Press Releases
Minneapolis, MN – The SMTA is excited to announce the technical program for the 2026 Wafer-Level Packaging Symposium. The symposium will be held February 17-19, 2026 at The Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in San Francisco, California.
The technical program features two exciting keynote presentations. On Tuesday, February 17, 2026, Ashkan Seyedi, Director, Networking at NVIDIA will present “Pioneering System Integration for Tomorrow's AI Workloads.” On Wednesday, February 18, 2025, Ritesh Jain, Senior Vice President, Engineering & Operations at Lightmatter, will present, “3D Photonic Interposers: Lighting the Path Beyond Moore’s Law.” For more information, view the keynote presentation descriptions online.
Technical sessions include over 20 expert speakers who delve into Metrology and Characterization, Assembly and Test, Co-Packaged Optics, Flip Chip, Panel Level Packaging and Innovation in Substrates, and more. The program features presentations from leading organizations including National Institute of Standards and Technology, Nhanced Semiconductors, Purdue University, SkyWater Technology, USHIO, and more. View the technical program here.
The symposium concludes with two professional development courses on Thursday, February 19, 2026. The first course, “The Critical Role of PCB Strain Measurement in Ensuring Reliability of Advanced Wafer-Level Packages,” will be instructed by Takahiro James Hara, Kyowa Americas, Inc. Gamal Refai Ahmed, Ph.D., GAMA63, will instruct the second course, “Current and Future Challenges and Solutions in AI & HPC System Thermal Management.” Access to these courses is included in standard registration. For details about professional development courses, visit this page.
Registration for this event is open online here. All presentations, professional development courses and events open to attendees are included in registration.
For more information about the Wafer-Level Packaging Symposium, please contact Kristin Nafstad at kristin@smta.org or +1-952-920-7682.
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.
Son, 18 December 2025 Sascha Brüning brings more than a decade of senior leadership experience within the defense industry, combining strategic oversight with operational expertise.
Sascha’s appointment marks another milestone as Neways expands its role within the European defense ecosystem. With demand rising and new business accelerating, Neways is investing in a more integrated and coordinated approach to serve defense customers and drive significant growth in the coming years.
As Vice President Defense, Sascha will be responsible for shaping and executing Neways’ strategic priorities in this domain. He will oversee key defense programs, manage customer relationships, and lead business development, all while ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements and Neways’ operational standards. He will report directly to the Board of Directors and join the Executive Committee.
Neways warmly welcomes Sascha Brüning and looks forward to working with him as he supports the company’s long-term growth strategy in the defense market.
About Neways
Neways is a global innovator in mission-critical electronics for the semicon, defense & mobility, and connectivity sectors. With over 50 years of experience and a strong in-house engineering capability, we are proud to be the technology innovation partner for the most demanding customers in the industry.
Neways develops and manufactures highly complex electronics, ranging from advanced modules and assemblies to highly specialized cables & wiring, and cutting-edge microelectronics solutions. Our team of over 2,500 specialists across the Netherlands, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, USA, Malaysia and China, enables innovative solutions for microchip production, advanced defense technologies, electric vehicle charging, the digitization of healthcare solutions, and much more.
Son, 18 December 2025 Sascha Brüning brings more than a decade of senior leadership experience within the defense industry, combining strategic oversight with operational expertise.
Sascha’s appointment marks another milestone as Neways expands its role within the European defense ecosystem. With demand rising and new business accelerating, Neways is investing in a more integrated and coordinated approach to serve defense customers and drive significant growth in the coming years.
As Vice President Defense, Sascha will be responsible for shaping and executing Neways’ strategic priorities in this domain. He will oversee key defense programs, manage customer relationships, and lead business development, all while ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements and Neways’ operational standards. He will report directly to the Board of Directors and join the Executive Committee.
Neways warmly welcomes Sascha Brüning and looks forward to working with him as he supports the company’s long-term growth strategy in the defense market.
About Neways
Neways is a global innovator in mission-critical electronics for the semicon, defense & mobility, and connectivity sectors. With over 50 years of experience and a strong in-house engineering capability, we are proud to be the technology innovation partner for the most demanding customers in the industry.
Neways develops and manufactures highly complex electronics, ranging from advanced modules and assemblies to highly specialized cables & wiring, and cutting-edge microelectronics solutions. Our team of over 2,500 specialists across the Netherlands, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, USA, Malaysia and China, enables innovative solutions for microchip production, advanced defense technologies, electric vehicle charging, the digitization of healthcare solutions, and much more.
Altus Group, a leading distributor of electronics manufacturing equipment in the UK and Ireland, has expanded its Aftersales operation to its largest size to date with the appointment of new engineer, David Wissam, to bolster coverage across the South East of the UK. The appointment reflects the company’s continued investment in service capability as its customer base continues to grow. David brings with him a strong background in customer experience and manufacturing support. He most recently worked at Paxton Access, a well-established electronics manufacturer, giving him first-hand insight into the realities of production environments and the support expectations of electronics manufacturers.
Mike Todd, Aftersales Manager at Altus Group, said: “It is great to see David joining the team and bringing his experience and energy into the business. Having come from a significant UK manufacturer, he understands customer challenges first-hand and can apply that knowledge to ensure we continue to support our customers to the highest level. We are proud of the size and experience of our pre-sales and Aftersales teams, and David’s appointment further strengthens that capability.”
