News
In a drawing held during APEX 2004, Betatron Inc. (San Jose, CA), a contract assembler specializing in high-end prototype assembly, won the free use of Dage Precision Industries' (Fremont, CA) XD6500 digital x-ray system.
The winning entry was one of the more than 400 applications received during Dage's pre-APEX and APEX show promotion. Said winner, Mike Young, "I feel like the luckiest guy at the show! We've just received the latest and greatest x-ray inspection technology available today."
Dage Precision's managing director, Paul Walter, said, "With over 400 entries in this year's drawing and the sheer number of system demonstrations performed here at APEX, we're really pleased. Congratulations to Mike and to Betatron."
The integrated digital image acquisition technology, XiDAT, on the system's platform offers improved digital data processing, enhanced resolution, extensive grayscale definition and the Image Wizard software operating system. The x-ray system achieves high resolution and magnification levels through use of Dage's proprietary x-ray tube technology, focusing lens and optimized image chain.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Kester (Des Plaines, IL), Metcal (Menlo Park, CA) and KIC (San Diego, CA) will present a series of Lead-free Technology Seminars scheduled to take place throughout 2004. The next seminar will take place April 6-7 in the San Jose, CA area.
Kester, a supplier of solder and related materials and services to the electronics assembly, micro-component and industrial soldering industries, Metcal, a lead-free soldering solutions provider, and KIC, a provider of lead-free thermal process solutions, understand the challenges associated with the implementation of lead-free assembly. This implementation is rapidly progressing in Asia and throughout the WEEE Directive in Europe, mandating the elimination of lead in many electronics goods by 2006.
The conversion from a leaded process to a lead-free process is not a simple transition. A solid understanding of the alloys, fluxes, board and component finishes, and how they impact the process will be required. Another critical aspect of converting to lead free is the shrinking process window caused by the higher solder melting temperatures butting against the temperature tolerances of the most sensitive components. Learning how to manage this shrinking thermal process window will be an important topic discussed in the seminars.
From combined experiences, the companies have developed this series of seminars to assist North American assemblers with the implementation of lead-free technology. These non-commercial seminars include surface-mount technology, ball grid array (BGA), inspection and documentation. They also offer attendees the technical ability to switch to lead-free reliably, effectively and in time to meet their customers' expectations.
The upcoming seminar will take place at the Four Points Sheraton, 1250 Lakeside Dr., Sunnyvale, CA, 94085; (408) 738-4888, and will explain how to implement lead-free reliably. Additional topics will include alloy selection, flux selection, wave process, surface-mount assembly, inspection and documentation, BGA profiling and rework, reflow optimization and issues and answers. Attendees are encouraged to bring their boards for rework solutions.
To register for the Lead-free Solutions seminar, visit www.metcal.com.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Auburn University (Auburn, AL) is one of only three institutions to share in an $12 million grant from the Vodafone-US Foundation as part of an effort to advance education in wireless engineering technology.
In recognition of its quality programs in wireless engineering, the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering received $3 million of the foundation's first multi-million dollar competitive grant program. In support of scholarships, fellowships and facilities, the grant is intended to enhance the pool of highly qualified students at the University's wireless engineering program.
The foundation's program¾which funds the Auburn scholarships over a five-year period¾provides both tuition and full support for undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships in wireless engineering. The grant also supports curriculum and research development in wireless engineering and provides for a pool of funds for interscholastic seminars, webcasts and symposiums.
The other universities selected by the foundation are the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
"The competition for this award was very tough," said Engineering Dean Larry Benefield. "It included 14 of the nation's top 25 engineering schools. To be one of the three programs selected is testament to the strength of our wireless efforts."
Fifteen Auburn students have been named recipients of the grants. Vodafone scholars are involved in areas that address society's most critical needs through wireless technologies, including energy, transportation, health care, environment, disaster response, homeland security and education. Research is also being aimed at ways to help third world countries implement wireless solutions to their communication infrastructure needs.
