Teddington, UK -- David Hillman and Doug Pauls will present a class on “Crafting a Lead-Free Solder Process” at the National Physical Laboratory on June 21. The course covers the necessary elements to develop a robust, high-reliability, Pb-free manufacturing process. 
 
Hillman is a metallurgical engineer in the Advanced Operations Engineering Department of Rockwell Collins. Pauls is a principal materials and process engineer, working on troubleshooting current manufacturing process and development of new materials and processes. 
 
Topics will include: the metallurgy of Pb-free; finish on boards and components; effects on organic materials from higher reflow temperatures – laminates, solder masks, adhesives, fluxes, process aids; assembly equipment considerations; cleaning of Pb-free residues; testing for residues; reliability testing and case studies; process characterization and qualification; environmental waste stream considerations.
 
To sign up for the course, contact Roger Hughes, Roger.Hughes@npl.co.uk.

TORONTO -- A top executive at Celestica Inc. on Monday suggested to an investor conference that a large acquisition is possible in the company's future.

Celestica treasurer Paul Nicoletti said the EMS firm sees "pretty sizable" opportunities, telling the audience, "I would say right now the opportunities, call it organic-slash-acquisition, are as high now as they've been over the last couple of years."

Read more ...

ATLANTA -- In his blog today, Dr. Brian Toleno of Henkel reminds users to profile adhesives and underfills as they would solder pastes.

Click here to read: http://circuitsassembly.com/blog/?p=16

 
Zuken's scalable enterprise-wide PCB design solution, CR-5000, is at the core of the contract, along with Signal Integrity design tool suite, CR-5000 Lightning.

BRUSSELS – Valor Computerized Systems has implemented its DFM software at Siemens Bocholt in Germany, the company said today.

In a press release, Siemens said it chose the Valor tool for its extensive DfM analysis and checking capabilities. “We also wanted to improve data management and bidirectional communication with our bare board manufacturer.” The tool has cut setup time and costs and improved handling of manufacturing change orders.

Valor’s DFM software is based on Enterprise 3000 and simulates production from design through manufacture to assembly. Designs are optimized using a physical design model of the PCB assembly to reduce revision spins.

 

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS -- The SMTA and Auburn University seek abstracts for the Harsh Environment Electronics Workshop a two-day program that will focus on assemblies, semiconductor technology, substrates, connectors and lead-free products for use in automotive, space, military and avionics.

Abstracts of 200-300 words should focus on the latest developments, state-of-the-art technology and trends. The deadline is March 22.

The event will be held July 19-20 in Indianapolis.

Contact: conference coordinator Melissa Serres at melissa@smta.org.

UTICA, NY -- Indium Corp. vice president of technology Dr. Ning-Cheng Lee will emphasize reliability in a presentation to be delivered at the Intel Lead-Free Symposium in Scottsdale, AZ, next week.

Dr. Lee’s presentation will depict a supplier’s perspective on the impact and challenges for next-generation flux and paste in drop-critical applications.

Dr. Lee will look at flux and paste formulation directions, expected challenges, assembly implications and challenges, and the shift to using Pb-free fluxes.

Dr. Lee is a renowned expert on soldering and frequent lecturer.

The symposium takes place March 15-16.

YAVNE, ISRAEL – Valor Computerized Systems announced full support and integration of its Trilogy 5000 assembly line automation software with the SIPlace Pro interface used in Siemens' placement systems.

The integration is important because Siemens has close to a 30% market share worldwide in the component placement market.

The integration enables users to optimize their assembly lines, Valor said.

In a statement, Valor executive vice president for marketing and product management Julian Coates said, “The seamless integration between Valor’s Trilogy 5000 advanced assembly line engineering solution and the powerful SIPlace Pro open interface delivers tremendous cost savings to Siemens customers by generating the fastest route from data load to optimized machine program generation. Siemens customers will enjoy reduced NPI cycle time, increased shop floor productivity, and quicker machine programming and set-up times.”

The Valor tool improves CAD/BoM loading, stencil optimization, rotation neutralization, first-rate machine/line optimization and balancing and NPI debug time, among other features, Valor said.

BEIJING -- China has issued its version of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive; the Chinese version was promulgated on Feb. 28 and takes effect March 1, 2007.

An copy of the law in English is available here.

Read more ...

LONDON -- A survey conducted by the SMART Group during its annual Lead-Free Seminar in February found the majority of respondents will either not be ready or are uncertain about meeting requirements by the compliance date. Also, a large number of companies believe they are exempt from the RoHS Directive. The top challenges to being noncompliant by July 1 were noted as: lack of availability of Pb-free components, compliance issues, cost of stock to support spares, reliability, moisture sensitive devices, rework and repair.

Read more ...

KEY LARGO, FL – William (Bill) Scheu, president of Automated Production Equipment (A.P.E.), died March 1 of a heart attack.

Scheu is survived by his wife, Barbara, sons Casey and Ian, and four grandchildren.

A memorial was held today in Key Largo.

Visitation will be held at Grubbs Funeral Home in Wytheville, VA, on March 9. Scheu will be buried March 10 at the Family Cemetery in Wytheville. Services will begin at 11 a.m. at the Galilee Christian Church.

In a statement Scheu’s colleague David Horvath said, “Bill meant much to many people, from the response we have seen only after a few hours … and to us he was a friend, leader, father, mentor all at the same time.

“Bill encouraged many friends throughout the world and was a support to many with sage advice and a helping hand. His askance humor, sharp intellect and piercing observation will be sadly missed.”

ATLANTA -- In his Web log today, Circuits Assembly editor Mike Buetow discusses "greenwashing" -- the practice of mischaracterizing something as environmentally friendly despite scientific evidence to the contrary -- and Wikipedia.