PCB Chat

RM 111: Liquid Metal’s Potential Future in Electronics

Historically, circuit assemblies are rigid devices. IoT (Internet of Things) has opened up the opportunity to embed electronics into a near limitless array of form factors. Some of these form factors require the electronic assembly to be flexible such as in wearable and medical applications.

To complicate matters, the metal conductors on the assembly are rigid, not flexible or malleable. That may change with the adoption of liquid metals.

We were exposed to the concept of liquid metal in the 1991 film "Terminator 2." Will science fiction become reality?

Mike Konrad's guest is Dr. Michael Dickey. Michael is currently the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Professor in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at NC State University. 

Michael Dickey received a bachelor's in chemical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas. From 2006-2008 he was a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of Professor George Whitesides at Harvard University. Michael completed a sabbatical at Microsoft in 2016. Michael’s research interests include soft matter (liquid metals, gels and polymers) for soft and stretchable devices (electronics, energy harvesters, textiles, and soft robotics), and hopefully, for the sake of humanity, not liquid metal T1000 villains.

Dr. Michael Dickey's contact information: mddickey@ncsu.edu

RM 109: A Decade of Industry 4.0 - What it Was - What it Wasn’t

Industry 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution. Beyond the buzzwords, what does this mean?

David Graham is chief technology officer of 4IR.UK, a wholly owned subsidiary of Internet of Things-focused British Systems. 4IR.UK specializes in creating monitoring, control and automation solutions, often based on the MultiPlug Edge Computing Platform, for manufacturing environments. They also provide consultancy and development for other Industry 4.0 platforms.

Host Mike Konrad was intrigued by a webinar presented by David titled “A Decade of Industry 4.0 – What it Wasn’t, What it Was,” and they speak about his thoughts, experiences, and opinions of Industry 4.0.

 

PCB Chat 107: Valentina Ratner and Kyle Dumont of AllSpice

Allspice has developed a software platform that supports users of CAD tools for collaboration, design and schematic reviews and commenting, and tracking various hardware-specific attributes such as order status, manufacturing, and connection to the PLM.

Allspice CEO Valentina Ratner and CTO Kyle Dumont have extensive experience in electronics hardware and software, both with startups and some of the largest companies in the industry.

They share the origins of the company, and how their personal experience drove development of the AllSpice platform, which seeks to wean the supply chain off PDFs as a product development tool.

PCB Chat 106: Madan Jagernauth on the Latest HDP Projects

HDP User Group is an industry consortium made up of more than 50 leading companies that collaborate on research in order to reduce cost and time to market.

Madan Jagernauth, marketing director and a project facilitator, discusses the latest programs, including ones on Pb-free manufacturing, with PCB Chat's Mike Buetow.

 

RM 108: SMTA Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium Preview

SMTA is well known for producing high-quality relevant technical conferences and symposiums. This includes, among others, the technical conference held at SMTAI, the High Reliability Cleaning and Coating Conference, the Symposium on Counterfeit Parts and Materials, the Advanced Electronics Assembly Conference, the Wafer-Level Packaging Symposium, the Electronics in Harsh Environments conference, and the Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium, often referred to as Pan Pac.

Pan Pac is unique in many ways, beginning with its venue. Pan Pac is held annually at one of the Hawaian islands. This fact alone makes this symposium stand out. But there are many other factors that make this symposium unique. As Pan Pac’s steering committee says:

"The Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium strives to build bridges and nurture relationships across all boundaries, oceans and cultures, industries and technologies, companies and individuals. Its location in Hawaii always provides the requisite isolation from day-to-day distractions necessary to support these goals and enhance personal face to face interactions. The Pan Pacific continues its mission of building the vision and future directions for the electronics industry!"

Pan Pac 2023 is scheduled for January 30 - February 2, 2023, at the Sheraton Kauai Resort on the island of Kauai.