The Auburn Engineering Vodafone-US Foundation 2003-2004 scholars include Mohamed Abdulmagid, Brian Holland, Michael Newlin and Victor Rundquist, seniors in electrical and computer engineering; Rachael Achorn, David Boyd and Ryan Northington, sophomores in computer science and software engineering; Jeremy Arnold, Kendra Cole and Brian Ginn, sophomores in electrical and computer engineering; and John Jansen, a junior in electrical and computer engineering.
The college's Vodafone fellows include Yawen Dai Barowski, a doctoral candidate in computer science and software engineering; Jun Pan and Xin Wang, doctoral candidates in electrical and computer engineering; and Ying Yang, a master's degree candidate in computer science and software engineering.
For more information on the grant program, visit www.eng.auburn.edu/center/wireless/vodafone/index.htm.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
SICK (Minneapolis, MN), a provider of factory automation solutions, has announced that its laser measurement system sensors (LMS) were used by several teams during the DARPA Grand Challenge. The sensor is one of the key components of the navigation system, helping to sense the terrain and obstacles in front of the unmanned vehicles.
Sponsored by the Department of Defense, the competition is designed to test state of the art autonomous vehicle technology. The race, which took place March 13, covered a rugged course between Barstow, CA, and Primm, NV. The team that completed the course the fastest within a specified time won $1 million.
"The LMS units play a key role in our terrain sensing capablities," said Chris Pederson, team leader for the A.I. Motorvators team. "The relialbility and quality are impressive and demonstrate the company's committment to producing components that have the performance and durability needed for autonomous ground vehicles."
"The SICK sensors are considered key to our ability to generate a simplified 3-D image of the immediate terrain in front of the vehicle," said Ivar Schoenmeyr, leader of the CyberRyder team.
SICK non-contact LMS sensors offer distance measurement and collision control throughout a scanning field up to 180 degrees. The sensors can also be used for monitoring open spaces for building security, object classification, determining the volume of objects and collision prevention for vehicles and cranes.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Orbotech Inc. (Billerica, MA), the North American subsidiary of Orbotech Ltd. (Yavne, Israel), has announced the successful installation of two Trion-2340HD automated optical inspection (AOI) systems and integrated ADVISOR process control software tools at Nu Visions Manufacturing LLC (Springfield, MA), a provider of electronics manufacturing services.
Barry Cohen, president and chief executive officer of Orbotech Inc., said, "Nu Visions has a progressive strategy of continual investment in upgrading and expanding its existing capabilities to better serve its customers needs for technology complexity and manufacturing flexibility. We are proud to be chosen by Nu Visions as their AOI supplier and are sure that our field-proven post-reflow inspection solution will provide them with outstanding results to meet their process improvement and total customer satisfaction goals."
Nu Visions Manufacturing provides original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with customized total manufacturing solutions, including circuit design, board design from schematics, mechanical and product design, sourcing and procurement, prototype and volume board assembly, system assembly, design and implementation of product testing, warranty and repair services. Since 1991, Nu Visions has been servicing OEMs in the defense, industrial and medical industries, presenting competitive outsourcing advantages, access to advanced manufacturing technologies, shortened product time-to-market, and effective asset utilization.
Orbotech provides yield-enhancing production support solutions for specialized applications in the supply chain of the electronics industry, principally for printed circuit boards (PCBs) and flat panel displays (FPDs). The company designs, develops, manufactures, markets and services automated optical inspection (AOI) systems for bare and assembled PCBs and for FPDs, and imaging solutions for PCB production.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
AIM has announce an international series of seminars entitled "Finally! Practical Guidelines for Achieving Successful Lead-Free Assembly." The series will kick off in the Pacific Northwest later this month and continue throughout 2004. The seminars will be led by AIM and guest speakers from multinational original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers such as Intel and RadiSys.
With the WEEE/RoHS Directives outlawing lead from electronics in the EU by July 2006 and foreign competition driving the implementation of lead-free electronics assembly around the world, manufacturers need to fully understand the steps to take to successfully transition to lead-free assembly.
To successfully achieve lead-free electronics assembly, each participant in the manufacturing process, from purchasing to engineering to maintenance to quality, must have a solid understanding of the changes required of them.
