Membrane switch OEMs who design their products with irregular shapes may find the solution they need in UniGlo, a backlighting technology from Lumitex. The company designed UniGlo to provide bright (up to 75 ft-L), uniform, low-power, and low-cost backlighting. UniGlo’s fiber-optic panels are positioned between the overlay and the circuit board/metal dome assembly. The fiber-optic tail is routed to the LED, which is soldered into an appropriate place on the circuit board. The panels can backlight an area up to 4 x 6 in. (102-152 mm) with one LED, and they’re designed to be thin enough (0.013 in./0.33 mm) to not interfere with the switch’s tactile feel. Power consumption is 2-4 VDC, 5-30 mA for a single LED backlight. Lumitex says the panels have been tested to more than 5 million actuations and provide backlight lifetimes up to 100,000 hr (depending on LED source used). Lumitex, Inc., 8443 Dow Circle, Strongsville, OH 44136, 440-243-8401, fax: 440-243-8402, Web: www.lumitex.com.