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IPC and NEMI Sponsor Symposium on Lead-Free Electronics
September 18-19 in Montreal
IPC Courses followed by NEMI Final Report on Lead-Free
Assembly Project; NEMI Report to be Webcast
Contacts at bottom of page
HERNDON, Va. - July 23, 2002 -- IPC-Association Connecting Electronics Industries and the National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI) are sponsoring a symposium on lead-free electronics September 18 and 19 in Montreal. IPC is offering half-day and full-day education courses on Wednesday the 18th; followed by a final report from the NEMI Lead-Free Assembly Project on the 19th. The NEMI session will also be webcast for anyone interested in attending but unable to participate onsite.
The IPC education programs offer one full-day session on lead-free assembly and soldering, and three half-day sessions on: 1) lead-free solder joint reliability; 2) lead-free soldering, focusing on metallurgical fundamentals, reflow applications and challenges; and (3) final finishes, looking at HASL (hot air solder leveling) and its lead-free alternatives.
The full-day seminar on Thursday will review the results from NEMI's three-year Lead-Free Assembly Project, including a matrix of reliability tests. Sessions include discussion of selection criteria used to identify the NEMI-recommended Sn3.9Ag0.6Cu alloy, final results of reflow solder process development and reliability testing, analysis of component compatibility with lead-free soldering processes, and suggested use specifications for the NEMI-recommended SnAgCu alloy. In addition, the seminar will review results to date from NEMI's investigation of tin whiskers, including discussion of efforts to devise accelerated tests for predicting tin whiskers and modeling efforts to understand why whiskers form and how to control them.
"While there are naysayers still out there, the change to lead-free electronics will happen," said David Bergman, IPC vice president of standards, technology and international relations. "Companies in Japan and Europe have already accepted this inevitable conclusion and several U.S. OEMs have also gone on record with their plans. Industry needs to maintain awareness of the latest research and knowledge on lead-free. The educational sessions will provide the knowledge, the seminar will provide the data."
"Any transition to lead-free solder in electronics assembly requires that board manufacturers, component suppliers and process equipment manufacturers understand the properties of the new materials in order to minimize the overall risk of implementation on product reliability, cost and cycle time," said Edwin Bradley, distinguished member of the technical staff in Motorola's Advanced Product Technology Center and chair of the NEMI Lead-Free Assembly Project. "The NEMI Lead-Free Project has made significant strides toward furthering knowledge about these materials and we feel it is important to share these results with industry as broadly as possible."
The NEMI project involved approximately 30 companies with activities focused in four areas: alloy selection and solder joint modeling, process development, component impact and reliability evaluation. The project team reviewed available results in January at the IPC-sponsored APEX 2002 conference, but not all testing had been completed at that time. This seminar is the first time the group will report on final results.
A complete agenda, along with registration information, will be available on the IPC and NEMI websites (www.ipc.org and www.nemi.org) beginning Monday, July 29.
About IPC
IPC is a U.S.-based trade association dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its more than 2,600 member companies, which represent all facets of the electronic interconnection industry, including design, printed wiring board manufacturing and electronics assembly. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of a $44 billion U.S. industry employing more than 400,000 people.
About NEMI
The National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative's mission is to facilitate leadership of the North American electronics manufacturing supply chain. Based in Herndon, Va., the industry-led consortium is made up of more than 60 electronics manufacturers, suppliers, industry associations and consortia, government agencies and universities. NEMI roadmaps the needs of the North American electronics industry, identifies gaps in the technology infrastructure, establishes implementation projects to eliminate these gaps (both business and technical), and stimulates standards activities to speed the introduction of new technologies. The consortium also works with government, universities and other funding agencies to set priorities for future industry needs and R&D initiatives. For additional information about NEMI, visit www.nemi.org.
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For further information:
NEMI Contact: Cynthia Williams
cwilliams@nemi.org
phone: 207-871-1260
IPC Contact: Joe Dudeck
joedudeck@ipc.org
phone: 847-790-5371