MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SMTA is pleased to announce Emily Williams, Lorain County Community College, has been selected as the recipient of the 2022 JoAnn Stromberg Student Leader Scholarship.

The SMTA Awards Committee selected Emily for her committed leadership in the SMTA. Emily is currently enrolled in the Micro Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) program at Lorain County Community College. She holds the Student Leader role for the SMTA Ohio Valley Chapter, serving as an advocate for local college students. Upon completion of her studies, Emily would like to work as a professional researcher at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, where she could contribute towards the advancement of technology in various fields of research.

The $3000 JoAnn Stromberg Student Leadership Scholarship, given in honor of the nearly 30 years of service dedicated by former Executive Administrator, JoAnn Stromberg, was established following her retirement in 2015. The purpose of this scholarship is to encourage students to take on more leadership opportunities and strengthen the connection between students and the electronics industry.

The Stromberg Scholarship is awarded annually to a student pursuing a degree in electronics and actively involved in the SMTA. The scholarship is intended for the purchase of technical books and research materials, for participation in conferences related to electronics assembly and packaging, and for living expenses if necessary.

The award will be presented in person at the 2022 SMTA International Conference, October 31 - November 3, 2022 in Minneapolis, MN.

The nomination period will be available early next year for 2023 candidates. Consider making a donation to the scholarship by visiting https://www.smta.org/scholarship/.

Please contact Saniya Pilgaonkar, scholarship@smta.org or +1-952-920-7682, with questions.

SMTA – A Global Association Working at a Local Level

SMTA is an international network of professionals who build skills, share practical experience and develop solutions in Electronics Manufacturing (EM), including microsystems, emerging technologies, and related business operations.

NASHVILLE — KYZEN, the global leader in innovative environmentally friendly cleaning chemistries, is pleased to announce that the SMTA has honored Sherry Stepp, Global Marketing Manager, with a 2022 Members of Distinction Award. Stepp was chosen for an Excellence in Leadership Award. Recipients of the Members of Distinction awards are selected for showing exceptional dedication to the association and the electronics manufacturing industry.

The Excellence in Leadership Award honors strong leaders who continue to support and elevate the association. Stepp has been an advocate for the SMTA on a national, international, and most recently at the local level.

Since she joined SMTA in 2009, Stepp has been an important voice with the Marcom Committee, the Women’s Leadership Program and the Expos Committee. Since 2020 she took on leadership roles with her local Huntsville chapter, first as President and most recently as VP of Membership.

SMTA is an international network of professionals who build skills, share practical experience and develop solutions in Electronics Manufacturing (EM), including microsystems, emerging technologies, and related business operations. The association has recognized exceptional individual and corporate members for their immeasurable contributions to the association since 1994.

As KYZEN’s Global Marketing Manager, Stepp has been with the company for more than 25 years. KYZEN connects leading science with care to create the most effective cleaning solutions for each customer’s unique manufacturing process or problem. For more information about KYZEN, or to ask specific technical cleaning questions, visit www.kyzen.com.

About KYZEN

KYZEN is a global leader in providing environmentally responsible, RoHS compliant precision cleaning chemistries for industries ranging from electronics and advanced packaging to metal finishing and aerospace applications. Since its founding in 1990, KYZEN’s innovative cleaning technologies, scientific expertise and customer support have been repeatedly recognized with the industry’s most prestigious awards. For more information, visit www.kyzen.com.

Indium Corporation Senior Global Product Manager for Semiconductor and Advanced Materials, Sze Pei Lim, will be part of a panel presentation at the International Microsystems, Packaging, Assembly and Circuits Technology (IMPACT) conference in Taipei, Taiwan on Oct. 27. The presentation will cover the findings from a technical paper titled The Effects of Voids on Solder Joint Reliability in First Level Interconnect.

First level interconnect (FLI), e.g., flip-chip attach on substrate or wafer, using solder as the interconnect material, is employed extensively in advanced packaging assembly. During the flip-chip die-attach process, some voids are often formed in the solder joints. In the past, this may not have been seen as a major issue since the voiding percentage is typically less than 10%; however, as miniaturization continues, the solder joint of FLI is becoming smaller (<100µm bump or Cu pillar size) with tighter pitch and higher density, there is an increasing concern with how the micro voids in the solder joint will affect the package’s long-term reliability even though the void percentage is not excessive. This paper will describe the details of the different test conditions, and discuss observations from the failure analysis done with cross-sections and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis.

As Senior Global Product Manager for Semiconductor and Advanced Materials, Lim works closely with R&D and manufacturing, and engages with the world’s leading semiconductor companies and contract manufacturers. She is a task force member of the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) Packaging Technology Integration Group and has co-chaired a number of industry projects and road-mapping initiatives over the past five years. She is also on the executive committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Packaging Society, Malaysia Chapter. Lim is a part of the organizing committee for the International Electronics Manufacturing Technology (IEMT). She has authored a number of technical papers and presented regularly in various international technical conferences. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the National University of Singapore, where she majored in industrial chemistry with a focus in polymers. She is a Certified SMT Process Engineer and has earned her Six Sigma Green Belt designation.

About Indium Corporation

Indium Corporation is a premier materials refiner, smelter, manufacturer, and supplier to the global electronics, semiconductor, thin-film, and thermal management markets. Products include solders and fluxes; brazes; thermal interface materials; sputtering targets; indium, gallium, germanium, and tin metals and inorganic compounds; and NanoFoil®. Founded in 1934, the company has global technical support and factories located in China, Germany, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.

For more information about Indium Corporation, visit www.indium.com or email jhuang@indium.com. You can also follow our experts, From One Engineer To Another® (#FOETA), at www.linkedin.com/company/indium-corporation/ or @IndiumCorp.

Tokyo, Japan – Saki Corporation, an innovator in the field of automated optical and X-ray inspection equipment, has been chosen for Infineon’s ‘High Power Equipment Supplier’ award. Saki’s X-ray inspection machines are a key system for quality control in Infineon’s manufacture of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) power modules, and it is honored to receive this award in acknowledgement of the exceptional logistics and performance work achieved in this ongoing partnership.

With its AXI central to Infineon’s inspection process and quality assurance, Saki is pleased to receive this annual award, reflecting the dedication of its team as well as the reliability of the hardware itself.

Saki was delighted to attend Infineon’s event and ceremony in Kuala Lumpur to receive the recognition of its work. There, Eddie Ichiyama, Saki’s Chief Sales Manager - Overseas, accepted the award, saying, “It is an honor to receive Infineon’s award for our continued improvements in the field of power semiconductor manufacture. Saki has advanced the technology in the essential arena of quality assurance and inspection, and is proud to be recognized with this award.”

For further information about Saki, visit www.sakicorp.com/en/.