ATExpo: going to Mars.

Rosemont, IL -- The principal manager for the Mars Rover devices will keynote Assembly Technology Expo (atexpo.com) later this month in suburban Chicago, IL. Christopher Salvo, mission manager, Mars Exploration Rover at NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratories, will deliver "A Tale of Two Rovers--Integrating, Testing and Operating the Mars Exploration Rovers," one of three keynotes of the Sept. 27-30 trade show. Also on tap: Karl Eberle, vice president and general manager of Harley-Davidson's Kansas City assembly facility, and Cheers' John Ratzenberger, now producer and host of the John Ratzenberger's Made in America series.

The conference, now in its 25th year, features over 30 sessions on such topics as lean production, flexible assembly and robotics in assembly. A special pavilion will show solutions for design, packaging, fabrication, assembly and test. The pavilion will also feature a working assembly line incorporating equipment for material handling and transport, screen printing, component pick-and-place, reflow, wave solder, visual and x-ray inspection, robotic point-to-point soldering, packaging, and factory modeling and simulation.