Best Technical Conference Papers at IPC APEX EXPO 2024 Selected

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The best technical conference papers of the ECWC16 Technical Conference at IPC APEX EXPO 2024 have been selected. Voted on through a ballot process by members of the IPC APEX EXPO Technical Conference Program Committee (TPC), the paper authors will be recognized during show opening remarks on Tuesday, April 9.

“All of the papers making up the ECWC16 Technical Conference at IPC APEX EXPO 2024 represent the highest quality technical content from authors around the world,” said Stan Rak, co-chair of the TPC. “The global diversity of the presenting authors increased this year because of the large Asian cohort affiliated with the World Electronic Circuits Council (WECC). A Conference high 28 abstracts were received in total from next generation authors as well as seven student contributions, thus demonstrating the Conference’s ability to reach early career professionals. However, there is still a vast amount of experience taking stage with more than 25 percent of the presenting authors holding doctoral degrees. The commitment to quality is reflected in this year's selection of Best of Conference, NextGen, and Best Student papers. We extend our congratulations to all the award winners!"

Taking top honors in the Best of Conference category, the winning papers are:

• “Innerlayer Copper Balancing to Reduce PCB Surface Topography Under Large Form Factor BGAs” by Gary Brist, Intel and HDP User Group. His co-author is Neil Hubble, MBA, Akrometrix. This paper will be presented during Technical Conference Session S07: PCB Fab 2: Laminate Materials 1 on Tuesday, April 9.
• “Humidity Robustness of Electronic Control Units – The Hidden Factor Solder Resist” by Lothar Henneken, Ph.D., Robert Bosch GmbH. This paper will be presented during Technical Conference Session S06: High Reliability for Extreme Requirements, on Tuesday, April 9.
• “A Parametric Approach to Quantifying the Environmental Impact of PCB Manufacturing” by Maarten Cauwe, Ph.D., imec. His co-authors are Geert Willems, Ph.D., imec, and Eddy Geerinckx, ACB. This paper will be presented during Technical Conference Session S08: Sustainability for Electronics 2: Life Cycle Assessment, on Tuesday, April 9.

The NextGen best paper is awarded to:

• “Crack Formation in Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Printed Circuit Boards after Thermal Storage” by Mandy Krott, M.Sc., Robert Bosch GmbH. This paper will be presented during Technical Conference Session S07: PCB Fab 2: Laminate Materials 1, on Tuesday, April 9.

The Best Student paper is awarded to:

• “High-frequency Signal Characteristics of Differential Striplines with Different Cu-Foil Roughness” by Ying-Chih Chiang, Master’s Student, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan, R.O.C. Her co-authors are Cheng-Yu Lee, Yu-Hsun Chang, Yu-Xuan Wen, Chun-Jou Yu, Wei-Ling Chou, and Cheng-En Ho, all of Yuan Ze University. This paper will be presented during Technical Conference Session S13: PCB Fab 4: RF Materials, Low Loss Materials, on Wednesday, April 10.

New in 2024, a scholarship from the IPC Education Foundation is awarded to:

• Emily Lamport, Ph.D. Student, University of Massachusetts, for her paper “Implementation of 3D Printed Near Chip-Scale Interposers into X-Band Dual Channel MMIC Assembly.” This paper will be presented during Technical Conference Session S14: Factory of the Future 2: Additive Manufacturing, on Wednesday, April 10.

All technical conference papers were evaluated on their technical content, originality, test procedures and data used to deduce conclusions, quality of illustrations and the clarity and professionalism of writing as well as value to the industry.

To register for the ECWC16 Technical Conference at IPC APEX EXPO 2024 or for more information on all the activities taking place, including professional development courses, exhibition, keynote presentations, networking activities and more, visit www.IPCAPEXEXPO.org.