CLINTON, NY – Indium Corporation Senior Area Technical Manager Jason Chou is set to deliver a presentation at the Power Device & Module Expo, held in conjunction with NEPCON Japan, on January 24 in Tokyo. The presentation will explore trends in EV power electronics and the interconnect materials that enable them.

Interconnect materials play a major role in the efficiency and reliability of power electronics. The adoption of state-of-the-art wide bandgap die technologies such as SiC and GaN, require complementary die-attach materials to maximize the benefits. Higher power densities require new strategies for thermal management and heat dissipation. Packaging trends such as transfer molded modules and the direct bonding to heat-sinks and coolers is an area where different material and process options are considered, each with pros and cons for addressing the challenges of this application.

“As the world moves toward a greener, more sustainable future, the automotive industry is at the forefront of this transformation. EVs have emerged as a key solution for tacking carbon emissions which contribute to climate change, and at the heart of every electric vehicle are power electronics,” said Chou. “In this presentation, I will cover breakthroughs and trends that are shaping the power electronics landscape, especially for EVs.”

As senior area technical manager in Taiwan, Chou provides technical support to customers with a focus on the semiconductor industry. He has 10 years of industry experience, including specialization in front-end wafer fabrication processes, thin-film modules, and defect analysis for wafer metrology. Chou earned a master’s degree in Chemistry from National Tsing Hua University and a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from National Cheng Kung University. He served as the group leader for the National Nano Device Laboratory, Tainan, Taiwan, where he collaborated with university professors and industry professionals on special projects for semiconductor manufacturing.

PARAMOUNT, CA – An exciting 2023 year comes to a close for the team at Excellon Automation Company. Excellon’s president, Bailey Su, relays “We turned on operations at our newly designed manufacturing facility, added new product lines, and increased staffing in the key areas of engineering, production, and service in North America. The changes we’ve implemented throughout this past year are definitely making us more competitive in the PCB manufacturing space.”

The layout of Excellon’s new facility located in Paramount, California, was designed to enhance the multiple, parallel threads of sub-assembly manufacturing. An increase in the capacity of such concurrent processes, feeding into the final assembly stage, has dramatically reduced production lead-times. A new MRP system has also been integrated to better drive material flow plans and production schedules. According to Nghia Tran, production manager, “With the implementation of our new strategy, production schedules have shown a 15% improvement in lead-time reduction.”

All Excellon systems are designed and manufactured in California. Product lines include mechanical drill and drill-router platforms (single to six spindle configurations) and the COBRA II laser systems. Excellon also offers spindle rebuild and electronics repair services at the IER operations in Riverside, California.

SAN DIEGO, CA – Chiplet Summit announces its initial keynote schedule with emphasis on AI applications. The second annual Chiplet Summit, to occur on February 6-8 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, has now set its initial keynote schedule.

Speakers will be:

• Subi Kungeri, VP AI System Solutions, Applied Materials
• Abhijeet Chakraborty, VP Engineering, Synopsys
• Gurtej Sandhu, Sr Fellow/VP, Micron
• Tony Chan Carusone, CTO, Alphawave Semi
• Sam Salama, CEO, Hyperion Technologies
• Cliff Grossner and Bapi Vinnakota, Open Compute Project

There will also be short talks by the UCIe Consortium, Silicon Catalyst, and SNIA.

Keynote topics will include AI solutions, design methods, memory, interfaces, new packaging methods, and the open chiplet economy. Attendees will learn how chiplets can make the latest designs take less time, cost less, and be more scalable. Presentations will focus on handling AI applications, such as ChatGPT®.

Summit General Chair Chuck Sobey says, “At our keynotes, attendees hear what industry leaders are planning. AI is an obvious driver everywhere. It requires huge amounts of memory, fast low-latency connections, and the ability to do both training and model execution at top speed. Making it work well takes engineering and R&D that covers all chip design stages.”

PALO ALTO, CA – Arch®, the leading provider of machine data and analytics for manufacturing, is pleased to announce its three-year strategic collaboration with Jabil Inc., a leading global manufacturing solutions provider. The agreement, effective from September 1, 2023, to September 1, 2026, solidifies a long- term international collaboration between the two industry leaders.

Jabil selected Arch Systems for its unrivaled expertise in manufacturing data, offering a seamless solution that adds key functionality and enhances critical points within Jabil's internal system. The strategic collaboration spans four continents, twelve countries, and several hundred production lines front-to-back, from surface mount technology (SMT) through backend assembly and test.

Michal Wierzchowski, Vice President overseeing Digital Factory at Jabil, said, “We selected Arch for their rapid speed and non-disruptive deployment approach. During our pilot, Arch deployed their solution across hundreds of machines within weeks, achieving this with zero downtime. Unlike others, they don’t just collect data; they normalize it, granting our customers with instant access to essential product level data and insights. We look forward to collaborating with Arch further on our long-term goals for digital factory.”

Speed, expertise, no-downtime deployments, and cost efficiency were pivotal factors in Jabil’s decision. Arch’s pre-existing library of process insights and GLO, global and local operational intelligence tools, were also critical.

Arch CEO Andrew Scheuermann emphasized the importance of data in driving business intelligence, stating, “It starts with rapid, global data collection, whether standard sources, proprietary or legacy machines, and unlocking pre-built data applications and insights.”

He continued, “The real goal is actionable intelligence. Manufacturers are seeking a greater understanding of what’s happening in the factory, alerts, and playbooks to respond, and a system that learns and improves. Jabil is a leading pioneer in such efforts. We are honored to join forces with Jabil, a global smart manufacturing powerhouse.”