-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueComing to Terms With AI
In this issue, we examine the profound effect artificial intelligence and machine learning are having on manufacturing and business processes. We follow technology, innovation, and money as automation becomes the new key indicator of growth in our industry.
Box Build
One trend is to add box build and final assembly to your product offering. In this issue, we explore the opportunities and risks of adding system assembly to your service portfolio.
IPC APEX EXPO 2024 Pre-show
This month’s issue devotes its pages to a comprehensive preview of the IPC APEX EXPO 2024 event. Whether your role is technical or business, if you're new-to-the-industry or seasoned veteran, you'll find value throughout this program.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
LA/Orange County SMTA Expo and Tech Forum Review
December 9, 2019 | Dan Feinberg, Technology Editor, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
A few weeks ago, I was invited to attend the LA/Orange County SMTA Expo and Tech Forum, which was held in Long Beach, California (Figure 1). Earlier this year, I started covering the quarterly lunch and learn sessions presented by the Orange County Chapter of the IPC Designers Council. Circuit design is not a topic I have been involved with for many decades, but I find that the lectures, presentations, and updates are highly informative, and the discussions with the other attendees are well worth the time spent.
Figure 1: SMTA show floor.
This specific event combined an exhibit of about 50 companies put on by the local SMTA chapter with a series of valuable presentations and Q&A sessions presented by the IPC Designers Council. The show floor was moderately busy with a constant flow of attendees walking through (Figures 2 and 3). There was a good mixture of equipment and consumable suppliers, all very willing to discuss their products as well as general industry happenings.
Figure 2: Indium and Nikon booths.
Figure 3: PFC Flexible Circuits table.
There were two excellent presentations, one of them entitled “Why Are We Cleaning No-Clean?” by Mike Konrad from Aqueous Technologies, which was divided into two sessions (Figure 4). The content was interesting, and Mike’s presentation was informative and entertaining. It seems that many assemblers have implemented a cleaning protocol for assemblies reflowed with no-clean flux, as many have experienced residue-related failures. Mike also spoke about the factors that affect residue tolerance and methods to predict an assembly’s residue tolerance.
The other presentation was by Keith Bryant, an advanced design engineering consultant who spoke on X-ray inspection advances for BGAs and bottom-terminated components, including the problem of voids within the layers of electronics or in the PCB itself. Voiding is a problem because it can affect both the short- and long-term joint strength and reliability as well as the thermal conductivity, thus reducing the heat that would otherwise be dissipated away from key areas. While X-Ray inspection has long been used to nondestructively probe for these and other issues, there have been recent developments improving in 2D and 3D X-ray inspection.
The combination of a modest exposition showing many new offerings and the ability to discuss them with those that represent them, along with an opportunity to mingle with others in the industry and attend valuable and interesting presentations locally, provided great value for anyone within an hour’s drive. Based on the attendance, it seems that this has been recognized.
Suggested Items
Micross, Sital Announce Global Manufacturing & Distribution Partnership
05/07/2024 | Micross Components, Inc.Micross Components, Inc., a leading global provider of mission-critical microelectronic components and services for high-reliability aerospace, defense, space and industrial applications, is pleased to announce our exclusive partnership with Sital Technology (sitaltech.com), the leader in MIL-STD-1553 IP cores, specializing in integrated FPGA solutions.
Worldwide Silicon Wafer Shipments Dip 5% in Q1 2024
05/07/2024 | SEMIWorldwide silicon wafer shipments decreased 5.4% quarter-over-quarter to 2,834 million square inches in the first quarter of 2024, a 13.2% drop from the 3,265 million square inches recorded during the same quarter last year, the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) reported in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.
Nolan’s Notes: Coming to Terms With AI
05/07/2024 | Nolan Johnson -- Column: Nolan's NotesHow fast do things move in the world of data analytics? Here’s an example. We’ve been planning this issue on artificial intelligence for the past few months, and, in fact, I had already written this column about a month ago. Then I went to IPC APEX EXPO and upended it all. I originally had compared AI to drag racing in that (CPU) horsepower and new (data) vehicles have steadily delivered higher performance competition. That seemed pretty accurate given how generative AI models dominated the popular media with amazing results—and sometimes spectacular crashes.
May Issue of SMT007 Magazine: Coming to Terms With AI
05/06/2024 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamIn the May 2024 issue of SMT007 Magazine, we examine the profound effect artificial intelligence and machine learning are having on manufacturing and business processes. We follow technology, innovation, and money as automation becomes the new key indicator of growth in our industry.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
05/03/2024 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007This week’s most important news is strategic—and telling. When one puts together the IPC industry reports, we simply have to include the recent conversation with Shawn DuBravac and Tom Kastner. On the design side, check out the latest “On The Line With…” podcast featuring Brad Griffin from Cadence Design Systems, discussing SI and PI in the realm of intelligent system design.