Benchmark Electronics Recognized as Supplier for 2011 Design Medical Excellence Award Winner

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Jun 02, 2011, 09:20 ET

ANGLETON, Texas, June 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: BHE), a leading integrated contract manufacturing provider, announced today that a product it helped commercialize and currently manufactures has won the 2011 Medical Design Excellence Award and 2011 Edison Award for best new science and medical diagnostic product.

The 3M™ Integrated Cycler, which has won a 2011 Medical Design Excellence Award in the In Vitro Diagnostics category, is designed to run real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for qualitative detection and multi-analyte detection. It is used in conjunction with Focus Diagnostics Simplexa™ molecular chemistries. Benchmark Electronics' Minnesota division provided comprehensive design for manufacturing and manufacturing services from initial development through volume manufacturing in support of 3M.

"Benchmark Electronics played an important role in assisting 3M to meet the critical market need for the 3M Integrated Cycler. The Benchmark team was committed to developing and manufacturing this reliable product that will benefit the laboratory," said Thomas Cole, Global Business Director, 3M Infection Prevention Division.

The Medical Design Excellence Awards competition (www.MDEAwards.com) is the only awards program that exclusively recognizes contributions and advances in the design of medical products. Entries are evaluated on the basis of their design and engineering features, including innovative use of materials, user-related functions that improve healthcare delivery and change traditional medical attitudes or practices, features that provide enhanced benefits to the patient, and the ability of the product development team to overcome design and engineering challenges so that the product meets its clinical objectives.

The 2011 Medical Design Excellence Award winners will be honored at a presentation ceremony on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 in New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, in conjunction with the Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) East Conference and Exposition (www.MDMEast.com), June 7-9, 2011.

The distinguished Edison Awards symbolize the persistence and excellence personified by Thomas Alva Edison, inspiring America's drive to remain in the forefront of innovation, creativity and ingenuity in the global economy.

The 2011 Edison Awards are sponsored by The Nielsen Company, Discovery Channel, Science Channel, Spencer Trask and USA Today. The Edison Awards are granted under the aegis of the Thomas A. Edison Papers at Rutgers University, a globally recognized research network dedicated to the study of innovation and its application in the 21st Century. For more information about the Edison Award finalists, please visit www.edisonawards.com.

About Benchmark Electronics

Benchmark Electronics, Inc. provides integrated electronics manufacturing, design and engineering services to original equipment manufacturers of computers and related products for business enterprises, medical devices, industrial control equipment, which includes equipment for the aerospace and defense industry, testing and instrumentation products, and telecommunication equipment. Benchmark's global operations include 21 facilities in ten countries. Benchmark's Common Shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BHE.

SOURCE Benchmark Electronics, Inc.