CLINTON, NY – Indium Corporation advisor, and founder/principal of DS&A LLC, Dave Saums will present on innovative thermal materials for semiconductor testing at TestConX 2024, held in Mesa, AZ, March 3-6. Saums will open the conference with a tutorial on March 3 and deliver a technical presentation on the topic on March 5.

The presentation, titled Testing Innovative Thermal Interface Materials for Semiconductor Test, will describe the testing practices for innovative thermal interface materials (TIMs) that are designed specifically for semiconductor test applications, or which are directly applicable. TIMs are available from hundreds of vendors, not all of whom are developers and manufacturers, in more than fourteen major, highly varied types, designed for a very wide variety of applications. Current industry standard test methodologies are outlined in ASTM D 5470-17, developed over three decades by a working committee of thermal industry engineers. This methodology provides a guideline for how test systems may be designed and constructed and for the general principals involved in testing TIMs. However, the very large number of different material types requires an understanding of the principal material categories, the intended purposes for the major types, and the differences encountered in thermal performance testing and reliability testing.

“Through the tutorial and presentation, my goal is to improve understanding of TIMs, the differentiators between categories, various testing methods, and types of TIM testing equipment,” said Saums. “I look forward to contributing to the industry’s collective tool kit by sharing these insights with my colleagues at TestConX.”

Saums has 45 years of experience in many aspects of electronics thermal management, for manufacturers and developers of military/aerospace high-reliability precision fans, high-volume heat-sinks and liquid cold plates, advanced TIMs, CTE-matched rigid thermal materials and substrates, and two-phase pumped dielectric liquid cooling systems. He operates a full-time consulting business addressing these products and markets, working with vendors, test equipment manufacturers, and system OEMs. Saums has previously conducted a tutorial for TestConX on thermal interface material classifications and has also given presentations at TestConX and BiTS. He holds B.S. and MBA degrees from Clarkson University, with post-graduate work at Union College.

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