Surface Mount conference in Melbourne a first for National Manufacturing Week

The conference will run over three days from May 12-14, with a line-up of high-profile international and Australian speakers from the surface mount industry.

“This will be the second time we have staged the Surface Mount conference in conjunction with NMW,” said conference organiser Andrew Pollock.

“It worked very well in Darling Harbour last year and 150 delegates attended the conference.

“Feedback on co-locating was very positive, with delegates learning about new and emerging techniques and technologies in the conference – and then having the ability to physically see them in operation at NMW.

We could see that it added a new and exciting dynamic for delegates,” he said.

The conference program is now available from the Surface Mount and Circuit Board Association (SMCA) and it features two international experts who will join local presenters.

The International presenters are Happy Holden a senior executive with Mentor Graphics, a US corporation specialising in design tool development and Ray Chartrand, founder of CharTrain USA, who is a highly respected electronics expert.  The program will also feature several Master IPC Trainers who will be conducting workshops that include hands on lead free soldering.

“Our speakers are renowned around the world and are experts in their relevant fields and I am sure each will bring dynamic and interesting topics to the conference,” said Pollock.

Topics to be covered at the conference will include: 

• Designing PCBs for low-cost fabrication 
• Implementing HDI into your products 
• Complex PCB design strategies 
• Current and future assembly technologies 
• Process verification for both leaded and lead free products 
• Solder defects – yours, mine or theirs? 
• Emerging technologies 
• Lead-free soldering 
• Acceptability of electronic assemblies.