Brook Sandy-Smith: Hey, Phil, are you going to SMTAI this year?
Phil Zarrow: Why, yes, I am, Brook. How about yourself?
Brook Sandy-Smith: Yeah, I'm going to be there, and I'm looking forward to it.
Phil Zarrow: What specifically are you looking forward to?
Brook Sandy-Smith: Well, I'm hosting a panel discussion on Warpage-Induced Defects and whether the limit should be revisited.
Phil Zarrow: Because we've gone, with the modern component technologies, we've gone beyond the old smile or frown.
Brook Sandy-Smith: Right, dynamic warpage changes everything. Where we were talking about head-in-pillow or head-on-pillow, we're talking about non-wet opens now. You can have a very irregular shape that changes during reflow or you can even have an unusual shape of the package when you place it, that then goes flat during reflow.
Phil Zarrow: Right.
Brook Sandy-Smith: So then, when you return to room temperature where the component would be a funky shape, how does that impart new internal stresses on the solder joints? We'll be talking about all of those facets of the warpage-induced defects topic. And, new this year, my panel discussion will be streamed live on Facebook.
Phil Zarrow: So, what else are you up to at SMTAI this year?
Brook Sandy-Smith: Well, I'm really looking forward to the IPC meetings. It's a really good chance to have your voice heard in the industry. Either bring up issues with the standards that you see, or bring new technology or new strategies to the committee, so that the whole electronics industry can benefit from the strides that you're making.
Phil Zarrow: Any particular committees you yourself are focusing on?
Brook Sandy-Smith: Well, yeah, I mean, the IPC-7093 Committee, which is the Guideline for Bottom Termination Component Applications. We're rewriting the standard right now. It's huge change in the IPC, and it's a really good opportunity to bring the new strategies. I mean, everyone's talking about bottom termination components.
Phil Zarrow: Yes.
Brook Sandy-Smith: I know you always are teaching workshops. What are the new engineers going to learn this year?
Phil Zarrow: Well, this year Jim Hall and I are presenting Defect Reduction in Process Failure Analysis Workshop and we're looking forward to that, and a good time will be had by all.
Brook Sandy-Smith: Absolutely. You're always very informative and good at teaching about all sorts of defects and the way to solve them.
Phil Zarrow: And mildly entertaining.
Brook Sandy-Smith: Sometimes, yeah.
Phil Zarrow: Sometimes. So what else? What about the show floor?
Brook Sandy-Smith: Yeah, I can't wait to get on the show floor. My favorite thing about that is I get to see people that I've been emailing with all throughout the year, but we finally get to have a face-to-face conversation. That's when some of the best technical strategizing happens, when you're face-to-face and you really hone in on those key issues.
You can come visit us at Indium Corporation's booth, number 517, and make sure you come to my panel discussion on Warpage-Induced Defects, which will be in the spotlight session after lunch in the Show Floor Theater, on Wednesday, September 20 at 2:0 p.m. SMTAI will be in Rosemont, IL on September 17-21, 2017.
We can't wait to see you there.
Phil Zarrow: Be there or be square.