SMT Hybrid Packaging 2012 Conference - Nuremberg, Germany May 8 - May 10

I'll be attending and teaching at SMT Hybrid Packaging 2012 in Nuremberg, Germany May 8-May 10.

On Thursday, May 10th, I'll teach Tutorial 16 on:

Design for Reliability and Sourcing of Printed Circuit Boards

Schedule

Thursday, 10.05.2012, 09:00 - 12:00 hrs

Speaker

Cheryl Tulkoff, DfR Solutions, College Park, USA

Language

English

Description

In the electronics industry, the quality and reliability of any product is highly dependent upon the capability of the manufacturing supplier, regardless of whether it is a contractor or a captured shop. Manufacturing issues are one of the top reasons that companies fail to meet warranty expectations, which can result in severe financial pain and eventual loss of market share. What a surprising number of engineers and managers fail to realize is that focusing on processes addresses only part of the issue. Design plays a critical role in the success or failure of manufacturing and assembly. Designing printed boards today is more difficult than ever before because of the increased lead free process temperature requirements and associated changes required in manufacturing. Not only has the density of the electronic assembly increased, but many changes are taking place throughout the entire supply chain regarding the use of hazardous materials and the requirements for recycling. Much of the change is due to the European Union (EU) Directives regarding these issues. The RoHS and REACH directives have caused many suppliers to the industry to rethink their materials and processes. Thus, everyone designing or producing electronics has been or will be affected.

Target group: Managers & Engineers representing the PCB Design, Manufacturing, Process Planning and Development and Failure Analysis functions.

To learn more about the conference, click here.

To register, click here.

For the conference flyer, click here.

Craig Hillman at IPC Midwest Conference, Schaumburg, IL: September 21-22

Craig Hillman will be presenting "Common Mistakes in Electronic Design" as part of focused Design for Reliability session within the annual IPC Midwest Conference. He will also present "Quantitatively Predicting the Reliability of Complex Integrated Circuits" in a technical session. If you would like to schedule a visit to your company while Craig is in the area, please contact June Caswell, jcaswell@dfrsolutions.com.

Lead-Free Reliability Workshop: Oct. 31st in Irvine, CA

IPC Conference on Reliability:
ASSEMBLY PROCESS for a RELIABLE PRODUCT

LEAD-FREE RELIABILITY WORKSHOP: October 31, 2011

CONFERENCE: November 1–2, 2011 • Irvine, Calif.

This unique event will take you through the assembly process — from materials to test and inspection — and provide you with the latest information so you can increase your reliability.

LEAD-FREE RELIABILITY WORKSHOP

October 31
10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Design for Reliability in the Lead-Free Era

Instructor: Cheryl Tulkoff, Senior Member of Technical Staff, DfR

This workshop provides a focused but comprehensive discussion of all issues that can arise during the transition to lead free. All areas of potential risk will be examined, including:
• popcorning
• tin whiskers
• plating failures associated with various solder materials
• plated-through hole (PTH) barrel cracking
• pad cratering
• thermomechanical wearout
• high-cycle fatigue

For each reliability concern, the latest research will be shared and you will learn the best ways to mitigate risk based on a product's design, materials, complexity, volumes and customer expectations of reliability. A final summary will provide you with a roadmap for ensuring the reliability of your lead-free product.

Who Should Attend?
This course is designed for engineers and manufacturing personnel who need to fully comprehend the characteristics of design for reliability (DFR) and how it applies to unique applications.

Register Now!

DfR Solutions in Harrisburg, PA: May 31-June 2

Cheryl Tulkoff will be in the Harrisburg, PA area May 31 - June 2 and is available for onsite discussions and presentations on a variety of topics, including technology insertion, design for manufacturability and reliability, reliability prediction and root-cause analysis. If you would like to schedule a visit to your company, please contact June Caswell, jcaswell@dfrsolutions.com.

