Wilsonville, OR—Mentor Graphics Corporation announced that Happy Holden, formerly of Westwood Associates, has joined Mentor Graphics Systems Design Division, located in Longmont, CO as senior technologist. Mr. Holden, an industry authority and sought-after expert in printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing will be advising Mentor Graphics on PCB systems design tool development requirements, as well as consulting for electronics companies on advanced PCB fabrication technology options, trends and cost / performance tradeoffs. Mr. Holden''s extensive experience provides electronics companies with the expertise to assist them in developing strategies for technology adoption.

Mr. Holden holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and extensive education in Computer Science, all from Oregon State University.

"Happy brings to Mentor an incredible depth and breadth of experience in emerging and future technologies, such as HDI/microvia, embedded components, flex and rigid-flex and optical interconnect," stated Henry Potts, vice president and general manager, systems design division, Mentor Graphics. "He is a major addition to our team and in his new role, will provide two important functions. First, Happy will consult with customers in the planning and adoption of advanced technologies. And second, he will ensure that Mentor continues its technology leadership by providing solutions that address these advanced technologies."

Mr. Holden joins Mentor Graphics from Westwood Associates where he was responsible for next generation printed circuit manufacturing technologies, advanced design tools and design consulting. Prior to joining Westwood, he held numerous positions at Hewlett-Packard Corporation in PCB design services, interconnect research and development and PCB fabrication engineering. While at Hewlett-Packard, Mr. Holden was responsible for the creation and startup of the NanYa PCB division in 1984. He retired from Hewlett-Packard after over 26 years. Mr. Holden formerly managed Hewlett-Packard''s application organizations in Taiwan and its Market Development Group in the Asia-Pacific Headquarters in Hong Kong.

"Happy Holden is an excellent addition to Mentor Graphics technical staff," stated Daya Nadamuni, EDA Industry Analyst. "He brings a strong industry reputation and deep knowledge about today''s advanced PCB fabrication technologies to Mentor. As a member of the technical staff, he will be able to drive future product direction and assist customers as they adopt next-generation design and manufacturing solutions."

Mr. Holden is a respected speaker on PCB topics and future technology strategies and has had over ninety technical papers published on automation, printed circuits, advanced packaging, PCB design, DFM and process engineering. Since 1998, he has authored a column on PCB technology in CircuiTree Magazine and has written most of the HDI-Microvia chapters in printed circuit handbooks like Coomb''s "PC Handbook," Ross''s "A Comprehensive Guide To The Design and Manufacture of Printed Assemblies" and Puttlitz''s "The Area Array Interconnection Handbook."

In 1991, Mr. Holden received the IPC President''s Award for outstanding contribution to the programs of the IPC worldwide and in 2000 was voted to "One of the 10 most influential people in printed circuits-world wide" by the Atomic Giant organization. He is a member of SMTA, IMAPS, IEEE and the IPC.