Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1535183
product but also gives the OEM the ability to increase their yield and decrease the scrap rate simultaneously. Because the standard was that once it cured, it was done. Rehman: Yes, and you had to scrap the entire assembly. But now it's reworkable. That's a big feature and, I would think, very desirable to customers. Rehman: Exactly, especially with high-reliability applications. With this product specifically, it's a high Tg, low CTE polymer. It pro- vides greater flexibility in the auto- motive market segment or any high-reliability application where your reliability is mission-critical. Automotive use is one of the harshest environments. In Ari- zona, for example, it can be 30 degrees in the morning and 110 degrees in the afternoon. Rehman: Yes, you're right. Auto- motive requirements are the biggest market driver for higher reli- ability applica- tions. Humid- ity or moisture on PCBAs is another signif- icant environ- mental factor in harsh envi- ronments. We are also expe- riencing inter- est from the high-performance computing space for higher reliability solu- tions as well. When discuss- ing these large packages, espe- cially with AI, reliability is critical in this market segment. Even with automotive, in the longer term, the idea is to integrate your GPU accelerator with your Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS). Do you see the market expand- ing at an accelerated pace? Rehman: That's a high possi- bility given the advancement in designs and added function- ality on the boards. In the next two to three years, we believe the growth will accelerate at a greater pace than has been seen over the past couple of years. Ebad, how long does it take to develop some of these new products? Rehman: It's a rigorous devel- opment cycle. It takes a lot of effort to develop products that meet automotive/high-reliabil- ity standards because the needs of these applications are the pinnacle of electronics assem- bly. We aren't just looking at the first candidate that meets the eye but strive to perfect it by run- ning it through an internal test- ing process that tends to be very tedious and pushes the prod- uct to its limit. It's an iterative and quite a painstaking process. If the experimental product fails, we have to return to the draw- ing board and sometimes make it from scratch. It's a journey, but we must follow that process in the products we develop. We fol- low protocols and processes that are compliant with the automo- tive industry and IPC standards. To make sure we are compliant, and the product is viable, it takes two to four years of development. Ebad Rehman