BANNOCKBURN, IL – IPC crowned China’s Zhang Yi hand soldering champion at Productronica. Yi scored 473 out of 500.

Second place went to Vu Thi Xuan, while third place went to Hasrol Mizom Hosson.

Sixteen competitors participated, representing China, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Korea, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Thailand, the UK and Vietnam. The grand prize was €1000.

“The world championship hand soldering competition required the competitors to hone their best skills and focus on a very complex board,” said Kris Roberson, IPC director of certification. “Of the 16 competitors, only six completed a functional board, to give you an idea of how difficult the board design was. Normally the competitors are given 60 minutes to complete the board. For the championship round, the time limit was 75 minutes.”

Assemblies were judged on soldering in accordance with IPC-A-610F Class 3 criteria, the speed at which the assembly was produced and overall electrical functionality of the assembly.