PHILADELPHIA – Soldering guru Dieter Brammer passed away this morning at his home in Philadelphia.

Brammer was well known in the surface mount electronics manufacturing industry as a pioneer in the use of forced convection reflow for SMT soldering.

Originally from Lüneberg, Germany, Brammer immigrated to the US in the 1960s as a locksmith. He became involved in the membrane switch industry, printing and curing conductive inks, which led him to the electronics industry and the search for efficient drying and curing ovens.

He founded Screen Printing Technology in the 1980s in Eastern Massachusetts, eventually switching to infrared and later convection reflow soldering ovens. The business later became ABW Systems.