Manufacturability & Reliability Challenges with QFN: Mar. 10 ASQ RS Webinar

ASQ Reliability Society Webinar Series

Thursday March 10, 2011 noon-1:00 pm EDT

DESCRIPTION: The quad flat pack no lead or quad flat non-leaded (QFN) is one of the fastest growing package types in the electronics industry today. While the advantages of QFNs are well documented, concerns arise with its reliability and manufacturability. Acceptance of this package, especially in long-life, severe-environment, high-reliability applications, is currently limited. One of the most common drivers for reliability failures is inappropriate adoption of new technologies, such as the case with QFN. In this presentation, we will review and discuss QFN related reliability concerns and challenges, and propose Physics-of-Failure (PoF) based approaches to allow the confident introduction of QFN components into electronics products.

PRESENTER: Cheryl Tulkoff has over 15 years of experience in electronics manufacturing with an emphasis on failure analysis and reliability. She has worked throughout the electronics manufacturing life cycle beginning with semiconductor fabrication processes, into printed circuit board fabrication and assembly, through functional and reliability testing, and culminating in the analysis and evaluation of field returns. She has also managed no clean and RoHS-compliant conversion programs and has developed and managed comprehensive reliability programs.

Cheryl earned her Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech. She is a published author, experienced public speaker and trainer and a Senior member of both ASQ and IEEE. She holds leadership positions in the IEEE Central Texas Chapter, IEEE WIE (Women In Engineering), and IEEE ASTR (Accelerated Stress Testing and Reliability) sections. She chaired the annual IEEE ASTR workshop for four years and is also an ASQ Certified Reliability Engineer.

She has a strong passion for pre-college STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) outreach and volunteers with several organizations that specialize in encouraging pre-college students to pursue careers in these fields.

To Register click here

DfR Welcomes Dr. Gregg Kittlesen as New Senior Member of Technical Staff

DfR Solutions is proud to announce the hiring of Dr. Gregg Kittlesen to lead its component integrity effort. Located at DfR headquarters in College Park, MD, this effort will provide telecommunication and enterprise OEMs insight and guidance into reliability assessment and risk mitigation for components and modules.

Dr. Kittlesen is internationally recognized as an expert in the fields of optoelectronic device and integrated module reliability engineering. Prior to joining DfR Solutions, he was responsible for component and module reliability evaluation at Ciena Corporation, a leading supplier of network infrastructure solutions. His experience included qualification programs, supplier audits, corrective action resolution, failure analysis, reliability prediction, and prognostic health management. Previous positions at Ericsson Microelectronics and Analog Devices included wafer-level testing and qualification of integrated laser/modulator (DFB/EA) devices, chip product engineering, RF bipolar process integration and qualification, etch/deposition tool evaluation and process development.

DfR Solutions at IPC Electronics Midwest: Chicago, Il Sept. 28-30

Randy Schueller will be presenting "Design for Reliability: The Next Generation" at the IPC Midwest Conference on Thursday, September 30th at session S05. For more information or to arrange a meeting during the conference, please contact Randy Schueller, rschueller@dfrsolutions.com .

S05 Design for Reliability (DfR) and Failure Analysis

Thursday, 9/30/2010 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Moderator: John Radman, Trace Laboratories East Denver
Turn on the news these days and see how quality recalls can detrimentally affect the confidence and loyalty customers have for a company’s product. This session will cover various failure modes, identify high risk assembly processes, and outline physics of failure (PoF) principles and other critical prevention strategies in DfR that need to be implemented to product a defect-free quality product.

ESD Control for the Automotive Electronics Industry
Gerry Pedone, Delphi Electronics & Safety

Strategies for the Prevention of Board Strain and Cracked Chips in Automotive Electronics
Steve Davidson, Delphi Electronics & Safety

Reliable Solder Identification by X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Ronald Glaser, CMG Sales/Fischer Technology, Inc.

Design for Reliability: The Next Generation
Randy Schueller, DfR Solutions

Die Attach Solder and Solder Alternatives
Brian Toleno, Ph.D., Henkel Corporation

Qualifying for Moisture-Containing Environments

Designing and qualifying electronic systems for uncontrolled environment is a challenging task and one of the most difficult is capturing the risks of moisture. Depending upon the location, electronics can be subjected to a range of humidity and even condensation. This white paper by DfR Solutions provides guidance on selecting the right test for your use environment. For more information on test plan development, please contact Jim McLeish, jmcleish@dfrsolutions.com.

