Recorded conversations and interviews on electronics design and manufacturing with the editors of PCD&F/Circuits Assembly, brought to you by the Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA)
Episodes
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Each year CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY publishes its rankings of the 50 largest EMS/ODM companies. Editor in chief Mike Buetow offers a recap of the Year of Covid, and provides insights on a few under-the-radar trends that could have seismic effects down the road.
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Thursday May 27, 2021
Thursday May 27, 2021
Mike Konrad joins Chris Denney (Worthington Assembly) and Melissa Hough (CircuitHub) on the Pick-Place Podcast . This is the first of a two-part interview.
In this episode we are joined by Mike Konrad to chat about board cleaning best practices. Mike founded Aqueous Technologies in 1992 in response to the Montreal Protocol and the resulting international treaty banning most popular cleaning/defluxing solvents. Their board cleaning equipment assists manufacturers with increasing product reliability while saving both water and energy, reducing the industry's environmental impact.
In addition to being the President of Aqueous Technologies, he is also a fellow podcaster and runs the Reliability Matters Podcast, which discusses reliability of circuit assemblies, reliability "best practices" and success stories.
In the first part of this conversation we delve into the history of board cleaning, the electronics the industry's transition to primarily using no-clean flux, and why more and more companies are reintroducing board cleaning back into their assembly process.
If you want to listen to us get into the nitty-gritty details of how to implement a proper circuit board cleaning process, make sure to listen to the second half of this episode.
Chris Denney may be reached at cdenney@worthingtonassembly.com
Melissa Hough may be reached at melissa@circuithub.com
Thursday May 27, 2021
Thursday May 27, 2021
Episode # 3 of the Concept to Creation Podcast is now available. My guest is Mike Scimeca of FCT Assembly. Mike founded his first business in 1991. Today, he owns nine businesses units. Mike shares his successes, failures, challenges, and advice for budding entrepreneurs.
Mike may be reached at:
Monday May 17, 2021
Monday May 17, 2021
Norman Mier is a retired veteran of the US Marine Corps with over 20 years of experience in the electronics rework and repair industry. He received his training through the Navy's Micro Miniature (2M) Electronic Repair Program. He has progressed through every level of rework and repair recognized in the industry. Norman has also earned the highest certifications awarded by IPC in electronics training, being certified as a Master Instructor in IPC A-610, IPC J-STD-001D, IPC/WHMA-A-620 and IPC 7711/7721.
He has worked through BEST for several electronics industry leaders and created tailored courses for their equipment. This also includes providing training to technicians and engineers in surface mount and advanced surface mount technology. The knowledge Norm has brought to these companies has been invaluable to their process improvement efforts. His skill has also been a major factor in keeping BEST training at the forefront in the electronics-training field.
Norman may be contacted at nmier@solder.net.
Video version: https://youtu.be/VpFBJtiRl1U
Monday May 17, 2021
Monday May 17, 2021
Concept to Creation Episode 2
Allison and Chad Budvarson are a husband and wife team that founded and operates Out of the Box Manufacturing, a Renton Washington-based contract manufacturer. They share how they founded their company, their challenges, successes, and what motivates them. They also provide sage advice for navigating both business and home life.
Allison Budvarson: allison@obmfg.com
Chad Budvarson: chad@obmfg.com
Wednesday Apr 28, 2021
Wednesday Apr 28, 2021
David Bernard, Ph.D., describes a coming presentation on x-ray inspection, including understanding how the system works, how magnification works, detectors and sensitivity, handling various solder types (hint: it's the material density that matter), and why users should "stop wasting time with things their x-ray cannot do."
Bernard's three-hour webinar, Getting the Best from Your X-Ray Inspection System, takes place May 20. For information, click here: pcb2day.com/webinars.
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Dr. Ron Lasky (Professor at Dartmouth College) and three of his students -- Annaka Balch, Nadia Clement, and Raaga Kannan -- talk about the papers they wrote and presented at SMTA's Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium in Hawaii in 2020, as well as a new paper to be presented at the same conference in 2022.
Friday Apr 23, 2021
Friday Apr 23, 2021
Welcome to Mike Konrad's new podcast is called “Concept to Creation - The Entrepreneurs of the Electronic Assembly Industry.”
On this podcast, Mike will interview industry founders to talk about the following topics:
- Concept
- Creation
- Execution
- Growth
- Challenges
- Successes / Failures
- Motivating Insights
The first episode features Dr. Bill Cardoso of Creative Electron. Bill earned his AA degree at the age of 13. He went on to earn his BS, MS, and Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering as well as an MBA in economics, strategic management and entrepreneurship. In 2008, he founded Creative Electron, a manufacturer of x-ray equipment. Bill discusses his journey of concept to creation including his success, failures, and challenges along the way.
Future episodes will air on the first and second Tuesday of each month.
The second episode (airing on May 4) features an interview with the husband and wife team behind Out of the Box Manufacturing, a contract assembler in Renton, WA. They discuss, among other things the challenges of starting a new business one month after they were married in 2008 as well as their strategies for successful growth.
