IPC’s Dieter Bergman Fellowship Award Presented to Bev Christian, HDPUG

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

The Dieter Bergman IPC Fellowship Award is given to individuals who have fostered a collaborative spirit, made significant contributions to standards development, and have consistently demonstrated a commitment to global standardization efforts and the electronics industry. Each recipient will be eligible to bestow the Dieter Bergman Memorial Scholarship upon the university or college of his/her choice.

Bev Christian is a facilitator for the High Density Packaging User Group (HDPUG) and an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering of the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. In the past 31 years he has held positions at Nortel, BlackBerry, and CALCE; all in the areas of materials and failure analysis. Bev has never missed an IPC APEX EXPO since its inception. He is a member of 27 IPC committees and attends as time and the lack of clones allow.

He has been the chair of the 5-32E Conductive Anodic Filament and 5-32D Electrochemical Migration task groups and is now the chair of 3-11G Corrosion of Metal Finishes and 5-24B Solder Paste task groups. Bev has helped author more than 50 published papers and has presented 23 of them at IPC events. Bev met his wife at the 1999 IPC Printed Circuits Expo. 

Patty Goldman: Bev, congratulations on this most prestigious award from IPC. Tell me about how you got started with IPC. 

Bev Christian: Thank you. At the time, I was working for Nortel here in Canada, and I went to an IPC Printed Circuits Expo in, I think 1996 or ‘97. I walked into either a component or PCB solderability task group meeting that Dave Hillman was chairing and I was hooked. 

Goldman: And are you still on that committee? 

Christian: I am actually, yes, all these years later. 

Goldman: Yes. All those years later. Tell me about it, though. What were your impressions with your first meeting and subsequent ones? And I’m sure you became chairman shortly thereafter. 

Christian: The first thing that hit me was I was in a room with people that spoke my language, that were interested in the things that I was interested in and were dedicated to moving the industry forward by building standards and test methods. And so, I branched out. I did a count and I think, over the years I’ve been on 30+ committees, certainly not all at the same time. I don’t have clones. But it has been and still is a great ride. 

Goldman: Great. Now I know you didn’t stay with Nortel. But have your companies always supported your IPC efforts? 

Christian: Yes, absolutely. In fact, I’m sad to report that this one this year will be the first APEX EXPO that I’ve ever missed, mainly for reasons of health. Certainly, my present part-time employer at High Density Packaging User Group would help supplement my expenses, but no, I personally chose not to go. 

In terms of committees, I’m also the co-chair of the Technical Program Committee for APEX EXPO this year.  

Goldman: It’s a shame to miss it all, though, I do understand. Well, now, suppose you were at the meeting, and you met a first timer; what’s your advice to those first timers? 

Christian: I would say to try out several different committees. Just come into the back of the room, sit there, take it in, maybe for the first two times that you come just get the lay of the land. See how it works and where you think that you could provide some input and be useful to the industry. 

Then I would dive in and become an active member. Perhaps volunteer to be the secretary, the notetaker for a committee on occasion. Once you get your feet under you, then think about stepping up to being a chair or a vice-chair. Do it gradually. 

To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the Real Time with… IPC APEX EXPO 2022 Show & Tell Magazine, click here.