MINNEAPOLIS, MN – The 2007 Charles Hutchins Grant Award, cosponsored by Circuits Assembly and SMTA, has been given to Gayatri Cuddalorepatta for her project, Cyclic Plasticity vs. Cyclic Creep Fatigue of SnAgCu (SAC) Solder: A Micromechanics Approach.

Graduate student in mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland, Cuddalorepatta will receive $5,000 – funds provided by Circuits Assembly’s Service Excellence Awards program – and travel expenses to SMTA International in Orlando, during which Cuddalorepatta will be presented the award.

Cuddalorepatta’s project includes experimental studies and fundamental mechanics-based modeling to quantify the behavior of various candidate materials for Pb-free solders.

Cuddalorepatta has a B.E. in mechanical engineering from Osmania University (India), and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from State University of New York, Binghamton.

In her professional pursuits, Cuddalorepatta hopes to work in the field of electronics packaging. She plans to join the academic world to catalyze studies in nano-scale material modeling and experimental techniques applied to diverse material systems in electronic packaging. She has particular interest in involving research teams from multiple disciplines to address issues faced in practical applications involving electronic packages and systems to develop more efficient and robust electronic packages.

This grant was established in memory of past SMTA president and industry colleague Charles Hutchins.