IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® announces the appointment of Chris Mitchell as its new vice president of global government relations. Mitchell starts his new position today, March 5, 2018, and will be based in IPC’s Washington, D.C. Office.

In this new role, Mitchell will be responsible for development and implementation of the organization’s global advocacy efforts and public policy agenda with a focus on electronics industry business improvement; environment, health and safety; and defense initiatives. He will work closely with IPC’s Government Relations Steering Committee, and IPC Washington, D.C. office staff, to represent IPC and the electronics industry before key governmental policymakers globally and to identify issues and other opportunities where IPC can demonstrate its global leadership in government relations and public policy.

Mitchell was most recently a director at Prime Policy Group, a leading Washington, D.C. government relations firm, where he represented U.S. and international interests before Congress and the Executive Branch. Previously, Mitchell spent more than eight years working for members of Congress from the State of California for whom he handled technology, trade, and transportation issues. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University and a Master’s degree in philosophy from San Jose State University and currently serves on the board of directors for Partners Global and the Fabretto Children’s Foundation.

“Chris’s expertise in providing strategic council and advising members of Congress on technology and trade issues has made him a trusted advocate not only in Washington D.C. but in the halls of government across the globe,” said John Mitchell, IPC president and CEO. “His entrepreneurial approach to championing past advocacy efforts will set IPC’s own advocacy efforts apart from other organizations while advancing IPC’s members and industry’s causes. We look forward to welcoming Chris to IPC.”

Mitchell can be reached at 202-661-8097 or ChrisMitchell@ipc.org.

In recognition of his significant contributions of time, talent and ongoing leadership in IPC and the electronics industry, long-time IPC volunteer, Robert Cooke, NASA Johnson Space Center, was presented with an IPC President’s Award at IPC APEX EXPO 2018.

Cooke joined his first Task Group meeting in February 2003, subsequently became a member of several task groups through the early 2000s, and in 2010 he increased his focus by nearly double. He continued to take on more projects, and in 2016, he accepted the invitation to become the General Chair of the 7-30 Product Assurance Committee where he has worked with the leaders of the task groups and subcommittees under that umbrella to make meetings more productive.

He has often come to the aid of IPC technical staff and taken a concept from a task group and turned it into an info graphic for discussion. These helpful gestures have led to new, more accurate graphics in some of IPC’s standards. He often provides clear and well-formatted working drafts from his meetings, and every note, comment and graphic is completely traceable to its source.

In 2016, Bob provided his committee members and IPC staff with a “wow” moment when he was asked what projects may fill industry gaps, and he provided a long list of possible projects that could answer industry needs. IPC continues to consider each idea carefully to see when and where programs and standards can be launched with industry support.

In addition to chairing the 7-30 committee, Cooke also chairs the 7-31M Fiber Optic Cable Acceptability Task Group, the 7-31H IPC-HDBK-620 Handbook Task Group and the 7-31K Wire Harness Design Task Group, with service on a total of 38 committees. He has led standards efforts that resulted in the release of three white papers and several standards including IPC-D-620, IPC-HDBK-620, IPC-D-640 and IPC-A-640.

“IPC and the entire electronics industry are fortunate to have Bob volunteer his time and expertise,” said John Mitchell, IPC president and CEO. “His work has enriched both the industry and IPC and we are thankful for Bob’s dedication and hard work.”

For more information on the IPC President’s Award and this year’s award recipient, contact Sandy Gentry, IPC communications director, at SandyGentry@ipc.org or +1 847-597-2871. 

IPC bestowed its highest corporate honors on two, member companies, Rockwell Collins and Northrop Grumman Corporation. During a luncheon at IPC APEX EXPO 2018, the Peter Sarmanian Corporate Recognition Award was presented to Northrop Grumman and the Stan Plzak Corporate Recognition Award was presented to Rockwell Collins.

The Peter Samarian Corporate Recognition award, named for a former IPC Board Chairman, recognizes an IPC-member company in the printed board industry that has supported IPC through participation in technical and management programs while providing leadership for the industry.

Northrop Grumman, an IPC member since 1962, has long held a leadership role in IPC, participating in meetings for decades, making a significant impact on both IPC and the industry. More than 50 of its staff members are active on approximately 120 technical committees ranging from flexible circuits and fabrication processes to conflict minerals and intellectual property standards. Almost 1,000 Northrop Grumman employees have earned CIT, CIS, CID, CID+ and EMS certifications across all Northrop Grumman locations.

