SMTA International 2016 Concludes Successfully

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The SMTA International Conference and Exhibition, which took place September 25–29, 2016 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, concluded successfully.

The technical conference continued the tradition of being the strongest in the electronics assembly industry. The Emerging Technologies Summit at the beginning of the week received much praise as it covered key technologies such as Alternate Alloys, Printed Electronics, Additive Manufacturing, and other innovative technologies. The Harsh Environments Symposium keynote presentation on Advances in Autonomous Driving by Delphi’s Dwight Howard was well-received by attendees.

A first-ever SMTA technical session made up of entirely women presenters brought some impressive insight on conformal coating technology to the highly-anticipated Women’s Leadership Program on Monday afternoon. The session opened with a keynote presentation by Intel's Milena Vujosevic, Ph.D., and closed with a panel and reception featuring Technical Accomplishments of Women Engineers in electronics manufacturing.

A crowd filled the Opening Keynote Session until it was standing-room-only on Tuesday morning to hear Seagate Technology’s VP of Engineering, Daniel Kuhl, give an impressive look at future trends in storage technology.

The Lead-Free Soldering Technology Symposium as well as the expanded Manufacturing Excellence track sessions kept the meeting rooms packed until the very end of the conference on Thursday.

The SMTA International show floor experienced a 10% increase in booth space. Over 170 exhibiting companies filled the expanded exhibit hall bringing more equipment than before. The co-located Sensors Midwest added 60 more exhibiting companies focused on component-level technology and many attendees walked both shows. Traffic on the show floor was noticeably higher this year.

Mick Austin from Vitronics Soltec remarked, "The show floor felt busier this year than in past years."

Once again the Tech Tour program featured distinguished tour guides leading groups of attendees to exhibiting companies demonstrating printing and dispensing systems or placement equipment.

Over 250 guests attended the Woodstock Party on Tuesday evening. Many party-goers dressed up in 60s-inspired fashion and enjoyed music provided by special guest DJ and long-time SMTA supporter Tom Borkes from The Jefferson Project. 

Next year, the SMTA International Conference and Exhibition will be held September 17–21, 2017 at the Donald Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. The IPC Fall Standards Development Committee Meetings will again be co-located. 

For more information on SMTA International, please contact Tanya Martin at tanya@smta.org or 952-920-7682 or visit http://www.smta.org/smtai.

About SMTA  

The SMTA membership is an international network of professionals who build skills, share practical experience and develop solutions in electronic assembly technologies, including microsystems, emerging technologies, and related business operations.