An Interview with Dr. Mike Bixenman about Cleaning Challenges, Chemicals, Components, and Cleanliness Testing

Episode 9 features an interview with Dr. Mike Bixenman. We’ll be talking about cleaning for reliability, challenging components and fluxes, methods to determine how clean is clean enough, and how and why he co-founded Kyzen Corporation.

Mike is one of the founders of Kyzen Corporation and serves as its Chief Technology Officer. Mike is well known within the electronic assembly industry and is a featured speaker at industry conferences and symposiums around the world.

Mike is the Chair of the IPC Cleaning and Coating Conference held once every two years in Chicago and is the Technical Chair for SMTA Europe’s Electronics in Harsh Environments Conference held annually in Amsterdam. Mike has also received the IPC President’s Award and has chaired the IPC Cleaning Handbook Task Group.

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Cleaning Roundtable

On this episode, we’re hosting a roundtable discussion on the subject of cleaning circuit assemblies after reflow. After all, contamination removal is exclusively performed to increase the reliability of circuit assemblies and the products they are installed in.

With the rapid expansion of electronics due partly to automotive and IOT, cleaning of circuit assemblies has increased dramatically and with that, challenges to cleaning have also increased. Because cleaning is commonly an “end of the line” procedure, it frequently falls victim to assembly procedures earlier in the assembly process. As a result, cleaning technology (equipment, chemical, processes), must be reactive to overcome the challenges presented by the assembly process.

Today, we’re going to discuss some of the challenges to cleaning and to do so, I’ve recruited a panel of experts. Today’s cleaning roundtable features a number of experts from Zestron, a company known for manufacturing innovative chemical solutions for the electronic assembly and semiconductor markets.

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A Conversation with ITM Consulting’s Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall

I’ve known Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall for many years. Phil, Jim, and what they describe as their brothers, operate ITM Consulting, a consulting and advisory firm for the electronic assembly located in Springfield, TN. Phil and Jim also produce a question and answer program, answering technical assembly-related questions in an equally valuable and humorous manner. As you will hear, Phil and Jim, while taking their customer’s problems seriously, don’t take themselves too seriously, which is one of the things I love about them.

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An Interview with Collins Aerospace’s Doug Pauls

Collins Aerospace’s Doug Pauls chaired the IPC committee to implement a new cleanliness testing specification. IPC J-STD001-G Amendment 1 which is now active. Doug explains the new requirements of this standard and provides suggestions on how to comply.

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An Interview with Dr. Craig Hillman – Design for Reliability

Dr. Craig Hillman speaks about designing for reliability. Electronics for space and automotive applications are discussed.

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Improving Reliability of Circuit Assemblies in Harsh Environments

With the rapid expansion of IOT, many circuit assemblies are now functioning in unfamiliar environments, many of these environments are harsh. Additionally, many new electronic applications control critical systems such as automotive electronics. This webinar focuses on the influence contamination plays on reliability of circuit assemblies, particularly when operated in harsh environments.

Several contamination-related failure mechanisms are presented including electro-chemical migration (dendritic growth, parasitic leakage) and conductive anodic filament (CAF). Methods to determine how clean is clean enough are discussed.

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An Interview with Johns Hopkins’ APL Engineer, Wendy Casker

Changing a customer’s mindset is often difficult. When a process is working well, we often resist changing the process, even if the change provides a better result. This is the “Good is the Enemy of Great” syndrome. My guest, Wendy Casker of Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory tells of us how she introduced a “better process” to her space customer.

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When Failure Happens – An Interview with Failure Analysis Investigators

What happens when failure happens? This episode features Failure Analysis Investigators Eric Camden and Paco Solis. Together, they discuss stories from the field and some “interesting investigations”.

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An Interview with SMT Guru Bob Willis

This episode of Reliability Matters features an interview with SMT guru, Bob Willis.

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Introduction to Reliability Matters

Reliability Matters is a podcast on the subject of reliability of circuit assemblies. Reliability “best practices” and success stories are discussed. This podcast features interviews with experts in the electronic assembly industry.

All electronic production segments which effect product reliability are on the table. This includes contamination, coating, cleanliness assessment, inspection, building for harsh environments and more. ᐅ Play Episode