WILSONVILLE, Ore. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — September 10, 2009 — Continuing in its tradition of promoting and recognizing Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design excellence, Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT) today announced winners of its 21st annual PCB Technology Leadership Awards. Started in 1988, this program is the longest running competition of its kind in the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry. It recognizes engineers and Computer Aided Design (CAD) designers who use innovative methods and design tools to address today’s complex PCB systems design challenges and produce industry-leading products.

“The complexity of the designs submitted represents how rapidly the electronics industry is progressing and how designers are leveraging their Mentor tools to implement innovative approaches with advanced PCB technologies,” said Pete Waddell, editor of Printed Circuit Design and Fab magazine, and president of UP Media Group. “The fact that 89% of the entries had a high percentage of high-speed nets, and 44% of entries used advanced PCB fabrication technologies like HDI/microvias are examples of pushing the envelope to develop products that are more competitive."

Industry experts judged entries from 17 countries in five categories representing a wide variety of industries. The PCB industry expert judges included Happy Holden, senior technology specialist of Mentor Graphics; Gary Ferrari, technical support director, FTG Circuits; Pete Waddell, vice president of UP Media Group and publisher of Printed Circuit Designs & Fab magazine; Andy Kowalewski, senior interconnect designer, AdvantagePCB; and Rick Hartley, senior principal engineer, avionics division of L-3 Communications.

2009 Technology Leadership Award Winners

Category: Best Overall Design

Company Name: Tellabs, USA - Using the Expedition^® Enterprise, HyperLynx^® SI products

Design Team: Steven Everly, Stephen Mihal

Category: Consumer Electronics & Handhelds

Company Name: Panasonic, Japan – Using the Expedition Enterprise, HyperLynx SI products

Design Team: Takayuki Hinokidani, Shuhei Osako

• Runner Up: Vestel Electronic, Turkey – Using the Expedition Enterprise product

Category: Industrial Control, Instrumentation, Security & Medical

Company Name: CiBoard Electronic, Germany – Using the PADS^® and Expedition Enterprise products

Designer: Michael Schwitzer

• Runner Up: Oregano Systems, Austria – Using the Expedition Enterprise, HyperLynx SI products

Category: Military & Aerospace

Company Name: GE Fanuc, UK – Using the Expedition Enterprise product

Design Team: Ian McCormick, Jim Rose

• Runners Up (tied)
  • General Dynamics, Canada – Using the Board Station^® XE, HyperLynx PI products
  • DRS, Canada – Using the Expedition Enterprise, HyperLynx SI products

Category: Computers, Blade & Servers, Memory Systems

Company Name: Kontron, Canada – Using the Expedition Enterprise product

Designer: Benoit Mainville

• Runner Up: SiennaECAD, India – Using the PADS product

Category: Telecom, Network Controllers, Line cards

Company Name: Alcatel-Lucent, US – Using the Expedition Enterprise product

Designer: Susan Plul

• Runners Up (tied):
  • RAD Data Comm, Israel – Using the Expedition Enterprise, HyperLynx SI products
  • Rancore Technologies, India – Using the PADS, HyperLynx SI/PI products

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