IPC Apex Expo 2011 Honors Best Industry Posters And Academic Poster Competition Winners

Celebrating the best of electronic interconnection research being conducted by both industry leaders and academia, IPC – Association Connecting Electronics Industries® announced the 2011 Best Industry Posters and the winners of the IPC Academic Poster Competition at IPC APEX EXPO, held April 12–14, 2011 in Las Vegas.

Twenty–seven industry posters were selected for presentation at this year's show. The IPC APEX EXPO Technical Program Committee, comprising experts in all areas of the electronics industry, selected the winners through a ballot process. In a tie for first-place honors were Anna Lifton, Cookson Electronics, for "Novel High Sn Alloy with Improved Thermo Cycling Performance for High Reliability Power Modules," and William Coleman, Photo Stencil, for "Stencil Design for Broadband Printing (Very Small and Normal Components on the same PCB)."

In addition to the industry posters on display, an academic poster competition was also held at IPC APEX EXPO. The competition is funded by the IPC Foundation in an effort to promote greater accessibility to academic research and strengthen the relationship between academia and the industry worldwide. Ten posters highlighting research being conducted at the college level were featured from Johns Hopkins University; Purdue University; University of California, Irvine; University of Maryland; and Waseda University (Japan).

IPC APEX EXPO attendees voted for the top three posters, with first-place honors going to David Lee, Johns Hopkins University, for "Effects of Tin Whisker Formation on Nanocrystalline Copper". Second place was presented to Milea Kittle, Purdue University, for "Copper-Silver Core-Shell Nanoparticles as a Lead-Free Solderless Interconnect". Third-place honors were given to Pylin Sarobol, Purdue University, for "Effects of Grain Misorientations and Strain Distribution on the Location of Whisker Formation".

David Bergman, IPC vice president of international relations, presented cash awards to the winners. "Although we honor the top three papers that received the most votes, all of the students who participated in the academic competition should be proud of their work and accomplishments," noted Bergman. The IPC Foundation is funded through corporate contributions and activities like the IPC APEX EXPO Silent Auction.

Next year, IPC APEX EXPO moves to San Diego, February 28–March 1, 2012. Academics, researchers and others who wish to submit an abstract for consideration in next year's technical conference or professional development courses, may view the 2012 IPC APEX EXPO Call for Participation at http://www.IPCAPEXEXPO.org/cfp.

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IPC (http://www.IPC.org) is a global trade association based in Bannockburn, Ill., dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its 2,900 member companies which represent all facets of the electronics industry, including design, printed board manufacturing, electronics assembly and test. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of an estimated $1.85 trillion global electronics industry. IPC maintains additional offices in Taos, N.M.; Arlington, Va.; Garden Grove, Calif.; Stockholm, Sweden; Moscow, Russia; Bangalore, India; and Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, China.