LAGUNA BEACH, California, and DELEMONT, Switzerland, September 9, 2010 – Sentinel IC Technologies, leading provider of innovative, robust design enablement platforms proven to optimize and shorten the analog, mixed-signal, RF, and power semiconductor design process, today announced its first expansion outside the U.S. with the opening of a European Technology Center in Delemont, Switzerland, just outside of Basel.

While retaining its headquarters in Orange County, California, the new location allows Sentinel IC to better serve its European customer base and take advantage of growing European business opportunities. Located in the heart of Europe, Delemont is in immediate proximity to all centers of European high tech.

The European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA) reported that semiconductor sales in Europe showed an increase on a three month rolling average, and were up over 34 percent in July 2010 versus the same month one year ago. This is the highest level since 2007, according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS).¹

ESIA also reported that the semiconductor industry is Europe’s second most R&D intensive sector, over six times that of the EU industry average. Semiconductors rank alongside other sectors such as biotechnology or pharmaceuticals as a “high R&D intensity sector,” with semiconductor R&D investment hitting the 4 billion EURO mark for 2008 amongst the surveyed companies.²

“We’ve successfully established a strong portfolio of innovative design solutions and tools and look forward to extending the deployment to the European foundry, integrated device manufacturer (IDM), and fabless semiconductor market. Our advanced analog design enablement technology portfolio aligns closely with Europe’s analog-centric core technology solutions,” said James Victory, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer, Sentinel IC.

The expansion coincides with the two-year anniversary of the company’s founding, during which time Sentinel IC has established significant development partnerships with leading foundries, IDMs, and fabless semiconductor companies from around the world. Sentinel IC has delivered innovative, cutting edge design enablement tools including the Magneto integrated Electromagnetic platform and the VirtuaLOT simulation system.

Coinciding with this announcement, Sentinel IC will be presenting its yield maximization platforms at the IEEE® SISPAD 2010 conferencein Bologna, Italy. In addition to today’s SISPAD workshop, Sentinel IC has delivered invited workshop presentations at multiple conferences including the GSA® sponsored MOS-AK and IEEE® RFIC Symposium.

About Sentinel IC Technologies

Sentinel IC Technologies is a privately owned and independent company incorporated in June 2008 with the mission of addressing the growing design enablement needs of the RF/analog semiconductor design community. The company delivers state-of-the-art design enablement solutions that empower design of high performance, high-yield, cost effective ICs while significantly reducing development cycles and time to market. Sentinel IC products and services leverage extensive experience across the RF/analog mixed-signal technology spectrum including nano-scale CMOS, SiGe BiCMOS, and BCD/high power technologies. For more information, visit http://www.sentinel-ic.com.

¹  “Latest Semiconductor sales data, for immediate release,” 30 August, 2010  http://www.eeca.eu/index.php/esia_press/en/

²  “Europe’s semiconductor industry ranks second in EU R&D intensity scoreboard even in turbulent times, as EU sets itself to discuss how to boost innovation and key enabling technologies,” 3 February, 2010

http://www.eeca.eu/data/File/100127-ESIA-Press-Release-RD-intensity-final.pdf

Munich/Germany, September 08, 2010 – Vincotech, a supplier of module-based solutions for power electronics, today announced the successful qualification of a new IGBT series with best-fit freewheeling diodes by FUJI Electric Systems Co, LTD.

The power range for the relevant chipsets reaches from 1200V 8A to 150A, as well as from 600V 10A to 200A and will perfectly complete the Vincotech PIM (CIB), six-pack and half-bridge (duals) product roadmap in several module packages. Industry standard qualifications were performed according to the schedule shown below.

HHHTRB – High Humidity High Temperature Reverse Bias according to DIN EN 60749 (Chpt.3. – 4B)

HTRB – High Temperature Reverse Bias according to MIL-STD-883E method 1005

LC – Load Cycling according to DIN IEC 60749-34

All qualification tests were passed successfully resulting in a full technology release of the chip sets for base-less modules like flowPIM® or MiniSKiiP®.

Products are available upon request and flow modules can be delivered with solder pins as well as with Press-fit technology.

To learn more about Vincotech’s power modules, please visit http://www.vincotech.com/en/products/.