Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1526114
8 SMT007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2024 Nolan's Notes by Nolan Johnson, I-CONNECT007 Solder Printing: A 1:1 Ratio of Technical and Creative When things get technical, I'm in my happy place. It's why I work in technology in the first place. I also happen to enjoy creative pursuits, and my real happy place is when both creative and technical happen at the same time. Over the years, it seems that most of us engaged in printed circuit design and manufacture are similarly wired. I don't think I'm alone in stat- ing that finding a creative solution to a tech- nical problem is one of the highlights of our workday. We get bonus points if the solution is particularly simple or uncomplicated. Technological innovation is creative prob- lem-solving at its very core. Straight-up-and- down engineering logic and thinking that turns everything into a flowchart collaborate with creativity's leaping, intuitive, lateral thinking. For me, that's when the magic occurs. Some call it serendipity, which can emerge from some of the most mundane parts of our every- day experiences. One ubiquitous component in PCB assem- bly is solder paste. It's what makes assembly happen. We can't attach components without solder, and solder paste is a requirement for surface-mount components. It hardly seems like there's much room for innovation in some- thing so common and basic. But they probably thought the same thing in 1968, when a 3M researcher named Spencer Silver, who was trying to create a strong adhe- sive for use in aerospace, inadvertently cre-