Report by Singapore REL/CPMT/ED Chapter

1. Technical talk and short courses

· 15 December 2004, Dr Natarajan Mahadeva Iyer of IMEC, Belgium gave a talk on "Silicon Technology Scaling and ESD Reliability".
· 12 January 2005, Assoc. Prof. K.S. Narayan, Jawaharlal Nehru, Centre for Advanced Scientific Research Jakkur Bangalore, India gave a talk on "Optically induced features in polymer based field effect transistors".
· 5 January 2005, Professor Vijay K. Arora, Wilkes University, USA gave a talk on "Ohm's law failure: new insights into the charge transport in the multivally band structure of GaAs".
· 27 January 2005, Mr. Chuan Seng Tan of Massachusetts Institute of Technology gave a talk on "Sky is the Limit: Multi-layer Three-Dimensional Integration Achieved by Wafer Bonding".

2. Short courses

· A one-day short course on "Failure Mechanisms and Reliability in Integrated Circuits" by Dr. M.K. Radhakrishnan, NanoRel Consultants, 10 December 2004 (Friday) at the Sheraton Towers Singapore.
· A full-day short course on "Solder Alternatives: Isotropic Conductive Adhesives, Anisotropic Conductive Adhesives and Non-Conductive Adhesives" was given by Prof K.W. Paik, Korean Institute of Science and Technology, Korea, on 8 December 2004 in conjunction with EPTC 2004.
· A full-day short course on "Lead-Free Soldering: Metallurgical Fundamentals, Soldering Applications and Challenges" was given by Dr N.C. Lee, Indium Corporation, USA, on 8 December 2004 in conjunction with EPTC 2004.

3. Conferences

· 6th Electronics Packaging Technology Conference (EPTC 2004), 8th - 10th December 2004, Pan Pacific Hotel, Singapore

With the 6th conference in the series, the Electronics Packaging Technology Conference (EPTC) has truly achieved the status of a major packaging conference and is now the premier event for the Asian region. 264 participants from 22 countries attended the 3-day event. Besides participation by all the major electronics manufacturers and design houses in the island republic, there were strong contingents from USA, Malaysia, Taiwan, Germany and Japan. The delegates represent a total of 91 organizations, about two-thirds from the commercial sector and one-third comprising universities and research institutes.

Since its inception in 1997, the EPTC has grown to encompass almost all aspects associated with the packaging of high performance electronics. EPTC 2004 featured about 150 technical presentations dealing with advancements in core technologies such as interconnects, electrical and thermal design, materials and mechanical characterization, assembly and reliability methodologies; and technologies for state-of-the-art platforms such as 3D packaging and Systems-in-a-Package. In his welcome address, KC Toh, General Chair of EPTC 2004, said that the keen interest from participants was because a high proportion of the global packaging activities, in particular assembly, design and test, were now carried out in this region.

The conference was organized by the IEEE Reliability/CPMT/ED Singapore Chapter and was technically co-sponsored by the IEEE CPMT Society and IMAPS, with strong support from four patrons, Advanced Micro Devices (S) Pte Ltd, GE Silicones, Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific Pte Ltd and Micron Semiconductor Asia Pte Ltd. It was opened by Rolf Aschenbrenner, Vice-President (Technical), IEEE CPMT Society, who expressed the Society's commitment in making EPTC one of the major events in its calendar. The plenary session featured two keynote speeches. Carlo Cognetti, Vice President for New Package Development at ST Microelectronics, spoke of the pace in "Package Level Integration: Much More Than Moore", while Dr Bill Bottoms, Chairman of Third Millenium Test Solutions, emphasized the need to tackle the "Test Challenges for Systems in a Package (SiP)". Two other invited speeches were delivered by Rolf Aschenbrenner, representing CPMT Society, and Dr Chuck Bauer of Tech Lead Corporation during the conference lunches.

The success of a conference is measured not only by its technical program but also a host of supporting activities. At EPTC 2004, participants had the opportunity to interact with 22 exhibitors who displayed their products and services during the conference. Two pre-conference short courses, conducted by Professor KW Paik of KAIST and Dr NC Lee of Indium Corporation, were also held to help industries prepare for lead-free implementation. Also, for the very first time, we had an Executive Forum session featuring three eminent speakers from the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). Dr Bill Bottoms, Dr William Chen and Dr T Fukushima, fresh from the ITRS meeting in Japan, updated the participants on "Packaging Technology Trends and Challenges" in the area of design, materials, assembly and test. As befitting our Asian origins, symbolized by the warmth and friendliness of its peoples, participants were also taken for a cable car ride around one of the busiest ports in the world, before enjoying a sumptuous banquet atop scenic Mount Faber, which provided opportunities for networking among the participants.

IPFA'05
The deadline for the submission of abstracts for the 2005 International Symposium on the Physical and Failure Analysis of Integrated Circuits (IPFA'05), organized by the IEEE Rel/CPMT/ED Singapore Chapter, and technically co-sponsored by the IEEE EDS and Reliability Society is just over. Currently, the technical committee is busy reviewing abstracts submitted. For more information, please visit the IPFA'05 website at http://www.ewh.ieee.org/reg/10/ipfa/html/2005/.

4. A Region 10 Chapter meeting was held 10 Dec 2004, in conjunction with EPTC 2004. This luncheon meeting was organized by the CMPT BOG and sponsored by the Singapore Chapter. Besides the various Region 10 Chapter Chairs (Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea and Taipei), CPMT BoG Delegates, Ricky Lee, William Chen, Marsha Tickman and Kristine Martin were present. The Singapore Chapter was represented by KL Pey, KC Toh, Charles Lee (also BoG member) and Andrew Tay. On behalf of the CPMT Society, Dr. William Chen, Strategic Director, Region 10, presented an award to Dr. Ong Soon Huat, and appreciation letters to the EPTC'03 and '04 key appointment holders. A CMPT banner was presented to the Singapore Chapter. In addition, Dr. Chen and Dr. Lee, VP for Conference outlined the strategy for the Region 10 activities and the forthcoming key conferences, respectively. In particular, EPTC has been identified as a strategic conference for IEEE CPMT Society in Asia. The participants at the meeting shared and exchanged views on improving and promoting CPMT activities.

5. The Chapter donated a sum of S$800 to two activities organized by the Student Chapter of the Nanyang Technological University branch. These are the IEEE Science Symposium (2005) and IEEE - Student Professional Awareness Conference.

6. Dr. Ong Soon Huat, an executive committee member of the Chapter, received a Special Presidential Recognition Award for his contributions towards the CPMT activities in Singapore. The award was presented to Dr. Ong during a CPMT Region 10 luncheon meeting, held in conjunction with EPTC'04, on 10 Dec 2004.

7. Plans

A one-day workshop related to SiP involving invited speakers and experts from the academia and industry is being planned. More details will be available soon.

By KL PEY
Chair, Singapore REL/CPMT/ED Chapter