-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueMoving Forward With Confidence
In this issue, we focus on sales and quoting, workforce training, new IPC leadership in the U.S. and Canada, the effects of tariffs, CFX standards, and much more—all designed to provide perspective as you move through the cloud bank of today's shifting economic market.
Intelligent Test and Inspection
Are you ready to explore the cutting-edge advancements shaping the electronics manufacturing industry? The May 2025 issue of SMT007 Magazine is packed with insights, innovations, and expert perspectives that you won’t want to miss.
Do You Have X-ray Vision?
Has X-ray’s time finally come in electronics manufacturing? Join us in this issue of SMT007 Magazine, where we answer this question and others to bring more efficiency to your bottom line.
- Articles
- Columns
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
Gen3’s Dr. Chris Hunt to Present at SMTA Electronics in Harsh Environments Conference
May 5, 2022 | Gen3Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Gen3, a British manufacturer of testing and measuring the electronics industry, announced that Dr Chris Hunt, CTO, will present during the SMTA Electronics in Harsh Environments Conference. The presentation, “Objective Evidence and How to Convince the Auditors,” will take place on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, from 16:30 – 17:00 p.m. at the Park Plaza Victoria Amsterdam.
Gen3’s Dr. Chris Hunt will be addressing the question that everyone is facing in the industry globally, what does ”Objective Evidence “mean/require?
- This will be a measurement system that will be repeatable and reproducible, and that can have a metric that directly relates to performance.
- For ECM a suitable metric is resistance.
- ECM produces corrosion products and ionic current flows that contribute to unwanted circuit elements.
- A measurement of the isolation resistance between circuit features therefore provides a direct circuit performance metric.
- SIR and CAF are examples of techniques that measure resistance, and hence provide Objective Evidence .
SIR, for process validation testing, was first established more than 30 years ago. It was a spin-off from the British CFC Elimination Project led by Dr Colin Lea OBE, at the British National Physical Laboratory. With the then advent of no-clean fluxes, it was the only test method to determine electro-chemical reliability and hence acceptable cleanliness as used at that time.
It was recognised as unsuitable for process control and that process ionic contamination testing (PICT) should be maintained for fast and effective control within 15 minutes.
New test methods have been introduced by IEC in the past 2 years:
- IEC 61189-5-502 – Surface Insulation Resistance (SIR) testing of assemblies - 2021
- IEC 61189-5-504 – Process Ionic Contamination Testing (PICT) - 2020
Gen3’s presentation will also look at the other test methods and compare their pro’s and con’s, including Ion Chromatography, FTIR, SEM + EDAX and new Digital Microscopy.
- The Printed Circuit Assembler’s Guide to… Process Validation by Graham K. Naisbitt
- “Predicting Reliability in Electronics,” a free 12-part webinar series with experts Graham Naisbitt and Chris Hunt
- Roundtable Discussion: Process Ionic Contamination Test (PCT) Standard Roundtable with Industry Experts, including Graham Naisbitt of GEN3, Teresa Rowe of IPC, Jason Keeping of Celestica, and Doug Pauls of Collins Aerospace
- You can also view other titles in our full I-007e book library here.
Suggested Items
Magnalytix and Foresite to Host Technical Webinar on SIR Testing and Functional Reliability
06/26/2025 | MAGNALYTIXMagnalytix, in collaboration with Foresite Inc., is pleased to announce an upcoming one-hour Webinar Workshop titled “Comparing SIR IPC B-52 to Umpire 41 Functional & SIR Test Method.” This session will be held on July 24, 2025, and is open to professionals in electronics manufacturing, reliability engineering, and process development seeking insights into new testing standards for climatic reliability.
Defense Speak Interpreted: Is DARPA Still Around After CHIPS?
06/24/2025 | Dennis Fritz -- Column: Defense Speak InterpretedWhen I first published my Defense Speaks Interpreted column in January 2019 on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA ERI), the agency advocated for an expanded Defense emphasis on closing the growing technology gap in microelectronics. The emphasis was on “resurgence.”
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
06/13/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007Today is Friday the 13th, and in much of Western folklore, this is a day when bad luck is lurking. But while Friday the 13th may top Western superstition charts, the global calendar is sprinkled with its own unlucky legends. In Spain and Greece, the bad juju lands on Tuesday the 13th—a day linked to Mars, the god of war, and naturally, chaos. In Italy, it’s Friday the 17th that is feared, thanks to the Roman numeral XVII, which can be rearranged to spell VIXI—Latin for “I have lived” (a poetic way of saying you’re dead).
TTCI Celebrates Melanie Rutkauskas’ 10-Year Anniversary and Her Leadership of New Training Division
06/12/2025 | TTCIThe Test Connection Inc. (TTCI), a leading provider of electronic test and manufacturing solutions, is proud to celebrate Melanie Rutkauskas on her 10-year anniversary with the company.
Bridging the Knowledge Gap in Test: A Conversation with Bert Horner
06/11/2025 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007Bert Horner is a seasoned industry veteran and co-creator of The Test Connection, Inc. (TTCI), a test and inspection company spanning over 45 years. In this candid conversation, Bert reflects on the challenges our industry faces with the retirement of career professionals and the subsequent loss of critical tribal knowledge. As he unveils The Training Connection’s innovative training initiatives, Bert emphasizes the importance of evolving educational programs that align with industry needs, particularly in design for test (DFT), and sheds light on strategies being implemented to foster the next generation of engineers.