KIC‘s Marybeth Allen to Speak at Upcoming SMTA LA/OC Chapter Meeting

(San Diego, CA -- November 2, 2004) : KIC, the leader of thermal process development and control products and winner of multiple VISION awards, announces that Marybeth Allen, KIC‘s Project Manager & National Sales Manager, will present a paper at the upcoming SMTA LA/OC Chapter Meeting.

The speech, "The Thermal Process Bears the Brunt of Lead-free Manufacturing," will be presented on Thursday, November 18, 2004 during the November LA/OC SMTA Chapter meeting. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. with a social hour and is followed by the dinner/presentation at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel Anaheim North (near the Disneyland Resort), 3100 East Frontera St., Anaheim, CA 92806; (714)632-1221.

Marybeth‘s topic will cover lead-free oven profiles. This discussion will cover developing an optimized profile to accommodate the solder paste recommendations and the component temperature restrictions. She will look further into defining the appropriate process requirements, potential problems one may encounter and improvements that may be used to improve this process as well as making the transition faster and easier.

With all the talk about the change to lead-free manufacturing, the one main focus remains on the thermal process. The cause is a higher melting temperature of the most commonly used solder alloys. The affect is higher process temperatures necessary to achieve reliable solder joints. The challenge is to achieve consistent solder joint quality on a diversely populated printed circuit board and prevent damage to thermally sensitive components.

Standard leaded solder pastes have a wide process window, with typical peak temperature limits between 208 and 235C. SnAgCu solder, however, recommends peak temperatures of 235 to 265C. The most sensitive components on a PCB may be rated to less than 240C, rendering the available process window extremely small.

As the National Sales Manger for KIC, Marybeth Allen‘s expertise lies within the management of the thermal process. She has 20 years experience in the electronics assembly industry covering surface mount, thick film and packaging. Traveling throughout North America, she has the opportunity to work with varied EMS providers and OEMs with commercial, medical and military products. As Project Manager for KIC, she works with manufacturers of equipment and materials for board and package assembly for thermal processes. Also, Marybeth heads KIC‘s partner program. She is a past chapter president of SMTA & IMAPS and has authored various industry papers.

KIC - Headquarter Office
15950 Bernardo Center Dr #E
San Diego, CA  92127

Company Contact:    Bjorn Dahle
                    +1(858)673-6050