A Tribute to Dieter Bergman

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

BANNOCKBURN, Ill., USA, July 23, 2014—It is with great sadness that IPC announces the passing of Dieter Bergman, IPC staff member for more than 40 years. Decorated with countless awards over his lifetime, Bergman’s name will forever be synonymous with IPC and he leaves a legacy of friendships, lasting memories, and what is affectionately treasured by IPC staff and close friends as “Dieter-isms”—such as a 45-minute answer to a 10-second question.

And with this announcement my father, IPC’s prolific contributor, developer, learner, educator, and publisher for over 61 years, was gone.

Gone, but certainly not forgotten. The impact of Dieter’s labors still forms the foundation of many pillars IPC provides as support to the industry. As Dieter’s son, and an IPC staff member recruited by Dieter, I have been asked to reflect on his impact on IPC, and on the industry. I touched base with just a few of his innumerable industry friends to aid in this reflection. It may seem strange to you that I refer to him as Dieter, but I was comfortable this way—Dieter in public, Dad in private.

Dieter and Design

Design was continuously part of Dieter’s core. He began his career in 1956 as a designer for Philco Ford in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He assumed the position of supervisor of the printed circuit design group in 1967 and joined the company’s advanced technology group where he specialized in printed circuit computer-aided design.

In 1962, while at Philco Ford, he became the company’s official representative to the IPC. Dieter tag-teamed with his friend and co-worker Gerald Ginsberg on the development of a prolific run of technical publications including a multilayer design standard and the massive binder known as the IPC-D-330 IPC Design Guide. For his standards contributions, Dieter received the IPC President’s Award in 1968, the same year he assumed chairmanship of the IPC Design Committee.

Dieter joined the IPC staff in 1974. This wasn’t the end of Dieter’s efforts to create binders of content for industry, however. His name appeared on a few publications, including a handbook on gold usage, an electronics packaging manual, and an optoelectronics guide. His contributions to the industry as a whole earned him a place on the IPC Hall of Fame—IPC’s highest honor—in 1985.

To raise the visibility of the importance of designers to the industry, Dieter led the effort to create the IPC Designers Council and the credentialing program, known as CID and CID+, to allow designers to demonstrate mastery of the body of knowledge required to be capable designers.

To read this entire article, which appeared in the May 2021 issue of SMT007 Magazine, click here.