CLINTON, NY – As one of the leading materials providers to the electronics assembly industry, Indium Corporation® is proud to feature its innovative products at the International Symposium on Microelectronics, organized by the International Microelectronics Assembly and Packaging Society (IMAPS), from October 1-3, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Indium Corporation will showcase the following among its featured products:

• SiPaste® series is specifically designed for fine feature printing with fine powders ranging from Type 5 to Type 8. They help Avoid the Void®, reduce slumping, and demonstrate consistent superior printing performance. Indium Corporation’s SiPaste® C312HF is a new formulation offering the same excellent printing performance and material stability over time, with the benefit of having an easily cleanable chemistry with semi-aqueous or saponifier technology.
• PicoShot® NC-6M is a no-clean, halogen-free material specifically formulated to be compatible with Mycronic jetting systems. Chemically compatible with award-winning Indium12.8HF solder paste, PicoShot® NC-6M is optimized for small dot jetting and long-term jetting with Type 6 solder paste. PicoShot® NC-6M offers the smallest dot jetting volume among similar jetting pastes, at 1.6nL/dot. In addition to exceptional jetting performance, its unique oxidation barrier promotes complete powder coalescence during reflow to eliminate graping and similar reflow issues.
• NC-809 is Indium Corporation’s first no-clean, ultra-low residue, ball-attach flux on the market. It is a dual-purpose flux, engineered with high-tack characteristics for flip-chip applications with strong wetting power for ball-attach applications. NC-702A is a no-clean, near-zero residue, halogen-free, and SVHC-free adhesive solution designed for holding chips, dies, or solder preforms in place to prevent skewing and tilting during placement and reflow processes. Its chemical design enables it to hold a die in place during reflow and evaporate out while formic acid is released to enhance soldering. Its halogen-free nature makes NC-702A environmentally friendly, as well. Its near-zero residue feature also makes it compatible with the subsequent molding or underfill processes without the risk of delamination.
• WS-446HF, is a water-soluble, halogen-free, flip-chip dipping flux with an activator system powerful enough to promote good wetting on the most demanding surfaces, including solder-on-pad (SoP), Cu-OSP, ENIG, embedded trace substrates (ETS), and flip-chip on leadframe applications.
• Heat-Spring® solutions, ideal for TIM1.5/TIM2/TIM3 applications, are a compressible, non-reflow metal TIM. These indium-containing TIMs offer superior thermal conductivity over non-metals—with pure indium metal delivering 86W/mK in all planes.
• GalliTHERM®, a portfolio of gallium-based liquid metal solutions, draws on Indium Corporation's more than 60 years of experience in manufacturing gallium-based liquid metals. These liquid metal TIMs are designed for TIM1.5, TIM1, and TIM2 applications. Liquid metal TIMs offer high thermal conductivity for end-product longevity and reliability, low interfacial resistance against most surfaces, ensuring rapid heat dissipation, and extraordinary wetting ability for both metallic and non-metallic surfaces

To learn more about Indium Corporation’s products, visit our experts at IMAPS Boston at booth #321.

MILFORD, NH – Cirtronics, a leading advanced contract manufacturing firm, is excited to announce the appointment of Patrick Moody as the new President, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Board of Directors member. Founder and former CEO Gerardine Ferlins will continue to contribute to Cirtronics' legacy by remaining on the company’s Board of Directors.

Patrick brings over three decades of leadership and applied technical knowledge in electronics manufacturing and business strategy, and is set to lead Cirtronics into its next phase of innovation and success. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Patrick served as an aviation officer and maintenance test pilot in the U.S. Army.

Prior to joining Cirtronics, he served as President of KLINGER IGI, a precision fabricator of mechanical and electronic components used in products designed for highly regulated industries like aerospace, defense, and medical device manufacturing. In this role, he led the transformation of their factory automation, supply chain, and sales processes plus achieved AS9100 quality system certification. His extensive leadership experience spans his tenure as LUMI Technologies Ltd.’s Chief Operating Officer as well as his various key Vice President and Director roles at Fleetwood Group, Inc. In addition to streamlining operations and boosting sales performance at these companies, Patrick has also served as both member and chair of Fleetwood’s ESOP Board of Trustees. His ESOP experience was further enriched by his time on the Board of the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO).

“Patrick is exceptionally well-suited to lead Cirtronics,” said Gerardine Ferlins. “His deep alignment with our company’s collaborative culture, coupled with his proven track record, makes him the ideal leader to nurture our future growth. Cirtronics is poised for continued excellence, building on its foundation of innovation, quality and service.”

Patrick Moody said, “Cirtronics is an amazing group of people led by one of the most dynamic business leaders I’ve ever met. Gerardine leaves a tremendous legacy and a strong foundation for growth. I’m honored to have been chosen as her successor in service to our customers, suppliers, employee-owners, and community. Many exciting and transformational projects are already underway that will expand the capabilities of our systems, create operational efficiencies, and elevate what are already high customer collaboration levels. In short, it’s a great time in the company's history to join and lead this extraordinary team.”

JUÁREZ – On September 17, 2024, Kurtz Ersa Manufacturing México S.A. DE C.V. celebrated the inauguration of its new production facility in Ciudad Juárez. The festive ceremony was attended by over 70 guests, including business partners and colleagues from Mexico, the USA and Germany. The following guests of honor were welcomed by name: Cruz Pérez Cuellar, Mayor of Ciudad Juárez, Fernando Alba, responsible for “Innovation and Economic Development” in the Chihuahua region, businessman and building contractor Jorge Bermúdez and Rainer Kurtz, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Kurtz Ersa Group.