While there are many theoretical workshops on lead-free assembly, this seminar focuses on the practical considerations for achieving successful lead-free assembly at your factory. Each step of the manufacturing cycle is addressed, from purchasing parts to inspecting assembled boards. Solid advice, real world examples and helpful images of the means to overcome the many challenges of lead-free assembly are presented.
Upcoming seminar dates are: March 30 in Spokane, WA; March 31 in Seattle, WA; April 1 in Portland, OR; April 7 in St. Louis, MO.
To participate, contact David Suraski of AIM: (401) 463-5605; email: info@aimsolder.com.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Digi-Key Corp. announced that they have signed an agreement with Analog Devices Inc. (ADI, Norwood, MA) that allows Digi-Key to distribute ADI products in the Americas. The relationship will give ADI customers increased access to product, as well as provide them uninterrupted services and support systems through Digi-Key's distribution channel and real-time online service capabilities.
Digi-Key now stocks a full line of ADI's product offerings, including analog integrated circuits (ICs), digital signal processors (DSPs) and micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) products. These products are in stock and available for immediate shipment to customers in North, Central and South America.
"By combining ADI's strong brand name and product presence with Digi-Key's ability to reach our growing customer base, this relationship is mutually beneficial to both companies and respective customers," said Richard Begen, director of worldwide distribution, Analog Devices. "Digi-Key provides a choice for customers interested in purchasing ADI products through the catalog distribution channel, thus providing ADI greater reach in servicing its large customer base."
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Cognex Corp. (Natick, MA), a supplier of machine vision systems, announced that Palomar Technologies (Vista, CA), a manufacturer of automated, high-precision assembly systems for the electronics, automotive, aerospace and medical industries, has integrated Cognex's MVS-8000(R) machine vision system into its new Model 8000 thermosonic wire bonder.
Wirebonders are automated, high-speed machines used during the manufacture of semiconductor chips to attach semiconductor die to lead frames and other substrates. The Cognex vision systems will be used to guide and monitor the bonding process by automatically determining where the connections between the die and lead frame are to be made. Using Cognex machine vision, the Palomar bonder is able to place eight tightly spaced wires per second, with a repeatability of better than five microns.
"Palomar has relied on Cognex as our primary vision supplier for the past 15 years," said Bruce Hueners, vice president of marketing for Palomar Technologies. "We consider the engineering staff at Cognex to be an extension of our own and we capitalize on their name recognition and position in the industry to help promote our products. Cognex machine vision has been one of the important features that differentiates our product, and it provides our customers with a strategic competitive advantage."
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Kester (Des Plaines, IL) and Metcal (Menlo Park, CA) will present a three-part lead-free assembly seminar at the Advanced Manufacturing Expo at The International Center in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on March 24 and 25, 2004. Kester and Metcal will both be featured in the Innovations Stage, located on the show floor and in a seminar room adjacent to the show floor as part of the Flex Forum.
Lead-free Assembly - Part 1 is designed to assist electronics assembly manufacturers with a reliable and cost effective implementation of lead-free assembly operations. The seminar covers the main issues with lead-free soldering in surface-mount technology, wave soldering and its rework operations. It also offers technical and practical information on preventing process issues usually associated with lead-free soldering. Successful case studies are also discussed, showing solutions to issues typically encountered with lead-free assembly. The seminar will have speakers who will address specific issues such as rework, profiling and inspection. This part of the seminar is designed for process engineers who are or will be implementing lead-free assembly and its rework operations. It will be beneficial to line supervisors, group leaders and line operators wishing to understand these processes as to offer immediate and effective process solutions.
Lead-free Assembly - Part 2 is also designed to assist electronics assembly manufacturers with a reliable and cost effective implementation of lead-free assembly operations. Additionally, it covers the main issues with lead-free soldering in surface-mount technology, wave soldering and its rework operations. Hands-on demonstrations of the following will be available to attendees:
• thermal requirements for lead-free rework operations
• flux selection for lead-free hand assembly and rework
• maintaining production yields and reliability with lead-free rework.
