IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
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IPC COMMUNITY 49 SPRING 2023 solder that connect electronic components to circuit boards, focusing on almost any physical condition that a circuit board could encounter. Her current research is part of the U.S. Part- nership for Assured Electronics (USPAE) and is backed by a $40 million U.S. Department of Defense contract. (Click here to learn more about her research.) But the NIST appointment is something altogether different. Her work on the com- mittee, alongside three other representatives from academia, is to provide guidance to the federal government in relation to the recently passed CHIPS and Sci- ence Act, which has appropriated $52 billion toward bolstering the semiconductor industry in the United States. "It's an incredible oppor- tunity to be appointed to this committee because of my perspective, both from having been a lead in advanced packaging at NIST, see- ing and believing in the mission of NIST, and knowing the strengths that can be brought to the table when academia, companies, and government work together," she says. "As a result, I have some strong views about prior- ities for the program." The committee, which also includes IPC Board Member and packaging leader Mere- dith LaBeau of Calumet Electronics, has begun the discussions about how to best advise the Department of Commerce and what must be advised upon. Committee members, representing compa- nies ranging from Intel and Microsoft to Ford Motor Company, Qualcomm, and the Potomac Institute for Policy, will provide assessments of research and development (R&D) programs and activities authorized under Section 9906 of the CHIPS Act. "My impression is that this is an incredi- bly knowledgeable, insightful, and powerful group," Carol says. "They are taking on these roles for the good of the country." It's an important point to make, she says, that each comes to the committee not as an individual, but as one representing a specific sector or organization. "They were very clear when they sent the invitation that we're not supposed to leave our day jobs behind. We must bring those insights to bear on the committee." As Carol and the o t h e r s b e g i n t h e perhaps daunting task of advising this national body, she hopes to impress upon the others t h e c r i t i c a l i t y o f advanced packaging and heterogenous integration both for this generation of semiconductors and the next. "This is also about economic pros- perity in the United States," she says. "We have a long road ahead regarding reshoring pack- aging, assembly, and test." Current statistics suggest that just 2–3% of the global packaging of semiconductors happens in the United States, first as a result of offshoring and now continuing because of labor costs for manufacturing and investment incentives from other countries. "Our task isn't just about building more fabs and making more chips, but being able to package them in the United States with the most cutting-edge technologies," Carol says. "We need powerful, creative strategies that allow us to create new technologies and create them for manufacturing in the United We have a long road ahead regarding reshoring packaging, assembly, and test.