IPC Crowns Hand Soldering World Champion in Munich

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IPC’s Hand Soldering World Championship was held November 14 at productronica 2019 in Munich, Germany. This global event included 17 competitors representing companies in France, Hungary, Indonesia, Poland, Germany, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Vietnam, United Kingdom, Japan, India, China and the Philippines.

Tasked with completing a very complex circuit board assembly with dozens of components, nearly 200 solder joints within a 60-minute time limit, and fully compliant with IPC Class 3 standards requirements, contestants faced a significant challenge.

Rising to the challenge, Indra Setiawan, PT SIIX EMS, Indonesia, completed the printed board assembly within 56 minutes, scored 321 points out of 340, and earned the title of IPC hand soldering world champion. In addition to his title, a cash prize of €1000, Setiawan received a soldering station from sponsors JBC Tools, HAKKO and Almit. Pauline Duval, Thalès DMS, France, took second place with a score of 318 points, and earned €500. Duval qualified for the championship just the day before by winning the regional competition. With a score of 316 points, third place and €300 went to Maricel Calabig Velasco, Integrated Micro-electronics Inc., Philippines.

“The competitors brought their best skills to meet the requirements of this year’s challenge,” said Philippe Léonard, director, IPC Europe. “It’s intricate work, especially as components keep getting smaller and smaller. This was a very challenging competition and we had a very talented field of competitors from around the world showcasing their skills.”

Assemblies were judged on soldering in accordance with IPC-A-610G Class 3 criteria, the speed at which the assembly was produced and overall electrical functionality of the assembly. International MIT judges from China, Estonia, France, Holland and the United States provided their expertise judging the competition, and IPC thanks Patrick Mellet, IFTEC, France; Marcin Sudomir, Renex, Poland; Thomas Ahrens, Ph.D., Trainanlytics, Germany; Stefan Walls, PIEK, The Netherlands; Jack Shi, IPC Asia/Pacific; and Johnson Stephen Muriel, IPC Asia/Pacific.

In addition, IPC thanks 2019 Hand Soldering World Championship Gold sponsors JBC Tools, HAKKO, Reeco and Thalès and Silver sponsors Optilia, The Daylight Company, Almit, NCAB and Zestron for their enthusiastic support this year.                                                 

For information on upcoming IPC Hand Soldering Competitions, visit www.ipc.org/events.

Check out I-Connect007's video coverage of the IPC hand soldering competition in Munich.