David Wissam said: “I am really pleased to be joining Altus and excited to begin my journey with the team. I have been a customer for many years and have always admired the company not just for its equipment portfolio, but for the strength and knowledge of its people. Altus has clear momentum, and I am looking forward to supporting both new projects and the existing customers the team works with.” David becomes the third team member to join the Aftersales department in the second half of the year, taking the team to its largest size to date. This expansion reflects Altus' focus on building engineers with experience across complete manufacturing lines, enabling more effective on-site support and practical, process-led problem solving.
The Aftersales team has grown in response to sustained business development over recent years. Altus has added more than 100 customers along the South Coast in the past five years, as manufacturers increasingly look for long-term partners offering both advanced equipment portfolios and dependable service. In response, Altus has prioritised local engineering coverage to deliver faster, more resilient support while reducing inefficiencies associated with extensive national travel. www.altusgroup.co.uk.
Incap Estonia has strengthened the quality of its production with the addition of a new high-precision flying probe system. The investment enhances the factory’s ability to meet the diverse needs of customers with a fast-evolving and diverse product portfolio.
The Managing Director of Incap Estonia, Margus Jakobson, said that the investment aligns with Incap’s ambition to continuously improve its operations and keep up with different technological developments. “We are making great efforts to stay ahead of industry trends and needs by investing in solutions that strengthen the quality and efficiency of our operations,” Jakobson said.
Keeping pace with technological advancements is essential for Incap, as he explained: “This new system supports our goal of delivering consistently high standards to our customers while remaining agile in a rapidly changing market.”
Jakobson added that the investment solidifies Incap’s role as a reliable and agile manufacturing partner. “By improving flexibility and responsiveness across the testing process, our new system supports diverse project expectations, including shorter lead times and consistently high quality, and reflects the company’s commitment to delivering electronics our partners can always rely on.”
In electronics manufacturing, a flying probe system is used in the testing process to verify the electrical functionality and quality of assembled circuit boards before they move to the next production stage. Incap’s new flying probe system shortens the test cycles in manufacturing and increases flexibility for both prototype and volume manufacturing. It also supports highly accurate, fixtureless testing, allowing the factory to adapt quickly to new designs and respond faster to changing customer requirements, without the cost or lead time of traditional test fixtures.
By modernising the testing stage of the production process, testing time is estimated to be up to twice as fast compared to previous solutions. Incap Estonia’s focus on operational efficiency and process innovation is supported by reducing the need for dedicated test fixtures, which simplifies testing workflows and improves responsiveness across projects. Automation and software-driven testing reduce manual work and support a more streamlined and efficient production process over the long term.
PORTO, Portugal, 17th December, 2025 – Critical Manufacturing, the Manufacturing Operations Platform company making Industry 4.0 a reality, today announced a new partnership with Canonical that combines Critical Manufacturing’s advanced Manufacturing Execution System (MES) expertise with Canonical’s trusted cloud infrastructure technologies. Together, the companies will help manufacturers move towards cloud native manufacturing platforms that scale smoothly and meet industrial security expectations.
Manufacturers across industries are pushing forward with digitalization, but many still struggle with practical hurdles. Production systems often need to run across different environments, grow alongside business demands and deliver real-time visibility without adding complexity or risk. Scaling manufacturing software across sites, supporting modern deployment models and staying aligned with security standards remain common challenges.
Through this partnership, Critical Manufacturing and Canonical aim to remove those obstacles by offering a unified approach. Canonical provides a secure, enterprise-grade Kubernetes platform, Canonical Kubernetes. These technologies integrate with Critical Manufacturing MES and enable flexible deployment across cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments. This gives manufacturers the freedom to choose the infrastructure model that fits their operations, without forcing trade-offs in stability or control.
“This partnership brings together two platforms that manufacturers rely on to modernize operations,” said Mark Lewis, VP Application Services at Canonical. “By validating Critical Manufacturing MES on Canonical Kubernetes, we are creating a strong foundation for manufacturers looking for secure, scalable deployment options across cloud, hybrid, or on-premises environments.”
The collaboration also allows Critical Manufacturing to broaden its deployment options for customers already using Canonical products. By working with Canonical’s Kubernetes and securely designed Linux environments, Critical Manufacturing can shorten ramp-up time and lower entry barriers for manufacturers moving to cloud-native execution platforms, while remaining competitive in environments where Canonical is already established.
Will Trogdon, VP Partner Ecosystem at Critical Manufacturing, said, “Driven by a shared ambition to accelerate cloud-native manufacturing, we partnered with Canonical to offer a seamless, secure, and scalable way to deploy Critical Manufacturing MES in the environments that suit their operations.”
For customers, the partnership delivers a combined platform that supports secure and reliable manufacturing 1/2 execution at scale. Manufacturers gain more alternatives for cloud, hybrid, and on-premises deployments, supporting operational flexibility and overall lower total cost of ownership over time. Customers will also benefit from access to Canonical’s wider ecosystem of certified infrastructure providers as they expand or standardize deployments globally.
Canonical noted that the partnership will allow Critical Manufacturing to test and validate its products with Canonical Kubernetes, with the goal of addressing a shared market vertical together.
José Pedro Silva, R&D Director at Critical Manufacturing, added, “This collaboration supports a practical path to connected manufacturing execution. Canonical Kubernetes gives our customers a reliable infrastructure layer that complements the flexibility of our MES, especially as they expand across sites and adopt new digital capabilities.”
The partnership applies across manufacturing industries and supports organizations at different stages of digital maturity. By combining Critical Manufacturing MES with Canonical’s cloud infrastructure technologies, both companies plan to help manufacturers build more responsive and secure production environments that grow with their needs.
