-
-
News
News Highlights
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueWhat's Your Sweet Spot?
Are you in a niche that’s growing or shrinking? Is it time to reassess and refocus? We spotlight companies thriving by redefining or reinforcing their niche. What are their insights?
Moving 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.
- Articles
- Columns
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
Carol Handwerker Appointed to NIST Advisory Committee
June 6, 2023 | Michelle Te, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

We often hear words and phrases that naturally go together: Salt and pepper, touch and go, trace and space.
When it comes to the work of IPC member Carol Handwerker, however, the collocations are much more nuanced, deeper, and have greater significance. You’re more likely to think of phrases such as standards and technology, lead-free and solder, or advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration. These are just some examples of Carol’s lifelong work in materials engineering, involvement with governing bodies, and a forward-thinking approach to electronics manufacturing that has spanned more than three decades.
Her latest participation is an appointment to the Industrial Advisory Committee, an extension of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where she joins 23 other members in advising the U.S. Department of Commerce on the science and technology needs of the nation’s domestic microelectronics industry.
Carol currently serves as the Reinhardt Schuhmann Jr. Professor of Materials Engineering, Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University. She formerly worked at NIST, where she became chief of the Metallurgy Division. She is well-known for her research on determining the best options for solder that connect electronic components to circuit boards, focusing on almost any physical condition that a circuit board could encounter.
Her current research is part of the U.S. Partnership for Assured Electronics (USPAE) and is backed by a $40 million U.S. Department of Defense contract. (Click here to learn more about her research.)
But the NIST appointment is something altogether different. Her work on the committee, alongside three other representatives from academia, is to provide guidance to the federal government in relation to the recently passed CHIPS and Science Act, which has appropriated $52 billion toward bolstering the semiconductor industry in the United States.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to be appointed to this committee because of my perspective, both from having been a lead in advanced packaging at NIST, seeing and believing in the mission of NIST, and knowing the strengths that can be brought to the table when academia, companies, and government work together,” she says. “As a result, I have some strong views about priorities for the program.”
The committee, which also includes IPC Board Member and packaging leader Meredith LaBeau of Calumet Electronics, has begun the discussions about how to best advise the Department of Commerce and what must be advised upon.
Committee members, representing companies ranging from Intel and Microsoft to Ford Motor Company, Qualcomm, and the Potomac Institute for Policy, will provide assessments of research and development (R&D) programs and activities authorized under Section 9906 of the CHIPS Act.
“My impression is that this is an incredibly knowledgeable, insightful, and powerful group,” Carol says. “They are taking on these roles for the good of the country.”
It’s an important point to make, she says, that each comes to the committee not as an individual, but as one representing a specific sector or organization. “They were very clear when they sent the invitation that we’re not supposed to leave our day jobs behind. We must bring those insights to bear on the committee.”
To read the rest of this article, which appeared in the Spring 2023 issue of IPC Community, click here.
Suggested Items
Knocking Down the Bone Pile: Addressing End-of-life Component Solderability Issues, Part 4
07/15/2025 | Nash Bell -- Column: Knocking Down the Bone PileIn 1983, the Department of Defense identified that over 40% of military electronic system failures in the field were electrical, with approximately 50% attributed to poor solder connections. Investigations revealed that plated finishes, typically nickel or tin, were porous and non-intermetallic.
SHENMAO Strengthens Semiconductor Capabilities with Acquisition of PMTC
07/10/2025 | SHENMAOSHENMAO America, Inc. has announced the acquisition of Profound Material Technology Co., Ltd. (PMTC), a premier Taiwan-based manufacturer of high-performance solder balls for semiconductor packaging.
KYZEN to Highlight Understencil and PCB Cleaners at SMTA Querétaro Expo and Tech Forum
07/09/2025 | KYZEN'KYZEN, the global leader in innovative environmentally responsible cleaning chemistries, will exhibit at the SMTA Querétaro Expo & Tech Forum, scheduled to take place Thursday, July 24, at Centro de Congresos y Teatro Metropolitano de Querétaro.
Driving Innovation: Direct Imaging vs. Conventional Exposure
07/01/2025 | Simon Khesin -- Column: Driving InnovationMy first camera used Kodak film. I even experimented with developing photos in the bathroom, though I usually dropped the film off at a Kodak center and received the prints two weeks later, only to discover that some images were out of focus or poorly framed. Today, every smartphone contains a high-quality camera capable of producing stunning images instantly.
Hands-On Demos Now Available for Apollo Seiko’s EF and AF Selective Soldering Lines
06/30/2025 | Apollo SeikoApollo Seiko, a leading innovator in soldering technology, is excited to spotlight its expanded lineup of EF and AF Series Selective Soldering Systems, now available for live demonstrations in its newly dedicated demo room.