Breda, Holland -- One issue facing manufacturers transitioning to Pb-free soldering is the threat of cross-contamination between Pb-bearing and Pb-free materials. To help, materials supplier Cobar BV has instituted a simple, recognizable color coding standard for its solder paste products to distinguish Pb-bearing from Pb-free.
 
Pb-free solder pastes will now be packaged in green containers, while Pb-bearing pastes will continue to ship in white containers. There is no difference in the quality of the packaging material.
 
Cobar is the latest to join the ranks of solder vendors using color-coded packaging to aid in distinguishing lead and lead-free materials. Indium and Kester, among others, also package solder in similar fashion.

ANAHEIM, CA — Another Apex has come and gone, and what have we learned?

That the industry is busier today than it was a year ago.

That most -- but not all -- companies expect another solid year in 2006.

ATLANTA -- Industry analyst Walt Custer will present his take on the global economic situation  in a free presentation over the Internet later this month.

The live two-hour Webinar takes place Feb. 28, at 2 pm EST. To register, go to www.pbrseminars.com.

SARATOGA, CA – Revenues and unit sales of ICs worldwide are expected to be in the double digits, says a leading research firm.

Revenues and unit sales grew 7.8% and 10.6%, respectively, in 2005, Advanced Forecasting said.

SAN JOSE -- IBM Technology Group director Tim Collopy will keynote the IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium this year’.

IRPS will be held March 26 to 30, in San Jose.

Collopy’ will address adaptating reliability methodologies to market expectations and technology roadmaps. He asserts that fundamental reliability models and qualification methods have not changed in decades. In order to accommodate unique customer requirements (e.g., foundry) or industry standards, Collopy suggests enhanced quality processes and the stress, analysis and repair of new fail modes uncovered during new technology development.

The addition of feedback from the full spectrum of users to verify these models and methods allows for continuous improvement of quality processes, just as customers demand of microelectronic products and technologies.

Collopy joined IBM in 1974 and has served in his current position since 2001. He graduated the University of Missouri – Rolla with bachelor's degrees in mathematics and electrical engineering, and a master's in operations research, and has an MBA in plans and controls from Union College.

He has previously held management positions in process engineering, diagnostics and characterization, manufacturing engineering, reliability engineering and analytical services at IBM's East Fishkill, NY ,semiconductor facility.

Visit the IRPS Website at irps.org.