The third episode (airing on May 18) features a conversation with FTC Assemblies (soldering materials manufacturer) founder Mike Scimeca.
The fourth episode features an interview with Kyzen’s Dr. Mike Bixenman and Tom Forsythe.
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
On part 2 of this series , we dive into oven profiling best practices. In part one, we looked at void mitigation and how vacuum reflow technology can help reduce or eliminate voiding.
Our guests are Tim O’Neill from AIM Solder and Fred Dimock of BTU. Tim will discuss voiding mitigation from a materials standpoint while Fred will bring cover equipment and profiling strategies.
Tim O'Neill is technical marketing manager for AIM Solder. Operating out of AIM’s US headquarters, Tim is responsible for developing and optimizing product and technical information, collaborating with complementary suppliers and equipment manufacturers and ensuring AIM's products exceed expectations and meet market requirements.
Tim is also a technical writer and presenter for industry trade publications and events. He has coauthored several papers on PCB assembly subjects. Tim is also an IPC-A-610 Certified IPC Specialist.
Fred Dimock is manager of process technology at BTU International and recently started a consulting business, FCD-Global services. Fred holds an associate degree in mechanical design from Wentworth in Boston and a bachelor's degree in ceramic engineering from the State University of New York. He has authored numerous articles on lead-free solder, process control, and the operation of continuous furnaces. His papers have been published in English, Chinese, and German.
He has taught numerous SMTA solder reflow classes and participated in the 5-45 Subcommittee for the development of IPC-7801 Reflow Oven Process Control Standard. Additionally, he wrote the chapter on solder reflow for the Handbook of Electronic Assembly and A Guide to SMTA Certification by Dr. Ron Lasky and Jim Hall.
He received Distinguished Speaker status at SMTA Guadalajara Mexico and is a key presenter for the SMTA Jump Start program for new engineers.
Timothy O'Neill is the Technical Marketing Manager for AIM Solder. Operating out of AIM’s U.S. Headquarters, Tim is responsible for developing and optimizing product and technical information, collaborating with complimentary suppliers and equipment manufacturers and ensuring AIM's products exceed expectations and meet market requirements.
Tim is also a technical writer and presenter for industry trade publications and events. He has co-authored several papers on PCB assembly subjects.
Tim is also an IPC-A-610 Certified IPC Specialist.
Fred Dimock is the Manager of Process Technology at BTU International and recently started a consulting business, FCD-Global services.
Fred holds an Associate Degree in Mechanical Design from Wentworth in Boston and a Bachelors Degree in Ceramic Engineering from the State University of New York.
Fred has authored numerous articles on lead free solder, process control, and the operation of continuous furnaces. His papers have been published in English, Chinese, and German.
He has taught numerous SMTA solder reflow classes and participated in the 5-45 Subcommittee for the development of IPC-7801 Reflow Oven Process Control Standard.
Additionally, he wrote the chapter on solder reflow for the Handbook of Electronic Assembly and A Guide to SMTA Certification by Dr Lasky and Jim Hall.
He received Distinguished Speaker status at SMTA Guadalajara Mexico and is a key presenter for the SMTA Jump Start program for new engineers.
Tim O’Neill may be contacted here:
Fred Dimock may be contacted here:
Friday Apr 02, 2021
Friday Apr 02, 2021
On this episode, we’ll have a conversation with two industry experts on the subject of solder voiding mitigation and oven profiling, two subjects which influence solder voiding. This will be a two part episode. Here, we dive into void mitigation and how vacuum reflow technology can help reduce or eliminate voiding. Part two (episode 65) will discuss profiling best practices.
Our guests are Tim O’Neill from AIM Solder and Fred Dimock of BTU. Tim will discuss voiding mitigation from a materials standpoint while Fred will bring cover equipment and profiling strategies.
Tim O'Neill is technical marketing manager for AIM Solder. Operating out of AIM’s US headquarters, Tim is responsible for developing and optimizing product and technical information, collaborating with complementary suppliers and equipment manufacturers and ensuring AIM's products exceed expectations and meet market requirements.
Tim is also a technical writer and presenter for industry trade publications and events. He has coauthored several papers on PCB assembly subjects. Tim is also an IPC-A-610 Certified IPC Specialist.
Fred Dimock is manager of process technology at BTU International and recently started a consulting business, FCD-Global services. Fred holds an associate degree in mechanical design from Wentworth in Boston and a bachelor's degree in ceramic engineering from the State University of New York. He has authored numerous articles on lead-free solder, process control, and the operation of continuous furnaces. His papers have been published in English, Chinese, and German.
He has taught numerous SMTA solder reflow classes and participated in the 5-45 Subcommittee for the development of IPC-7801 Reflow Oven Process Control Standard. Additionally, he wrote the chapter on solder reflow for the Handbook of Electronic Assembly and A Guide to SMTA Certification by Dr. Ron Lasky and Jim Hall.
He received Distinguished Speaker status at SMTA Guadalajara Mexico and is a key presenter for the SMTA Jump Start program for new engineers.