Named for former IPC Board Chairman and founding member of the IPC Electronics Manufacturing Services Industry Management Council, the IPC Stan Plzak Corporate Recognition Award honors an IPC-member company in the electronics assembly industry that actively contributes to the industry while supporting IPC technical and/or management programs.

Rockwell Collins has been a member of IPC since 1965, and has devoted many staff members to IPC standards development. Nearly 40 Rockwell Collins employees provide leadership and technical expertise on more than 100 standards development committees dedicated to topics such as assembly and joining, electronic documentation and e-textiles. More than 250 staff members have earned CIT, CIS, CID, CID+, and EMS certification across all Rockwell locations.

“We are privileged to have Northrop Grumman and Rockwell Collins as members of IPC,” said John Mitchell, IPC president and CEO. “Their decades of leadership, commitment to providing staff resources to standards development, and engagement in IPC education and event activities, have contributed to IPC’s global growth in the electronics industry.”

For more information on IPC’s Corporate Recognition Awards and other honors presented at IPC APEX EXPO, contact Sandy Gentry, IPC communications director, at SandyGentry@ipc.org or +1 847-597-2871.

The Nominating and Governance Committee of the IPC Board of Directors presented five candidates for election at the IPC Annual Meeting on February 27, held in conjunction with IPC APEX EXPO 2018 at the San Diego Convention Center. Three candidates were elected as Board officers and will serve two-year terms. Two were elected as new Board members and will serve a four-year term.

The newly elected Board officers are:           

• Board Chair – Mikel Williams, CEO and Board Chair, Targus Inc.
• Vice Chair – Shane Whiteside, President and CEO, Summit Interconnect
• Secretary/Treasurer – Bob Neves, Chair and Chief Technology Officer, Microtek Laboratories

The newly elected Board members are:

• Rick Bromm, President, Altex Inc.
• Jay Hill, Chief Operating Officer, Imaging, GE Healthcare

"IPC is privileged to have these directors and officers added to our current slate of Board members. All are active contributors to IPC initiatives and we look forward to their continued contributions to advancing IPC and industry," said John Mitchell, IPC president and CEO.

In addition to holding Board elections, IPC honored outgoing Board Chair, Joe O’Neil, CEO, Power Design Services. O’Neil will serve as the Immediate Past Chair on the IPC Board of Directors Executive Committee for a two-year term. Out-going Board Member Marc Peo was honored for his nearly 10 years of service on the IPC Board of Directors.

For additional information on IPC's Board of Directors including bios on newly elected Board members, contact Sandy Gentry, IPC communications director, at SandyGentry@ipc.org.

In recognition and acknowledgement of his extraordinary contributions to IPC and the electronics industry, Dave Hillman, Rockwell Collins, was presented with the IPC Raymond E. Pritchard Hall of Fame Award at IPC APEX EXPO on Tuesday, February 27 at the San Diego Convention Center. IPC’s most prestigious award, the Hall of Fame is given to individuals who have provided exceptional service and advancement to IPC and the electronics industry.

An active IPC volunteer and leader for IPC and the electronics manufacturing industry for nearly 30 years, Hillman is a metallurgical engineer in the Advanced Operations Engineering Department at Rockwell Collins, as well as a Rockwell Collins Fellow, serving as a consultant to manufacturing on material and processing problems.

Author of more than 200 industry papers and presentations, chair of numerous committees at IPC and a sought-after speaker in the industry, Hillman’s knowledge and expertise in the issues of tin whiskers, BGA voiding, solder joints, wire solderability, tin-lead solder, lead-free processes and conformal coating materials is extensive. Active in IPC’s Emerging Engineer program as a mentor, Hillman has also mentored more than 100 young engineers at Rockwell Collins.

In 1999, Dave earned an IPC President’s Award for his contributions to IPC standards development and in 2015 was amongst an illustrious group of inaugural winners of the Dieter Bergman IPC Fellowship Award for his commitment to global standardization efforts.

“Dave’s contributions to IPC have been invaluable,” said John Mitchell, IPC president and CEO. “He is not only dedicated to creating better standards for the industry, but he also generously shares his knowledge and expertise with the next generation of engineers. His contributions for the past three decades have been far reaching, his time spent, immeasurable and his achievements, vast. He is an ideal recipient for IPC’s highest honor.”

For more information on the IPC Hall of Fame and other awards presented at IPC APEX EXPO, contact Sandy Gentry, IPC communications director, at +1 847-597-2871 or SandyGentry@ipc.org.

IPC® announces the winners of the IPC APEX EXPO 2018 Innovation Awards, a celebration of the innovators and forward thinkers who are changing the technological landscape of the electronics industry.

