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First Meeting of CONNECT Sets Proposals for Next Stage of European Funding for Framework 6
October 28, 2002 |Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Brussels, Belgium -- The first meeting of CONNECT, the European Electronics Interconnection Network, took place on Wednesday, October 16, here.
This CONNECT network has grown from the European Lead-Free Network (ELFNET) first established by SOLDERTEC during the middle of last year, and, while remaining focused on lead-free technology at this important stage in implementation, will also look towards long-term developments in electronics interconnection technologies of the future. The primary objective of CONNECT is to act as a "Network of Excellence" by coordinating and managing "Integrated Projects" on specific technological areas potentially funded by the EU or from national sources. Europe has strong electronics technology centers, and more than 10 years' research experience in lead-free, but this is often fragmented, uncoordinated and nationally based. This is particularly evident when the European situation is compared to coordinated activities in the US or Japan. The aim of CONNECT is to provide an infrastructure and unified point of reference for the researchers and industrialists in this field across Europe.One of the purposes of this meeting was to formulate a new set of proposals for the next stage of European funding for Framework 6. CONNECT aims to establish Europe as an international leader in electronics interconnection through integrating all research activities and providing effective networking opportunities. The meetings will be a forum to define outstanding research needs to tackle this challenging new technology and to exchange ideas and projects information. Ultimately this network hopes to achieve a more efficient use of funding for research.
The network is rapidly expanding. Attendees comprised representatives from industry and research organizations from each of the 15 current European member states, and contacts have been established with many organizations in those Accession states due to join the EU in 2004 or later.The EU Research Directorate aims to improve the coordination and cohesion of research within Europe through the formation of a European Research Area, and selection of projects for the Sixth Framework Research Program from which funding will be available from November 2002 to 2006.The meeting was chaired by Jeremy Pearce, Ph.D., technical information and forecasting manager at SOLDERTEC. The aims and initial results from a range of current research projects at European research organizations were presented throughout a morning session that included a Nordic lead-free project presented by IVF, Sweden; EFSOT international lead-free project presented by Fraunhofer, Germany; IMECAT lead-free program presented by IMEC, Belgium; and lead-free reliability presented by Philips, Netherlands.In the afternoon session, a summary of the current status of lead-free research and implementation in the USA and Japan was presented by Kay Nimmo, research director at SOLDERTEC, followed by information on the COST 531 network and further information on other research proposals. Heico Frima represented the European Commission and gave a presentation on the planned requirements for Framework 6 projects, and took place on the final discussions. Tin Technology is a membership-based organization involved in the research, development, and marketing of tin based technologies. SOLDERTEC is based at Tin Technology's offices. It is a membership-based organization that aims to provide access to leading-edge lead-free research and information within a community of key electronics industry technologists.
For more information, visit www.lead-free.org.