NOVEMBER 2024 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 75
(SEL) announces plans to hire approx-
imately 400 new employee owners
throughout the company. About 240
of these opportunities are in Pullman,
Washington, and Moscow and Lewis-
ton, Idaho. Another 24 will be added to
its growing team in West Lafayette, Indi-
ana, with the remaining joining teams at
SEL offices across the U.S. and in other
countries.
Just as semiconductors and the electronic
assemblies upon which they rely are inter-
dependent, so too are the workforces that
companies will depend on to bring the
investments of the CHIPS program to life.
Unfortunately, the $1.6 billion being spent
on research will likely not flow to support
the broader electronics manufacturing
workforce.
For example, recent
in-situ studies have
shown that the root
cause of decreas-
ing solder electri-
cal resistance in the
early stage of elec-
tromigration, very
evident at low tem-
peratures and low current densities, is due to
the microstructural coarsening of the alloy.
Nolan Johnson and Her-
iberto Cuevas, Koh
Young's lead sales man-
ager for Mexico and
South America, discuss
the current state of the industrial market in Mex-
ico and South America in this interview from the
show. Cuevas emphasizes the importance of
Industry 4.0, aiming to improve connectivity, auto-
mation, and efficiency in industrial processes.
Private equity (PE) firms
have been very active in
both the PCB and EMS
sectors. Not only were
most of the platform deals
completed by PE firms, but PE-owned compa-
nies also made most of the add-ons. Strong mil-
itary budgets have continued to increase the
use of electronics in everything.
ROCKA Solutions has been honored with
the 2024 Mexico Technology Award in
the category of Printing Accessories for
its innovative SMT Stencil Clean Roll.
ROCKA Solutions' SMT Stencil Clean Roll
addresses key challenges on the SMT
work floor by offering customization to
accommodate different printer specifica-
tions within a single part number.
For the latest news and information, visit SMT007.com
CHIPS Act Falls Short Without
Focus on Workforce Training
Some Fundamentals of Tin-Bismuth
Metallurgy and Electromigration
ROCKA Solutions Wins Mexico
Technology Award for Innova-
tive SMT Stencil Clean Roll
Punching Out:
What Buyers Are Buying
Schweitzer Engineering
Laboratories (SEL)
Accelerates Hiring
Real Time with… SMTA Guadalajara
2024: Understanding the Industry
Pause with Koh Young
