ARIES ELECTRONICS INC

Aries Electronics, incorporated in 1972, began when the late William "Bill" Sinclair purchased the back panel line from Thomas & Betts Corporation. The line included IC sockets, headers, and printed circuit cards. Under Bill's vision, Aries expanded the line to encompass a wide variety of packaging products, including sockets, headers and covers, programmable devices and a variety of jumper and cable assemblies. Aries has become established in the industry as a major source for unique connector products that solve a wide variety of packaging problems. Aries is the recognized industry leader in ZIF (Zero-Insertion-Force) Test Sockets for DIP, PGA, PLCC, and SOIC devices, and continues to be a leading source for a wide variety of specialty electronic connectors. In recent years, the company has made major inroads in the market for high-temperature sockets and flexible cable products. The addition of the Correct-A-Chip® product line established the company as a major source for "intelligent connectors" (incorporating other components, both passive and active), adapters (connectors that allow the use of one termination style on a board designed for a different termination style). Most recently, the company has developed and patented several concepts for BGA (ball grid array) and LGA (land grid array) sockets, and has acquired a high-frequency test and burn-in socket line, furthering growth in the test socket market.