To talk more about the upcoming Pan Pacific Symposium, Mike Konrad invited two colleagues who are instrumental in curating the technical contact for this symposium. Dr. Chuck Bauer, one of the creators of this symposium, and Keith Bryant join him to discuss the conferences technical tracks and presentations as well as their view on what makes this conference unique.

RM 107: IPC Validation Services & the Trusted Supplier Program

Like most manufacturers, the electronics manufacturing industry relies on countless suppliers to fulfill its manufacturing needs. I'm quite certain there is no one within the EMS space who fabricates their own boards using materials produced in house, operates their own semiconductor foundries, designs and manufacturers their own components, and produces soldering materials for their reflow process. 

 

Our industry relies on a vast network of manufacturers throughout the world to build even the simplest electronic assembly. Intellectual property security, cybersecurity, national security, are all hot topics today. No one wants their hard-earned intellectual property stolen. This is most true within the US military establishment. There are, at present, numerous policies, procedures, and regulations designed to protect various parts of our supply chain from unscrupulous people and companies. Today, companies are concerned about “controlled unclassified information” (CUI) and “controlled technical information” (CTI).

That brings us to IPC-1791. What is IPC-1791? 

 

Randy Cherry, Mike Konrad's guest on this episode, explains. 

Randy Cherry has over 30 years' experience in engineering and is a certified SMT process engineer and an IPC auditor.  He is director of Validation Services at IPC. Validation Services is a series of certification programs that qualify products and processes to the IPC industry standards.

 

RM 106: A Conversation about Production Automation

It's been said on this show that one key factor to international competitiveness is automation. While labor rates vary widely across the world, automation helps to level the field.

Michael McHale is CEO of Production Systems Automation, otherwise known as PSA. He graduated from Drexel University with a BS degree in mechanical engineering.

PSA is a privately owned engineering and custom manufacturing firm founded in 1985, with three locations in Pennsylvania. They are experienced as a turnkey systems integrator, providing solutions for capital projects including, but not limited to; flexible robotic solutions, custom automated machinery, drives and controls & custom PLC projects. They also offer a line of standard products developed for industry specific customers. They are a robotic systems integrator at heart, representing leading global robotic OEMs.

He joins Mike Konrad on Reliability Matters.

PCB Chat 105: Low-Heat Solders with Ian Tevis of SAFI-Tech and Andy Mackie of Indium

Last July, Indium Corporation announced a partnership with SAFI-Tech, an Iowa-based startup that is creating no-heat and low-heat solder and metallic joining products.

They call these supercooled molten metal products, and they have direct application to electronics soldering.

Dr. Ian Tevis, SAFI-Tech’s president and co-founder, and Dr. Andy Mackie of Indium Corporation, discuss this supercooling platform and what’s next toward bringing it to market with PCEA president Mike Buetow.

RM 105: Conformal Coating Material Selection Best Practices

Today we’re diving into conformal coating best practices. With the explosion of IoT, the electrification of vehicles, and the miniaturization of circuit assemblies and associated components, many of which are operating in harsh environments, the need for conformal coating has never been greater.

Coating your assemblies? Where does one start? What material should one choose? Should it be applied in-house or through a contract-coating house? What are the best practices in materials selection, application, inspection, and thickness? So many questions!

To answer these and other questions, Mike Konrad invited a conformal coating expert to shed light on this subject. David Greenman began his career in the conformal coating business at Concoat distributing Humiseal products and eventually manufacturing them under license for Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. After 25 years of distributing and manufacturing Humiseal products, Chase Corp, which owns Humiseal purchased Concoat. David now serves as director of Humiseal UK, Europe and India, responsible for corporate responsibility as well as supporting HumiSeal sales and technical teams.

He is qualified as a radio, TV/electronics engineer and a member of The Society of Radio and Electronics Technicians, now the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

 

PCB Chat 104: Wang Lu of Jove Enterprises

Wang Lu is cofounder of Jove Enterprises, a China-based printed circuit fabricator with five facilities in mainland China and one pending in Thailand. She discusses the company's technical strengths and markets, and reasons for branding out to Thailand, with PCEA president Mike Buetow.