Best Student Poster: Drop Shock Reliability

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Two Auburn University doctoral candidates authored a poster on drop shock performance of solder alloys in BGA assemblies that won Best Student Poster at IPC APEX EXPO 2024. They received a $750 cash prize and a $2,000 scholarship.

Palash Vyas is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Industrial Engineering with more than three years of research experience in reliability testing of PCBs. His paper was co-authored by Soroosh Alavi, who has bachelor’s and master’s of science degrees in industrial engineering and is now in his third year as a doctoral student in industrial and systems engineering, while also working on a master’s degree in data science.

Both students are well-known to the IPC Education Foundation. Palash is a former president of the IPC Student Chapter at Auburn University. He also won Best Student Paper in 2022 for solder joint reliability during thermal cycling. Soroosh joined his IPC Student Chapter at Auburn in 2022. Both have won member and leadership scholarships over the past four years.

Of their 2024 poster, the judges noted that “the research is very novel” and “there is not a lot of research in this area of drop shock test of PCBs at elevated temperatures.” The judges said Palash and Soroosh have a good understanding of the subject matter.

Julia Flynn, IPC professional development coordinator, said the Technical Program Committee members who reviewed their poster “were impressed,” and gave them high scores all around for the technical content.

“I am deeply honored to have received the Best Poster Award,” Palash said. “Apart from alleviating the financial burden of tuition, the award will help strengthen my belief in my potential to make a difference in the electronics industry. It will greatly boost my motivation as a researcher.”

“The award is deeply meaningful to me,” Soroosh said. “It validates the hard work and dedication I’ve invested in my research and reassures me that my contributions are valuable to the field. This recognition not only motivates me to continue pushing the boundaries of what I can achieve but also reinforces my commitment to making impactful advancements in the industry.”

To read this entire article, which appeared in the 2024 issue of Show & Tell Magazine, click here.