IPC Hall of Fame Spotlight Series: Highlighting Denny Fritz

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Editor’s note: Dan Feinberg continues his series on the IPC Hall of Fame, spotlighting the achievements of past Hall of Fame members.

Many IPC members who have contributed significantly to IPC and our industry have been awarded the IPC Raymond E. Pritchard Hall of Fame (HOF) Award. Though many early HOF members have passed away and are unknown to today’s IPC membership, their contributions still resonate. This special series on IPC Hall of Fame members provides a reminder of who was honored and why. As a bonus, for those who are still around, we get to find out what these talented individuals are up to today.

This month, the Hall of Fame spotlight features Denny Fritz, a long-time friend and associate of mine.

Denny first got involved with IPC in 1978 while working with MacDermid. His first efforts were with the various board fabrication committees, something he believes helped lead to his eventual Hall of Fame award. He considers his patron saint, Dieter Bergman, to be the one who got Denny so involved, encouraged him when he did, and also supported his nomination for the Hall of Fame award.

As with so many HOF recipients, their involvement in IPC endeavors is difficult to fully convey, but I will try here to list out many of Denny’s innumerable IPC accomplishments.

Fabrication Standards Activities

SM-840 standard, 1978–1987

IPC Process Effects: IPC-740,  chair 2005–2014

IPC Microvias: IPC D-33D, 1995–2004

IPC Buried Components (Resistors): D-55, 1997–2005

Surface finishes: IPC 455x, 1995-2012

Assembly Standards

IPC Component solderability J-002: Vice Chair, 1997–2020

Councils

October Project: Cooperative PCB Research, 1995-2003

Assembly and Joining Committee, 1997-2020

Roadmaps

IPC Technology Roadmap, Fabrication Section Editor, 1996-2015

iNEMI Roadmap, Bare Board Chapter Participant, 1998-2012

Books

Printed Circuit Handbook: Editor of the chapter on Embedded Components, 6th edition, 2012

Toward the advancement of global manufacturing, Denny also chaired the North American group of the JISSO International Council from 2006–14. The JISSO International Council (JIC) was an independent nonprofit organization in Japan governed by a steering committee to facilitate a strategic partnership among organizations interested in the total solution for interconnecting, assembling, packaging, mounting, and integrating system design standardization. According to an IPC paper presented at ECWC 10 at the IPC Printed Circuit Expo, as it was called at the time, JISSO is a made-up word that Japanese technologists created to stand for total system integration, akin to the “silicon to systems” phrase that IPC uses today. The JIC and its members were committed to fostering open competition in the development of products and services based on industry needs. IPC was one of the initial JISSO organizers, along with Japan Printed Circuit Association (JPCA), Japan Exchange and Teaching Association (JETA), and Joint Electronic Device Engineering Council (JEDEC). Denny’s early work with these groups was foundational in where IPC finds itself today in developing global manufacturing standards.

Denny is still involved with IPC and remains interested in and follows the industry’s technological advancement. Denny was considered for the Hall of Fame Award due to  his involvement in the Assembly and Joining Committee, as well as his interest and involvement in all aspects of printed circuit board manufacturing and assembly technology. Thank you, IPC Hall of Fame member Denny Fritz, for your contributions to IPC and the industry at large.

This article appeared in the February 2025 issue of PCB007 Magazine.