The 2019 IPC Hand Soldering Competition Japan concluded at NEPCON Japan in Nagoya September 20, celebrating the outstanding skills and professional achievements of talented manufacturing floor workers. Thirty-two competitors from renowned companies such as Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electronics, Advantest, NEC Space Technology and others participated in the event.

IPC, in conjunction with What’s New in Electronics Live and ART-- Advanced Rework Technology Ltd., conducted the IPC Hand Soldering Competition in Warwickshire, United Kingdom, on September 18-19, 2019. Twenty competitors demonstrated their soldering skills with the hope of winning the coveted hand soldering competition crown.

In conjunction with ELECTROSUB 2019, Microsolder and IPC conducted the second regional European qualification for the IPC Hand Soldering Competition in Budapest, Hungary on April 3-5, 2019. The competition in Budapest drew 33 professional hand soldering competitors for the coveted hand soldering regional competition crown. In addition to this year’s professional competition, 34 beginners from local high schools competed for first, second and third place cash prizes over the three-day period.

In conjunction with Global Industrie/Midest and SNESE, IFTEC and IPC conducted the first regional European qualification for the IPC Hand Soldering Competition in Lyon, France on March 5-8, 2019. The competition was fierce as 32 competitors went soldering iron to soldering iron to compete for the coveted hand soldering competition crown.

IPC’s hand soldering competition returned to the United States with the first-ever IPC Hand Soldering World Championship and Rework Competition, held at IPC APEX EXPO 2019 in San Diego, California. Contestants representing Britain, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand participated in the event.

IPC brings to the forefront these gifted individuals by sponsoring regional hand soldering competitions (HSC) at various exhibitions/conferences throughout the world. At these events, the hand soldering competitors, representing their companies, demonstrate their successful abilities to hand solder a printed circuit board to IPC-A-610G within a specified time limit.