IPC Crowns New Hand Soldering World Champion

IPC’s hand soldering competition returned to the United States with the first-ever IPC Hand Soldering World Championship and Rework Competition, held at IPC APEX EXPO 2019 in San Diego, California. Contestants representing Britain, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand participated in the event.  

Competitors were presented with a fully functional soldered assembly. They were required to remove six specific components, remove old solder and clean the area of removed components. During the removal of the components, the competitors were evaluated by IPC Master Instructors (MITs) in accordance with IPC-7711/7721C Rework, Modification, and Repair guidelines. The MITs deducted points from the possible score according to a standardized set of rules and best practices.

Time to completion was paused while an MIT/judge evaluated the assemblies, the removed components, and the board according to IPC-A-610G Class 3 criteria. Points were deducted for any damaged components, board features, or surrounding areas of the board. Once the evaluation was completed, time was restarted, and contestants were required to place new parts in the locations of the removed components. Competitors had a total of 75 minutes to complete the rework and reassembly of the circuit board.

The assemblies were then tested for function and evaluated in their entirety according to IPC-A-610G Class 3 criteria.

With a perfect score of 634 points, Ryosuke Matsunami, PWB Corporation, Japan, took first place, $1,000 USD and the IPC Hand Soldering World Championship title. Matsunami completed the challenge within the allotted time of 75 minutes, without a single error, earning his perfect score. With a score of 628, second place and $500 went to Wenji ZHANG, Jiangsu Jinling Mechanism Manufacture Factory, China. Third place and $250 was claimed by Le Van Linh, Spartronics Vietnam Co, Ltd., Vietnam, who earned 625 points out of a possible 634.

“The contestants deserve a great deal of respect,” said Kris Roberson, IPC director of certification programs. “It’s intricate work, especially as components keep getting smaller and smaller. This is a very challenging competition and we had a very talented field competing against one another.

“This year’s championship was a really exciting event,” added Roberson. “The global interest and involvement in hand soldering and the showcasing of very specific skill sets made for an invigorating international challenge. We would like to thank the competitors from across the globe for attending and competing in this year’s event.”

IPC would like to thank 2019 Hand Soldering World Championship and Rework Competition premiere sponsor HAKKO, and sponsors Blackfox and Thales for their enthusiastic support. Additional support was provided by Excelta, Aven Inc., Tronex Technology, Inc. and Indium Corporation.

For information on upcoming IPC Hand Soldering Competitions, visit www.ipc.org/events.