Thirty-four products and services were submitted by 32 exhibiting companies and were reviewed, rated and scored by a panel of industry experts who provided a numerical value based on the following criteria: How is this product innovative?  How is this product changing the manufacturing industry?  What value will customers experience with this new product?

The IPC APEX EXPO Best of Innovation Awards will be presented on Wednesday, February 28 during the morning keynote to the following companies:

• DfR Solutions takes a Best of Innovation Award for their Temperature-based FEA with Sherlock Automated Design Analysis™ Software, the first-of-its-kind Automated Design Analysis software tool for analyzing, grading, and certifying the expected reliability of products at the circuit card assembly level.
• A Best of Innovation Award goes to JBC Tools for JBC Net, a pioneering software system that manages and optimizes the hand soldering process, standardizes parameters and controls operator performance.
• Metcal has earned a Best of Innovation Award for its Connection Validation Robotic Soldering System. Robotic soldering is becoming more commonplace as manufacturers look to reduce risk and increase productivity. Metcal’s new CV Robotic Soldering System addresses these needs by combining its patented CV technology and a new Smart Interface System.
• Orbotech, Inc. has earned a Best in Innovation Award for its Ultra Dimension, an Automated Optical Inspection Series for advanced PCB manufacturing processes -- the first AOI solution to integrate four leading solutions into a single system: pattern inspection, laser via inspection, Remote Multi-Image Verification and 2D metrology.

“The IPC APEX EXPO Innovation Awards allow us to celebrate the innovators and forward thinkers who are changing the technological landscape of the electronics industry,” said John Mitchell, IPC president and CEO. “The product and service submissions were certainly innovative and the companies did an exceptional job in identifying their product’s unique value in the industry. The innovative submissions directly indicate the strength of the electronics industry and its ability to respond to new challenges resulting from emerging technologies,” Mitchell added.

Members of the award review board include: Dale Lee, Plexus Corporation; Todd MacFadden, Bose Corporation; Dave Geiger, Flextronics International; Don Dupriest, Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control; Jeff Timms, ASM Assembly Systems; and Rick Lies, Chemcut Corporation.

For more information on all IPC APEX EXPO activities, visit www.IPCAPEXEXPO.org.

IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® Pb-free Electronics Risk Management (PERM) Council has developed the first single document dedicated solely to assisting design engineering in the development of electronics that are completely lead-free (Pb-free) and meet the demanding requirements of aerospace, defense and high performance (ADHP) products and systems.

IPC/PERM-2901, Pb-free Design and Implementation Guide, provides an in-depth review of printed board defects, manufacturing and soldering processes, supply chain control, selection, use and assembly with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products and obsolescence management.

While the commercial electronics industry has almost eliminated the need for tin-lead (SnPb) based electronics systems and products, the ADHP industry, due to a lack of industry-accepted reliability models for Pb-free interconnections, has continued to rely on SnPb for their products. As it becomes more cost-prohibitive for the ADHP industry to continue to use SnPb products, and with failure mechanisms for Pb-free materials being significantly different than SnPb materials, gaining knowledge and understanding of how Pb-free materials affect the ADHP industry has become critical.

Although many technical papers and industry studies have been published addressing the Pb-free soldering process over the past 20 years, the IPC/PERM-2901, Pb-free Design and Implementation Guide is the first to assist design engineering, quality assurance and manufacturing engineering in understanding and appreciating the differences in mechanical and physical behaviors of Pb-free soldering and providing avenues for risk mitigation.

This guideline specifically addresses the “delta” differences between SnPb and Pb-free solder technologies relative to manufacturing the same products. The differences in these solder technologies are generally categorized (with respect to Pb-free solder alloys) as:

• Typically poorer wetting ability
• Differences in appearance and inspection criteria
• Typically higher melting temperature
• Potential tighter process window for repair/rework
• Increased potential of tin whiskers

The PERM Council, comprised of global participants from government, military, medical, academia and other not-for-profit organizations, along with private companies, was created to address the need for how Pb-free materials directly affect product performance, reliability and service life.

The European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) profoundly affected the electronics industry when lead was listed as a restricted substance. According to Linda L. Woody, formerly of Lockheed Martin and former PERM Council Chair, “ADHP systems and products have a broad range of performance requirements, and have relied on SnPb products for decades. We created the guideline to ease the transition from SnPb to Pb-free, and to help the industry meet the demanding requirements of the ADHP systems and products.”

For more information or to purchase IPC/PERM-2901, Pb-free Design and Implementation Guide, visit the IPC Online Store.