The IPC International Conference on Lead Free Materials and Surface Finishes will help you and your customers address the materials and surface finish issues facing the industry today. Basic job responsibilities like comparing solders, creating DfM rules, evaluating fluxes and selecting surface finishes have never been more complex. Attend this conference and get the help you need.

Register today and learn from others who have implemented lead free technology on how to overcome the challenges.

Registration Information

Please register by April 13, 2007, to secure your seat at this event. Complete the registration form and fax or mail to IPC. The technical conference and tabletop displays will be held on May 9, 2007. Please see the conference agenda for specific times. For more information, or if the registration deadline has passed, contact an IPC registration representative at +1 847-597-2861 or send an e-mail to registration@ipc.org.

Cancellation Policy: Cancellations received before May 4, 2007 will be refunded in full. Refunds will not be issued after the start of the program. Individuals failing to cancel will be billed for the registration fee. If the events are cancelled, participants will receive a full refund. If you are unable to attend, you may send a co-worker in your place.

Location and Hotel Accommodation

The educational courses and technical conference will take place at the Holiday Inn San Jose, 1740 North First Street, San Jose, CA. To reserve your room, contact the hotel directly at +1 408-793-3300 and ask for the IPC conference rate of $129 (single/double) per night. Rate is subject to change after April 13, 2007.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Suppliers, manufacturers, and users of lead free electronics will be in attendance at this conference. Your company can showcase its services and products as a tabletop exhibitor or take advantage of one of the many sponsorship opportunities available for this conference.

View the list of available sponsorship opportunities here(.pdf) or contact Michelle Michelotti at +1 847-597-2822 or via e-mail at MichelleMichelotti@ipc.org.

Media Sponsors

Tabletop Exhibits

At this year's conference, we expect over 100 attendees to visit the tabletop display area during the conference breaks and lunches on May 9, 2007. For pricing information and tabletop application here(.pdf).

The transition to lead free circuit board surface finishes for fine pitch and ball grid array technologies and SMT is demanding. The instructor will share his experience with lead free in double sided, fine pitch and ball grid array and with the use of new, mixed and emerging technologies. This workshop will cover different lead free surface finishes: hot air solder level, organic solderability preservative, electroless nickel immersion gold, palladium, immersion tin and immersion silver. With the technology shift and lead free initiative, alternatives to hot air solder levels will be discussed in detail, including different assembly issues.

Who Should Attend

This course is recommended for designers, process and quality engineers, managers, process operators, technologists, component manufacturers, PCB fabricators, equipment vendors and suppliers. Participants are encouraged to bring their samples for hands-on discussion.

About the Instructors

Bihari Patel is an applications manager for OEM & assembly applications worldwide at the Advanced Surfaces Group of MacDermid Inc., Waterbury, Conn. He has more than 27 years of experience in SMT assembly and PCB manufacture with Nortel Networks (Canada) and Leicester Circuits (England). He has given presentations on lead free surface finishes and assembly, SMT, solder paste printing, no-clean process, BGA, outsourcing, and continuous improvements. Patel is a fellow of the Institute of Circuit Technology, the Institute of Metal Finishing, and the Institute of Manufacturing.

Who Should Attend

Anyone in management, engineering, purchasing, design, process, quality and manufacturing who is currently working, or will be working in the future, with tin-lead or lead free using SMT, fine pitch and BGA will benefit from this course.

About the Instructor

Prior to starting his consulting practice providing SMT solutions, Ray Prasad held key technology positions at Boeing and Intel. At Intel, he was responsible for developing and implementing SMT. He has published a text book and chaired the committee that drafted IPC-7095, Design and Assembly Process Implementation for BGAs. Ray also received the IPC Presidents Award. Prasad received his B.S. in metallurgical engineering from the Regional Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, India, and both his M.S. in materials science and engineering and his M.B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Surface finish is about connectivity. It is the surface through which the connection from the board to a device occurs. Ball grid arrays, wire bonding pads, press fit, and contact switches are all outside the traditional realm of HASL and electrolytic nickel gold tab plating and require innovative surface finish solutions.

This workshop will focus on the alternatives: electroless nickel/immersion gold, electroless gold, immersion silver, immersion tin, OSP, electroless palladium, as well as direct gold on copper. Deposit description, thickness requirements, method of manufacturing, shelf life, application, limitations and relative cost will all be covered in detail, from design through assembly.

RoHS compliance requires the use of lead free solder like the higher melting temperature SAC alloy (tin/silver/copper). How will the present lineup of surface finish products fare under these new high temperature conditions? Are changes needed? What effects does this higher temperature have on the integrity of the solder joint? Find out in this in-depth course.

Who Should Attend

Manufacturing and sales engineers, and purchasing and production managers involved in the design, manufacture and/or assembly of printed circuit boards will all benefit from this course.

About the Instructor

George Milad has 22 years in the PCB manufacturing industry and is the manager for technology at UIC/Uyemura International Corporation. He is the author of the chapters on “Plating” and “Surface Finishing” in the latest edition of Clyde Coomb’s “Printed Circuit Handbook, Fifth Edition, 2001.” Milad has published works on electrolytic plating and metallic surface finishes as HASL alternatives. He holds a M.S. in physical organic chemistry from the American University in Washington, DC. Milad currently chairs the IPC Plating Committee and is a permanent member of the IPC Technical Activities.

Don Gudeczauskas is the Technical Director at UIC / Uyemura International Corporation where he has been employed for the last 11 years. Prior to UIC, Don was Development Manager at Mott Corporation and previous to Mott held numerous positions at the American Chemical and Refining division of Handy and Harman. Don has a bachelors and masters degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. Don has authored several papers on surface finishes while employed at UIC.

RoHS has brought a huge wave of change to our industry — down to the basic materials used as the foundation for printed circuit boards. Manufacturers and specifiers must be aware of process changes, reliability issues, specification changes and how all the steps of the manufacturing process ultimately play a part in the shift to lead free.

This workshop will highlight the new base materials coming into the market, how these materials compare to existing materials and current industry specifications, and where their use is most beneficial. In addition, curing agent changes, opportunities to improve resin systems, and how Underwriters Laboratories’ approval fits in will be covered.

The European RoHS legislation will also be discussed, as will the latest specification sheet proposals for IPC-4101, Specifications for Base Materials for Rigid and Multilayer Printed Boards. Discussion of specification issues will include how to call out laminates.

Who Should Attend

Design engineers and project managers concerned with the effects of new designs on materials selection will find this session valuable, as will PCB engineers and managers who may implement the use of new lead free materials and are interested in how they process and their compatibility in the PCB operation. Finally manufacturers of CCL will benefit from the comprehensive discussion of the IPC–4101 specification and resin systems.

About the Instructor

Doug Sober has more than 27 years experience in base materials for printed board applications. He works in marketing for Kaneka Texas Corporation, a supplier of high performance toughening agents for thermosetting resin systems. Sober serves as the chairman of the IPC Printed Board Base Materials committee, vice chairman of the Laminate and Prepreg Materials subcommittee, and is the chairman of the Halogen Free Task Group. He is a past recipient of IPC’s highest honor, the Hall of Fame Award..Sober has a B.A. in chemistry from Clarion State College and an M.S. in organic chemistry from Ohio State University.

Looking for Savings?

• Early Registration - Register by April 9, 2007, and save an additional 10% off of the prices shown below.
• Group Discount - Register three individuals from your company at the same time and receive the fourth
  registration FREE. * Note: The discount will apply to the lowest cost registration.