Hillsboro, OR 1/5/09—Electron microscopy firm FEI has announced that its gross bookings for the fourth quarter of 2008 totaled more than $170 million, exceeding its October 2008 forecast of $150 million. FEI noted that the gross bookings will be reduced by 5%–8% due to the normal quarterly revaluation of backlog. “Life Science bookings were paced by several orders for our Titan Kris S/TEM from leading research institutions around the globe, and our Research bookings remained robust, offsetting industry-wide weakness in semiconductor and data storage markets,” said Don Kania, FEI president and CEO. FEI also announced the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Intellection, the maker of the QEMSCAN automated mineralogy system, for $2.8 million. Automated mineralogy systems identify and characterize minerals in drill core, particulate or lump materials utilizing a scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray analysis and specialized software (see IBO 12/15/07). “Customers are beginning to deploy automated mineralogy in a wider range of minerals and expand from the lab to the mine site. This purchase also increases our installed base in a strategically important market for FEI’s future,” commented Dr. Paul Scagnetti, vice president and general manager of FEI’s Industry Market division.