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FEATURES

Industrial Health
Evaluation of Employee Exposures at a PCB Plant
A confidential employee request for a Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE) at an electronics manufacturer specializing in PCB fabrication and assembly explains how third-party audits are initiated and reviews best-in-class controls for maintaining factory worker health.
by Srinivas Durgam, Chandran Achutan, Ph.D., Carlos Aristeguieta, M.D., and Maureen T. Niemeier

DfT
Smoothing the Layout to Test Flow
When layout and test take place under the same roof, determining the right strategy to increase test coverage for a given product becomes much easier, and ensures the end-product will be successfully tested.
by Zulki Khan

Dispensing
Solder Paste Jetting: A Broadband Solution
Recent product miniaturization breakthroughs have pushed stencil printing solder paste to its current process limits. Many different approaches can be taken to address this issue. A just-published study takes a step approach to understand the challenges associated with noncontact dispensing, better known as jetting, associated with both large-volume jetting and ultra-fine dot jetting.
by Rita Mohanty, Ph.D.

Component Qualification
Acoustic Screening to Remove Suspect Plastic Components
Most gap-type anomalies make no difference in the proper functioning or lifespan of the component. Some, though, depending on size and location within the package, can expand until they break a connection. A new technique to image the bulk of the mold compound in many sequential slices reveals the real dangers.
by Tom Adams

FIRST PERSON

• Caveat Lector
  Packaged up.
  Mike Buetow

MONEY MATTERS

• ROI
  Vertically challenged.
  Peter Bigelow

• Sherman’s Market
  A stellar first half.
  Randall Sherman
  

TECH TALK

• Defects Database
  Tapered stencil apertures.
  Dr. David DiMaio
  

• Process Doctor
  Do away with DI.
  Dr. Harald Wack
  

• Getting Lean
  When the ‘fix’ is worse than the cure.
  Michael Ford

• Solar Technologies
  Wafer technology recipes.
  Tom Falcon

• Materials World
  New TIM adhesives.
  Jie Bai

• Technical Abstracts
  In Case You Missed It.