E-Mobility a Driver of Topics at IPC APEX EXPO

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E-Mobility is a challenging new paradigm for electronics design. Regardless of industry, automotive, two-wheeler, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), rail, or marine, e-Mobility presents new challenges that the electronics supply chain is working together to resolve.

You can find the latest information on e-Mobility at several technical sessions at IPC APEX EXPO 2023.

The IPC APEX EXPO Technical Conference will host an engaging special session focused on e-Mobility touching on supply chain and technology issues. The e-Mobility Special Session includes speakers and panelists from Rivian. Overall, the technical conference offers many technical papers advising on assembly and design for high reliability. A few highlights include

•  S02: EX 1- High Reliability for Extreme Environments 1 including a paper by Dr. Walter Olbrich, TTM Technologies, titled “Failure Characteristic of PCBs in Automotive EV Powertrain Applications and Solution Proposals to Improve Reliability and Robustness”
• S06: EX 2- High Reliability for Extreme Environments 2 with a presentation from Kennedy Fox, Reliability Failure Analysis Scientist, MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions
• S23 EM3-C&C Electronic Materials Cleaning and Coating 1 including a paper from Dr. Heiko Elsinger, Senior Expert, Robert Bosch GmbH on “Investigation of the Electrochemical Reliability of Conformal Coatings under High Voltage
• S25: QRTI-Assembly Risk Prediction and Failure Analysis including a paper, “Failure Analysis of High-Speed Cables Due to Molecular Degradation of Wire Insulation,” by Eric Campbell, Advisory Hardware Development Engineer, IBM Corporation

IPC standards development task groups will be diligently working to advance manufacturing and design standards in the areas of high voltage. The test methods task group will celebrate the release of the new test method for high voltage testing. Task groups of interest are the 7-31BV: J-STD-001 and IPC-A-610 Automotive Addendum, 7-31FHV: IPC/WHMA-A-620 High-Voltage Cable Addendum Task Group, D-33AA: IPC-6012 Automotive Addendum, or 5-21M: Cold Joining/Press-fit Task Group.

Professional Development Workshops take place on Sunday, January 22, and Monday, January 23, including PD28: Press-fit Technology - Value Chain, Physics, Process and Standards which provides insight into the production, design, and application of compliant press-fit pins and components as well as new materials and surface finish technologies.  

In addition, of interest to those electrifying and advancing systems within vehicles, IPC is hosting an E-Textiles Conference, collocated with IPC APEX EXPO on Sunday January 22.

03/23/2023 | Kelly Dack, CID+

Filbert Arzola of Raytheon Intelligence & Space taught a Professional Development course at IPC APEX EXPO on general design practices. During a break, Filbert spoke with Kelly Dack about some of today’s design strategies and how designers are reacting to them. What matters most?

03/23/2023 | I-Connect007 Editorial Team

We’ve heard a lot lately about the need to identify tribal knowledge within our organizations. How do you know whether an “expert” is sharing documented knowledge or it’s just something they learned at their first job during the Carter administration? We asked IPC design instructor Kris Moyer to explain his process for separating the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, in design knowledge. As he points out, a true expert will not be afraid to cite the sources and data sets behind their arguments.

03/07/2023 | I-Connect007 Editorial Team

In this interview, Saline Lectronics (an Emerald EMS company) President Jason Sciberras talks about PCB designers offering packaging options in the bill of materials. As Jason explains, mil/aero manufacturers like Saline can’t make many changes to a design without getting recertified, so including approved packaging options in the BOM from the start is a great way to go. Are you offering options in your BOM?