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66 I-CONNECT007 I REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2022 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE engineering from our publication's point of view, we're constantly talking about how to reduce waste, increase efficiency, increase yields, lower costs, increase employee happi- ness, reduce their frustration, and eliminate stress, because these are the things that make a great company, I think. Hannah, what do you think makes a great company? Nelson: I think it's the people who make a company great. John Mitchell says all the time that you need to surround yourself with good people to get far in life. You don't want to be surrounded by people who stress you out or bring your mood down. Otherwise, you will feel you're just stuck in the same place and you might feel like you are unable to grow. You want to have valuable work, feeling like you have a passion for your work. You want to get up every day and have a purpose in your work. Matties: at's a great answer. How did you become the student liaison board member? What's that process? Nelson: Well, I got voted in. I initially went through an interview with Charlene Gunter du Plessis, president of the IPC Education Foun- dation, then went through the entire process Presenter: Divyakant Kadiwala, VP of Manufacturing, Averatek Co-Author: Nazarali Merchant, Ph.D., Senior Materials Scientist, Averatek Can aluminum be soldered at low temperatures without ENIG or ENEPIG finish and is the solder joint reliable? The answer to that question is: Yes. Our presentation shows that the surface treatment that we have developed makes solder- ing to aluminum as easy as it is to copper, without ENIG or ENEPIG finish. It enables the production of aluminum PC boards (Al-PCBs) and integrating them with tradi- tional copper PCBs to make com- plete systems. The surface treat- ment has passed both SIR test (surface insulation resistance) and air to air thermal cycling (AATC) from -40°C to 105°C for 1,000 cycles, without a single failure of any resistors assembled in a daisy chain test pattern. Besides this, Al-PCBs can be built using aluminum on PET (Al-PET) substrates as replacement for copper on polyimide (Cu-PI) sub- strates. This makes a lot of economic sense as Al- PET is over 40 times less expensive than Cu-PI. Advanced surface treatment exists that simplifies the manufac- turing of Al-PCBs. It also helps with integrating them with Cu-PCBs, wiring and connectors for build- ing complete electronic systems. The overall process is simpler, cost effective, and the resultant prod- uct is reliable. Do not be afraid of embracing change and new tech- nologies. Fortune favors the brave. IPC APEX EXPO: Conference Speakers Speak Out Surface Treatment for Soldering Aluminum PCBs to Conventional Copper PCBs Divyakant Kadiwala