Lead-free Assembly - Part 3 is part of the Flex Forum and will be presented in Seminar Room. The final part of the seminar details the "8 Steps to Lead-Free Assembly," in the implementation of a lead-free process. This seminar will be beneficial for those seeking to be in a position to implement lead-free soldering or in the process of drafting an implementation plan. For those who have or who are currently implementing a lead-free process, this seminar will help greatly in developing a solid understanding of the process variables. Monitoring of these variables will maintain excellent production yields and product reliability with lead-free operation. Topics covered include:
• lead-free alloy selection
• component and board finishes for reliable lead free
• selecting the flux chemistry for lead-free operations
• Optimizing lead-free surface-mount technology, wave and rework operations
• prevent soldering defects with lead free.
Assembly Canada is Canada's only tradeshow dedicated to the function of assembling discrete parts into finished products. Canadian High Technology Show (CHTS) is a forum for industry professionals to assess and compare the latest products and services for electronics manufacturing. These two events form the basis of Advanced Manufacturing Expo.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Foresite Inc. (Kokomo, IN)has recently earned ISO 9001:2000 certification, which assures its customers that the highest and most current quality standards are used. The certification is based on an audit by third party agency Quality Systems Registrars Inc (QSR) and indicates that Foresite has successfully revised its quality management systems to meet the updated criteria of ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System standards.
The assessment by QSR certifies Foresite as a provider of laboratory testing and consulting services for its Kokomo facility. The facility services the electronics manufacturing industry.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the world's largest developer of standards. The non-governmental organization acts as a bridge to meet the needs of global businesses and societies. ISO's network includes 148 countries with a Central Secretariat in Switzerland that oversees the system. QSR is an international certification organization established in 1991, and located in Sterling, VA.
Foresite (formerly CSL Inc.) is a process consulting house and analytical laboratory dedicated to solving reliability issues for electronic assemblies. The company specializes in failure analysis, process qualification and investigative analysis.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
DEK (Flemington, NJ), a high accuracy, mass imaging solutions provider, has announced a new representative structure in support of its Canadian customer base. The expansion of DEK's Canadian presence aligns customers with DEK representatives who have specific expertise in capital equipment sales and consumables sales.
Representing DEK's line of capital equipment offerings will be Mektronix Systems Corp., a 15-year veteran in the electronics capital equipment market in Canada. With a specific focus on the equipment market, Mektronix can deliver superior customer service and technical knowledge to DEK equipment customers throughout Canada.
Mektronix will represent DEK's capital equipment line throughout Canada and can be reached via phone: (905) 791-9977 or email: sales@mektronix.com.
Focusing specifically on DEK's line of process support products, which includes tooling, stencils and consumables, will be Arbell International Corp.
"Arbell has done a great job representing DEK over the last 9 years," said Craig Brown, DEK vice-president and general manager. "They have tremendous expertise in the consumables market and we are confident that our customers will benefit greatly from their technical knowledge in this area."
Arbell will represent DEK Process Support Products in all of Canada. They can be contacted at (905) 332-7755.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Dow Corning Corp. (Midland, MI) has expanded its base of thermal management solutions for the electronics industry by introducing three new thermal interface materials (TIMs). Two of the new materials—TP-1600 film series and TP-2400 pad series—are the first fabricated TIMs to emerge from Dow Corning following its acquisition of Tyco Electronics' Raychem Power Materials Business Unit last year.
The thermally conductive films and pads help customers improve thermal dissipation in electronic components and assemblies and are designed for ease of use and process flexibility. Because they are pre-cured, the fabricated TIMs do not require special application tools, are re-workable and are available in a range of thicknesses. They are suited for electronics applications in the automotive, display, computer and power markets.
For similar heat management needs in high-powered CPU applications, the company has introduced TC-5021, a thermally conductive grease. As a wet-dispensed material, the grease enables customers to achieve thin bond lines and can be used in high-volume automated manufacturing environments.
Dow Corning's newest fabricated and wet-dispensed materials are part of the company's growth strategy in the TIMs market, which, according to electronics industry market research firm Prismark, is expected to more than double to $419 million by 2007, up from $170 million in 2002. The market expansion is driven by a growing need to control heat and electrical resistance in electronics devices. As these devices get smaller, faster and less expensive, electronics manufacturers need a broad selection of thermal management solutions to help them address a dynamic range of process needs.
www.dowcorning.com/electronics
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
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