Effective electrification could hold the keys to the future of air travel and air superiority.

Many feel our lives enriched by convenient and fast mobility. Our societies and economies have become dependent on the ability to get places quickly in planes, trains and automobiles, but easy mass access to air and road travel now appears at odds with the survival of the planet. We need a zero-emission solution if we are to continue enjoying its benefits, and electrification based on renewable energy appears to offer a way forward. Adoption of electric vehicles is accelerating while development of the internal combustion engine for private automobiles has all but stopped. But what are the prospects for electric aviation?

Identify the areas of variance in stencil design and adjust SPI programming accordingly.

Don’t underestimate the speed and execution of a smaller shop.

Def.: Mom and Pop Shop. A common characterization of a family-owned company, usually small, closely held, and tightly run under original or second-generation ownership; often used as a term of derision or condescension by members of large companies; unsophisticated, provincial, or parochial; perceived as lacking in the most current skills, tools, or manufacturing methods. Often viewed as predisposed to surviving as a business and ensuring family succession first, with growth for growth’s sake a secondary priority. Not innovative. Inflexible in business practices. Rarely for sale. Content to operate in their space. Stuck in their ways.

Your operation? Or perhaps someone’s cursory impression of it? Certainly you have heard someone belittle a company by saying, “They’re nothing more than a mom-and-pop operation.” How did you as an owner feel when you got wind of that summary judgment? Was your comeback equally dismissive and snap-judgmental (“Typical remarks by someone who’s never met a payroll in their life”)?

Not enough solder? Blame the via design!

Vias in pads can be “solder thirsty” and suck up solder from pads at terminals during reflow, creating what may appear to be solder insufficiency at the joints. This problem is typical of a via-in-pad design. It’s unpredictable as well; solder will randomly tend to fill those vias during the reflow process and some locations may appear worse than others, for example.