Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/373246
September 2014 • SMT Magazine 61 The afternoon workshop was held at the nearby Technica USA facility. Sample boards were assembled for a live demonstration of void free soldering. Customers were able to observe the entire process and equipment that was em- ployed for this demonstration. The venue en- abled customers to engage in conversation with the participants as it related to their own inter- ests and challenges. David Smith, a senior manufacturing en- gineer with General Motors (Kokomo) said, "I attended this seminar more for the purpose of looking at a particular piece of equipment rather than the general topic of void-free soldering, so the afternoon session focusing on equipment was especially interesting and pertinent to my needs." Most in attendance agreed with Smith when he said there is no substitute for a face-to-face, in-person seminar; the environments could nev - er be compared. Based on the positive response received from the attendees and the participants, Technica is looking forward to organizing the next techni- cal event. Smt ArTICle for our customers to gain knowledge that should directly benefit their operations." Sanmina Process Engineer Manuel Castro said he attended the seminar to expand his knowledge on vapor phase equipment capabili- ties and voiding reduction. "There seems to be a proven solution to the voiding phenomenon regardless of which paste chemistry or vendor you're using. Vapor phase will give you better wetting characteristics, and using the vacuum option in the vapor phase will reduce your voiding to almost none," he said. The first part of the seminar was held at the CAS Event Center in San Jose, where Helmut Ottl, head of product management and deputy head R&D for Rehm, and Joerg Trodler, process engineer of interconnect technologies and ma - terials at Heraeus, provided detailed technical information on the subjects of vapor phase sol- dering and the materials and processes that in- fluence solder joint void formation. The SMT and packaging industries are very familiar with the extensive and cooperative studies that are conducted each year in Germa- ny. Heraeus, Rehm, and ASM-Siplace are typi- cally at the center of these collaborative studies with others. Ottl and Trodler provided much of the data and results that have been gleaned from their collaborative efforts. Han Jun Cho, engineering manager at Paramit Medical Device, also attended specifi- cally to learn about the conduction reflow with vacuum process. "I attended this event because of the topic: conduction reflow with vacuum," said Cho. "It is an interesting, newer process, and I wondered if it could be applied to several process chal- lenges my team faced. Learning all the pros and cons of this new process and equipment will en- able me to open the discussion with my man- agement to see if we are ready to explore new process capabilities." Barb hockaday is the director of sales and marketing at I-Connect007.