DfR's On-Demand Webcasts: Learn Any Time, All the Time

Does your schedule or budget prevent you from attending one of DfR's courses in a classroom setting? That will no longer prevent you from getting up-to-date training. DfR now has several of its popular courses available online for download at any time that is convenient for you. Professional Development Hour (PDH) certificates are available for paid webcasts. Click here to see the list of currently available webinars. Don't see what you are looking for? Contact Cheryl Tulkoff, ctulkoff@dfrsolutions.com

Austin Green Technology Reliability Seminar & Open House

Green Technology Reliability Seminar
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
DLi Labs at 3201 Industrial Terrace #120 in North Austin

Program:

1:00 - Registration Begins

1:05 - Open House and Informal Tours

2:00 - Welcome and Introductions

2:05 - Quick Overview of Ops A La Carte, DfR Solutions, and DLi Labs

2:30 - "Reliability Challenges in the Green Revolution,"
Mike Silverman, Ops A La Carte Reliability Consultants, Santa Clara CA

3:00 - "Reliability in the Green Market of Videoconferencing,"
Nathan Reddy, Polycom, Austin TX

3:30 - Refreshment Break & Networking

3:45 - "Reliability Challenges for Solar Microinverters,"
Paul Parker, SolarBridge Technologies, Austin TX

4:15 - "Accelerated Environmental Stress Testing in the PV World,"
Dr. David Dumbleton, Atlas Material Testing Technologies, Chicago IL

4:45 - Panel Discussion: Silverman, Reddy, Parker, Dumbleton

5:45 - Closing Remarks

6:00 - More Networking and Refreshments


Registration: http://events.linkedin.com/Austin-Green-Technology-Reliability/pub/317197

Cost: There is no charge for this event

Event Location:

DLi Labs at 3201 Industrial Terrace #120 in North Austin
near intersection of North Mopac and US-183 west of Burnet Road

Design for Excellence (DfX) South

Did you miss attending Design for Excellence (DfX) West? Don't worry, DfX South is right around the corner. Register today!

The five-day seminar will be held in Huntsville, Alabama, on May 17-21, 2010. Courses will also be available via live webinar for those out of the area. This one-of-a-kind collaborative effort will provide designers, reliability personnel, and engineering management with tools on how to meet time-to-market deadlines and reduce warranty issues.

Two tracks are available; however, each course is priced individually to allow attendees to register for the specific courses which best fit their individual needs. Feel free to mix-and-match. If you can't attend for the entire week, select the course(s) most valuable to you.

Cost per course, per person: two day = $1195, one day = $695. Webinar costs are 25% less. Register five people and the fifth person is FREE! Discounts for full-time students and unemployed individuals are available.

Track 1: DfX
Monday: Design for Reliability (1 day)
Tuesday: Design for Environment (1 day)
Wednesday: Design for Manufacturability (1 day)
Thursday: Design for Testability (1 day)
Friday: Design for Components (1 day)

Track 2: ALT/RCA
Monday & Tuesday: Best Accelerated Life Tests (2 days)
Wednesday & Thursday: Root Cause Analysis (2 days)
Friday: Design for Mechanical Reliability (1 day)

For more information, or to register, please click here or e-mail accounting@dfrsolutions.com

DfX Seminar - San Jose, California

DfR Solutions, in association with Ops a La Carte and Value Engrafting, is proud to announce that the Design for Excellence training session is back!

There was such a high demand for the DfX course in Maryland in October 2009 that we are holding an expanded seminar in San Jose, California, April 19-23, 2010. This one-of-a-kind collaborative effort will provide designers, reliability personnel, and engineering management with tools on how to meet time-to-market deadlines and reduce warranty issues.

Two tracks are available. Attendees may elect to register for an entire track or pick and choose the specific courses which best fit their individual needs.

Track 1: DfX
Monday: Design for Reliability
Tuesday: Design for Environment
Wednesday: Design for Manufacturability
Thursday: Design for Testability
Friday: Software Design for Reliability and Design for Warranty

Track 2: ALT/RCA
Monday & Tuesday: Best Accelerated Life Tests
Wednesday & Thursday: Root Cause Analysis
Friday: Design for Mechanical Reliability

All courses will be available both in the classroom and via webinar. We are also offering a Group Discount: Every 5th registrant from the same company registering together is FREE!

