-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueLevel Up Your Design Skills
This month, our contributors discuss the PCB design classes available at IPC APEX EXPO 2024. As they explain, these courses cover everything from the basics of design through avoiding over-constraining high-speed boards, and so much more!
Opportunities and Challenges
In this issue, our expert contributors discuss the many opportunities and challenges in the PCB design community, and what can be done to grow the numbers of PCB designers—and design instructors.
Embedded Design Techniques
Our expert contributors provide the knowledge this month that designers need to be aware of to make intelligent, educated decisions about embedded design. Many design and manufacturing hurdles can trip up designers who are new to this technology.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
Need-to-Know Imperative Permeates Technical Conference Sessions at IPC Expo, Apex
November 16, 2006 | IPCEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Tin whiskers, materials and regulatory issues, assembly reliability and embedded passives are just a handful of the critical topics that will take main stage at the Technical Conference sessions of IPC Printed Circuits Expo, APEX and the Designers Summit 2007, February 20 - 22, in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Los Angeles, Calif. In total, 35 separate sessions that feature more than 100 papers on the most significant issues challenging the electronics interconnect industry will be presented by leading global experts from every facet of industry's supply chain, including representatives from OEMs, EMS companies, suppliers, PCB manufacturers and the PCB design community.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
"Each year, the process to select the most learned papers becomes more difficult as our industry faces progressively more diverse and complex challenges," comments Greg Munie, technical conference director. "Over the span of three days, attendees need to get up to date on the latest technical research and process development, so the conference technical committee must carefully review each submission and narrow the field to those with the greatest influence on our industry. And that's what really sets this conference apart from others -- the caliber of the technical content."
New sessions on lead free technologies, RoHS/WEEE compliance, advanced packaging, reliability and testing, design, PCB fabrication, plating and PCB via technologies will provide attendees with the latest data, so they can make informed decisions about their own business processes. Munie adds, "Our greatest service to the industry is bringing to companies the need-to-know imperatives so they can continue to succeed."
Tom Newton, IPC director of PCB programs, standards and technology, agrees. "With the start of the EU RoHS Directive on July 1 of this year, we now are beginning to see how the industry is implementing lead free assembly." Accordingly, the conference will have a number of sessions on lead free including: use of lead free in aerospace applications and wave and reflow soldering; the first indications of lead free reliability; lead free surface finishes; and a group of three sessions on tin whiskers. Newton adds, "I'm excited to offer attendees [these] sessions on tin whiskers. Given that tin plating, especially immersion tin, is a very popular surface finish for lead free applications and that it is a very cost effective & very solderable alternative to lead, attendees need to gain full understanding of serious consequences. While tin whiskers can't be eliminated, they can be minimized. And promising research continues to gather data that will eventually show how to prevent the formation of tin whiskers ? but that'll be for another conference."
For more information on the Technical Conference at IPC Printed Circuits Expo, APEX and the Designers Summit 2007 or to search sessions by topic or speaker, visit www.GoIPCShows.org .
About IPC
IPC (www.ipc.org ) is a global trade association based in Bannockburn, Ill., dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its 2,400 member companies which represent all facets of the electronics interconnect industry, including design, printed circuit board manufacturing and electronics assembly. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of an estimated $3.4 trillion global electronics industry. IPC maintains additional offices in Taos, N.M.; Arlington, Va.; Garden Grove, Calif.; Stockholm, Sweden; and Shanghai, China.