6^th & 7^th October

Hillman and Pauls Return!

Having already announced that the aim and thrust of this year's conference is to address many of the issues facing our industry today, we are delighted to confirm that the Rockwell Collins team of Dave Hillman and Doug Pauls are back by public demand!

Following our successful two day conference last year, that celebrated 25 years of the SMART Group's existence, we proudly announce that after a busy year of events, we will celebrate our 26th anniversary with an equally exciting two day conference with details available at http://www.smartgroup.org/ . We are lining up an eminent world class team for this event to be held on 6th & 7th of October with a packed table top exhibition. The venue is again The Oxfordshire GC Business Centre.

Dave Hillman and Doug Pauls have been signed up and we are pleased to announce their sessions as follows:

'Voiding in BGA & the Potential Impact on Reliability'

Presented by: Dave Hillman – Rockwell Collins

Voids in area array components - Ball Grid Arrays (BGAs), Chip Scale Packages (CSPs), Flip Chips (FCs) - is an intensively controversial discussion topic in terms of solder joint integrity. Does a void decrease the solder joint integrity because it reduces the necessary crack failure length? Does a void increase the solder joint integrity because it blunts the crack tip thus impeding crack growth? What kind of void do I have? What type of X-ray technique(s) do I use to assess the voids? Can I use underfill and/or cornerbond materials to change the interaction of voids and area array component solder joints? Basic void types, their root causes and other topics of concern will be addressed from an IPC Class 3 High Performance avionics product as part of the presentation.

'Impact on Handling PCBs & Correlation of Cleanliness & SIR Results'

Presented by Doug Pauls – Rockwell Collins

This presentation covers a research effort to examine the effects of hand sanitizers and hand lotions on high reliability electronics. In a Rockwell Collins study, four sanitizers and three common hand lotions were examined for their potential effects on SIR, dielectric withstanding voltage, adverse effects on adhesion, conformal coat adhesion, and solderability.

'New Cleaning and Cleanliness Specifications for PCBs & Assemblies'

Presented by Doug Pauls & Dave Hillman – Rockwell Collins

With the release of J-STD-001E and IPC-A-610E, there are questions related to cleaning and cleanliness, as always. In this presentation, Doug and Dave cover the cleanliness aspects of standards, as well as IPC-5704, the new IPC standard on bare board cleanliness. IPC-9202, the process qualification standard, will be covered, as well as IPC-9203, the companion Users Guide to the 9202 document.

The full programme of presentations will be announced shortly with a list of exhibitors.