SMTA International 2015 Best Papers Announced

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

The SMTA is pleased to announce the Best Papers from SMTA International 2015. As speakers at SMTA International, individuals make contributions to the industry by sharing their research and findings.  To reward exceptional achievement, $1,000 awards and plaques are given for the Best of Conference Presentation, Best of Proceedings Paper, and the Best International Paper.

The winner from SMTA International 2015 for the Rich Freiberger Best of Conference Award, as selected by the conference attendees, is Bob Willis, bobwillisonline.com, for his presentation entitled "Assembly Process and Product Failures-Causes and Cures." The award is based on the conference attendees' rating of each speaker at the technical session. Bob donated half of his prize to the Charles Hutchins Educational Grant.

Paul Vianco, Ph.D. from Sandia National Labs won the Best of Proceedings category for the paper "Establishing a Ti-Cu-Pt-Au Thin Film on Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (LTCC) Technology for High-Temperature Electronics." Co-authors include J. Rejent, M. Grazier, A. Kilgo, B. McKenzie and A. Allen, Sandia National Laboratories; E. Guerrero and W. Price, Honeywell Inc.

Matt Kelly, P. Eng., MBA, IBM Corporation, won the Best International Paper category for his paper entitled "Via-In-Pad Plated Over (VIPPO) Design Considerations for Enterprise Server and Storage Hardware." Co-authors include Mark Jeanson, Timothy Younger, Jim Bielick, Theron Lewis, and Mitch Ferrill, IBM Corporation. This award and the Best of Proceedings are selected by the SMTA International Technical Committee.

A new award category, Best Student Presentation, was awarded to Cong Zhao, Auburn University, for his paper “Long Term Aging Effects on the Reliability of Lead Free Solder Joints in Ball Grid Array Packages with Various Pitch Sizes and Ball Alignments.” Co-authors include Chaobo Shen, Zhou Hai, Jiawei Zhang, M. J. Bozack, and J. L. Evans, Center for Advanced Vehicle and Extreme Environment Electronics (CAVE3), Auburn University.

The authors will formally be presented their awards at the Opening Ceremony during SMTA International on September 27, 2016 in Rosemont, Illinois.  For information on participating in the 2016 SMTA International Conference, visit the Call for Papers page.  Abstracts can be uploaded directly on-line and will be accepted through February 29, 2016.

The papers are available in the conference proceedings available in the SMTA Bookstore.

For more information on SMTA International please contact SMTA Administrator Tanya Martin: tanya@smta.org or 952-920-7682 or click here.

About SMTA

The SMTA membership is an international network of professionals who build skills, share practical experience and develop solutions in electronic assembly technologies, including microsystems, emerging technologies, and related business operations.