates that at least 25 percent of today's failures in electronic products are caused by ESD. Cost to the industry is estimated to be in the billions of dollars. "Shocking Technologies is excited to team up with an industry leader like Sanmina-SCI for our PCB product," said Lex Kosowsky, Shocking Technologies President and CEO. "We look forward to working with the Sanmina-SCI team to bring our VSDM technology to market. As electronic products and the features of the integrated circuits inside them continue to get smaller and faster, ESD is becoming a larger and larger threat. The technology will also allow a path to reduce both size and weight for consumer electronics applications while providing superior protection for infrastructure products. We are confident that as our technology is implemented, Sanmina-SCI will be a great partner in helping commercialize our technology while helping us achieve our goal of making our VSDM an industry standard for ESD protection in PCBs." The combination of the VSDM technology and Sanmina-SCI's industry-leading Buried Capacitance(R) technology will provide superior protection and improved reliability while allowing major cost savings through board-size reduction, decreased component count and yield improvements. "There is a lot of talk regarding PCBs as commodities," added Dudnikov. "Here is an example of an innovative application that will provide value-added performance to the PCB. Both Shocking and Sanmina-SCI have IP in the area, and this partnership will elevate the circuit board as a critical component in electronic assembling." Sanmina-SCI's PCB Division is a pioneering force in the PCB industry with more than 20 patents and 26 years of experience, offering customers the latest in high-performance materials, enhanced via geometrics for significant increases in useable bandwidth and substantial decrease in Bit Error Rates (BER). State-of-the-art PCB factories are strategically located in North America, Europe and Asia, offering high-end technology and efficient lower-cost manufacturing. Sanmina-SCI's Backplane Division features highly skilled engineers and design centers around the world, providing customers with passive, active and high-bandwidth backplanes.