IPC Hand Soldering Competition Winner Crowned at NEPCON Japan

The 2019 IPC Hand Soldering Competition Japan concluded at NEPCON Japan in Nagoya September 20, celebrating the outstanding skills and professional achievements of talented manufacturing floor workers. Thirty-two competitors from renowned companies such as Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electronics, Advantest, NEC Space Technology and others participated in the event.

After eight rounds of intense competition, Shota Kawano, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, was named regional champion. Kawano will represent Japan at the IPC Hand Soldering World Championship at productronica in Munich, Germany in November. Second place went to Moe Nishiduma, Advantest Corporation, followed by Kazuya Ganeko, Mitsumine Denshi, who took third place.

“The IPC Hand Soldering Competition highlights the skills of the best hand soldering talent in the world,” said Dave Bergman, vice president, IPC standards and training. “The competition provides members of the electronics industry a chance to demonstrate their know-how to their customers as well as to champion and reward their skilled workers internally. Hand soldering competitions foster a successful work dynamic, fully compliant with stringent IPC requirements, on their manufacturing floor. We thank our sponsors, Japan Unix, JBC, Nihon Superior and SMIC for supporting this exciting event.”

For more information on upcoming IPC hand soldering competitions, visit www.ipc.org/events.