It took just over a year from the ground-breaking ceremony to the inauguration of the new site with 4,500 m 2 of production space, offices and demo center – with the festive inauguration in Juárez, Kurtz Ersa has now established its third major service and logistics center in America after Plymouth (USA) and Guadalajara (Mexico). The new production facility will initially focus on the production of Ersa reflow soldering machines and will also act as a pre-production facility for the US plant. Since 2012, Kurtz Ersa has had a local presence under the flag of Kurtz Ersa México. Due to the rapidly increasing demand in Mexico, the company moved to Guadalajara in 2016 to a larger office including a demo center for Ersa tools and machines, where customer seminars and training courses have also been held since then.

In 2022, the strategic decision was made to expand our own production capacities to Mexico. Following the expansion in 2020 with a new building in Wertheim, additional growth can be created with the plant in Mexico, which will also benefit the Wertheim production and development site and further strengthen Kurtz Ersa globally. Inspired by the success of the reflow soldering systems in Asia, where around 1,000 machines have been produced annually since 2013, the decision was made to also build the new high-end HOTFLOW THREE model in Mexico in the future. “After careful consideration of various cities and options, including leasing an existing facility, we decided to build here in Juárez, a location that offers proximity to the US border, a talented workforce and excellent infrastructure,” said Albrecht Beck in his speech, who in his role as President & COO Kurtz Ersa, Inc. is also Managing Director of Kurtz Ersa Manufacturing México. At the beginning of 2024, the management team in Mexico had put together a start-up team of highly qualified engineers – six of these engineers had traveled directly to Germany, where they received extensive training, including building their first machine and working on documentation and processes. The aim of manufacturing in Ciudad Juárez is to produce machines that match or even exceed the quality of machines “made in Germany”. To ensure this, the same advanced production methods and processes have been introduced.

“I am convinced that this plant will develop into a vibrant center of our production activities and that we have made an excellent choice with Ciudad Juárez – on behalf of the management, I would like to thank everyone involved in the successful implementation of this project. First and foremost, I would like to mention Marcelino Espelosin and his team México, who made the successful realization of this ambitious project possible. Also the entire US team of Kurtz Ersa, Inc. as well as the German Ersa and Kurtz colleagues, who have contributed significantly to the establishment of production here with tireless commitment,” said Albrecht Beck, before handing over the microphone to Vincent and Rainer Kurtz, who, as representatives of the Kurtz shareholder families, emphasized the strategic importance of the project for the Kurtz Ersa Group. The words of welcome were followed by the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony, factory tour, festive buffet and live music from a mariachi band, before numerous customers were able to immerse themselves directly in the performance capabilities of Kurtz Ersa systems on the following Technology Day.

Learn more: www.kurtzersa.com 

SAN FRANCISCO – Bright Machines, the leader in software-defined manufacturing, today announced that Chris Stori has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the company. Stori will lead Bright Machines into its next phase of growth delivering a suite of software-defined automation services for electronics manufacturing customers, including complex server assembly to meet the exploding demand for AI infrastructure.

Bright Machines' automated solution is achieved through a software-driven robotics stack. By leveraging computer vision, machine learning, and proprietary software, Bright Machines' levels of speed, visibility, and flexibility are unmatched in electronics manufacturing. Currently, the most sought-after application is in the company's work to build the "AI backbone." With AI demand at an all-time high, and the additional headwinds of chip shortages, outdated infrastructure, labor gaps, and supply chain disruptions. Compounded by increasing levels of complexity with today's AI infrastructure; it's almost impossible to manufacture at scale in a way that maintains the highest quality standards and is also efficient. With major market forces putting AI at the forefront of economic and political importance, Stori joins at a perfect time to scale Bright Machines to meet global demand for AI hardware infrastructure.

"Bright Machines' flexible automation and proprietary software — such as Smart Skills, the Bright Machines' brain — are key differentiators that stood out to me immediately," said Stori. "The expertise of the staff across multiple domains puts Bright Machines at the forefront of the AI and manufacturing space. Our solutions deliver value across multiple dimensions, helping customers improve quality, reduce time to market, provide insights into their manufacturing processes, and address security concerns."

Stori joins Bright Machines following his more than 11-year tenure at Meraki and Cisco. Most recently at Cisco, he was the Senior Vice President and General Manager for Cisco's Enterprise Networking, Meraki, and IoT Business. In this role, he led the teams responsible for business strategy and development, product management, and user experience for all enterprise networking. The multi-billion-dollar portfolio included the industry's broadest range of wireless, switching, and routing solutions. Prior to Cisco and Meraki, Stori spent seven years working at McKinsey & Company where he led projects helping U.S. manufacturing and industrial companies enter developing international markets and he also focused on renewable energy and mitigating climate change.

"Bright Machines is poised to completely change the way the world builds electronics and hardware," said Lior Susan, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Bright Machines. "Stori's extensive experience propelling companies like Meraki from millions to billions of dollars in revenue is a testament to his ability to lead and scale a complex organization. As Chairman, I look forward to supporting Chris as he embarks on his work. I am confident that he will elevate Bright Machines to new heights and help fulfill the company's mission to rethink manufacturing at a critical time for the industry and its customers."

This appointment comes on the heels of the company's recent $126M Series C fundraise led by investment from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and with participation from NVIDIA, Microsoft, Eclipse, and others. Earlier this year the company also announced a partnership with Microsoft Azure to deliver a full-stack environment for all stages of the manufacturing life cycle. Building on this momentum, Stori will focus on furthering Bright Machines' mission to radically transform the manufacturing industry through software and automation by driving customer growth and deepening partnerships with key industry players like Nvidia and Microsoft.

For more information on Bright Machines and its services, see here.