MINNEAPOLIS, MN – The opening session and annual meeting/keynote address during SMTA International will be held Oct. 9 and 10, respectively, in Orlando.

The free opening session will focus on SMTA’s End Game: Lead-Out, Labels-On, Reliability-In. Marking, Symbols, and Labels for Pb-Free Identification will be led by Steve Greathouse of Greathouse Solutions, and Pb-Free Printed Circuit Board Reliability will be led by Werner Engelmaier of Engelmaier Associates.
 
The SMTA annual meeting will feature Andrew Alduino, Senior Optical Researcher in the Photonics Technology Lab of Intel Corp. Implementation Challenges of Future Optical Interconnects will address the challenges facing integration to photonics technology, including thermal management, multi-chip package concerns, alignment of components, and more.

The 2006 conference award winners will be recognized, including Best of Conference Presentation, Dave Hillman, Rockwell Collins; Best Proceedings Paper, Robert Darveaux, Ph.D., Amkor Technology; and Best International Paper, Heather McCormick, Celestica, Inc.

At the meeting, the SMTA will present its Association Awards and the Charles Hutchins Educational Grant for $5,000, an award that is given annually to a graduate-level student pursuing a degree and working on thesis research in electronics packaging or related field. (Circuits Assembly funds the grant using proceeds of its Service Excellence Awards.)

The cost for the SMTA annual meeting is $40 for members and $50 for nonmembers.