For more information, or to register, please click here or send an e-mail to tsmittenaar@dfrsolutions.com.

Design for Excellence (DfX) Bay Area is Coming! April 19-23 (San Jose, CA)

The electronics industry is demanding Excellence! Can you deliver? Learn how at DfR Solutions' upcoming DfX training in San Jose, CA. In collaboration with IPC, Ops Ala Carte, and Value Engrafting, DfR is providing training on all the DfX tools (DfR, DfM, DfT, DfE, DfW) as well as Accelerated Life Testing and Root-Cause Analysis. To register, please click here or contact Tammy Smittenaar, tsmitteraar@dfrsolutions.com.

DFR's Design for Excellence (DfX) Course Returns

There was such a high demand for the DfX course on the East Coast in October 2009, that we have decided to add West Coast and Southern locations:

•San Jose, CA: April 19-23, 2010
•Huntsville, AL: May 17-21, 2010

This one-of-a-kind collaborative effort will provide designers, reliability personnel, and engineering management with tools on how to meet time-to-market deadlines and reduce warranty issues.

Areas to be covered include Design for Reliability, Design for Manufacturability, Design for Testability, Accelerated Life Testing, Warranty Reduction, and Design for Environment. Attendees will be eligible to earn Professional Development Hours (PDH).

We are also offering a Group Discount: Every 5th registrant from the same company registering together is FREE! Unemployed individuals receive a 25% discount, and full-time students receive a 50% discount.

For additional information, including course outlines and registration, please click here.

We are looking forward to seeing you there!

DfR Solutions at Renewable Energy World in Austin, TX Feb 23-25

Cheryl Tulkoff will attend the Renewable Energy World Conference in Austin, TX February 23-25.

For more information on Solar Test and Reliability, please contact Cheryl Tulkoff, ctulkoff@dfrsolutions.com

Design for Excellence Reliability Symposia - 3 Locations Announced

Design for Excellence
DfR Solutions, in association with Ops A La Carte, is holding a five-day professional development reliability symposia. Attendees will be able to select from a DfX track or an ALT/RCA track. This one-of-a-kind collaborative effort will provide designers, reliability personnel, and engineering management with tools on how to meet time-to-market deadlines and reduce warranty issues.

What You Will Learn
Attendees will develop an understanding of:

The drivers for incorporating DfX into the product development process
Best practices in regard to component selection, component placement, and layout
How these practices need to be adjusted for different manufacturing processes, suppliers, use environments, and reliability expectations
How to implement DfX as part of internal design reviews
How to meet time-to-market deadlines and reduce warranty issues
Who Should Attend
Directors of Engineering, Quality / Reliability Managers, Circuit and Layout Designers, Reliability personnel, Designers, etc.

Course Schedule
Track 1 - DfX
Day 1: Design for Reliability (DfR) by Dr. Craig Hillman and Mike Silverman
Day 2: Design for Environment (DfE) by Dr. Randy Schueller
Day 3: Design for Manufacturability (DfM) by Cheryl Tulkoff
Day 4: Design for Testability (DfT) by Vaughan Carlson
Day 5 (am): Software Design for Reliability by Bob Mueller
Day 5 (pm): Design for Warrranty by Bob Mueller
Track 2 - ALT/RCA
Day 1-2: Best Accelerated Life Tests by Mike Silverman
Day 3-4: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) by Dr. Craig Hillman and Greg Swartz
Day 5: Design for Mechanical Reliability by Dr. Kim Parnell
Registration Prices
Two day courses: $1195
One day courses: $695
Half-day courses: $395
Group Discount: Every 5th registrant from the same company registering together is FREE! Unemployed receive a 25% discount and full-time students receive a 50% discount.

When and Where
DfX West
April 19-23, 2010
Pruneyard Plaza Hotel, Campbell, California (tentative)
DfX South
May 17-21, 2010
University of Alabama, Huntsville, Alabama (tentative)
DfX East
October 11-15, 2010
Courtyard by Marriott, Greenbelt, Maryland (tentative)

For additional details and registration, please click here.