IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
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IPC COMMUNITY 84 WINTER 2024 O'Leary of Indium, and Debbie Carboni of KYZEN—discussed the results of a project and the challenges facing the automotive industry to bring electric vehicles (EVs) to a mass mar- ket. Interestingly, only one attendee admitted to having an EV, and we noted that we should revisit that statistic in five years to see how it changes as solutions are identified for the reli- ability issues discussed. The EV industry appears to be in the infant stages of understanding, much less embrac- ing high-reliability electronics as part of their products. Uncoated, unprotected electron- ics within charging stations in var- ious locations around the world, exposed to outside elements such as heat, cold, moisture, wind, etc., clearly indi- cated cause for con- cern about their ability to provide a source for charging vehicles any- where beyond a home base. Another surprising observation: There are over 400 EV companies in China alone, suggesting that in the overall EV market, many players are jumping on the bandwagon and trying to get their products into the market with a low barrier to entry. Although safety is still consid- ered paramount for these vehicles, reliability is not considered as high a priority. Presenters Leslie Kim of MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions and Gerry Partida of Summit Interconnect shared technical infor- mation on microvia reliability; Kaixiang Yang of Ericsson spoke about using both modeling/ simulation in combination with experimental results of solder joint fatigue; and Dr. Cynthia Chestek introduced the audience to "how brain machine interfaces or neural prosthet- ics have the potential to restore movement of people with paralysis or amputation, bridging gaps in the nervous system with an artificial device." Dr. Kunal Shah of Lilotree focused on IT equipment in the big data/server applica- tions, 5G/6G high frequency, edge computing, and AI applications. It was interesting because one might think of IT equipment and big data servers as living in a tightly controlled envi- ronment. However, he said, "With the harsh environment and severe air pollution, hard- ware equipment is subjected to corrosion and reduced lifetime." The final two presentations of the day focused on cleaning from Rachel Har- tig of Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (ceramic column grid array packages for space applications), and Mike Konrad of Aqueous Technologies (with an entertaining video pack- age of no-clean flux). On to Day Three Joe Russeau of Preci- sion Analytical Labora- tory carefully described the language used in IPC J-STD-001 Section 8 to properly analyze PCB assemblies for cleanli- ness; Dennis Barbini of Zestron was the per- fect follow-up as he debated the pros and cons of approaches to cleanliness; and Ray Zhao of Northrop Grumman Mission Systems described what the U.S. Air Force has created for defense industry companies to achieve required performance over the life of the elec- tronics. Wrapping up the event, the Technical Pro- gram Committee responsible for the forum convened for a panel discussion, reflecting on the lessons learned from the forum and what challenges the industry continues to have moving forward. With the harsh environment and severe air pollution, hardware equipment is subjected to corrosion and reduced lifetime.