Reliability Matters

Episode 44: A Conversation with Dr. Jennie Hwang About ReliabilityDr. Hwang's wide-ranging career encompasses international business operations, sustained leadership in worldwide manufacturing and technology services, innovative research, intellectual property management, global leadership positions, as well as corporate and university governance.Dr. Hwang held senior executive positions with Lockheed Martin., SCM Corp., Sherwin Williams., and was the CEO of International Electronic Materials Corp. as well as co-founded entrepreneurial companies. Currently, her company provides business, technology and manufacturing solutions to the global industry. She has served as an advisor to many Fortune 500 multinational companies, as well as the U.S. government programs.Her formal education includes Harvard Business School’s Executive Program, Columbia University Business School Corporate Governance program, and four academic degrees (PH.D., MS, MA, B.S.) in Engineering & Sciences from Case Western Reserve University, Columbia University, Kent State-Liquid Crystal Institute and Cheng-Kung University, respectively. She was the first female to earn a doctorate from Case Western Reserve University's Engineering School - Materials Science & Engineering and has served on the University's Board of Trustees since 1996.Dr. Jenny Hwang may be reached here:http://www.jenniehwang.comjennie.hwang@h-techgroup.comTel: 216-577-3284

Episode 43: A Conversation with Cal State University's Dr. Mike Stull about Entrepreneurship and Today's Challenging TimesDr. Mike Stull is the Director of the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE) at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). He also serves as Chair for the Department of Management in the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration and academic director for entrepreneurship. With more than 30 years as an entrepreneur in for-profit, non-profit, and public sector environments, Mike describes himself as the “living example” that entrepreneurship is a process that can be applied in any setting and he truly “thinks like an owner.” As someone who likes to challenge his students in and out of the classroom, Mike is viewed as an innovative and demanding teacher that brings the reality of entrepreneurship into the classroom. As one of his students noted “the class projects that Mike assigns, such as having to start and run a business, touch on every aspect of what it takes to be an entrepreneur. It truly is learning applied to the reality of entrepreneurship.” Due to this “hands-on” and entrepreneurial approach, Mike has been recognized with several teaching awards in the Jack H. Brown College, was considered for the CSU system’s highest honor for faculty, the Wang Family Excellence Award, and was the recipient of the Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) award from Ernst & Young.Directing the university’s entrepreneurship program and Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE), Mike is responsible for program & curriculum management and development, teaching entrepreneurship courses, and overseeing numerous entrepreneurial initiatives. He has raised over $28 million in grants, contracts and sponsorship and achieved national acclaim, including ranking as the #4 graduate entrepreneurship program in the U.S. from The Princeton Review & Entrepreneur Magazine, receiving the prestigious National Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education Award in 2010 from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) and selected as one of the top 35 entrepreneurship programs globally in 2017 by AACSB International. EducationBA/MBA - California State University San BernardinoEDM - Case Western Reserve UniversityCourses/TeachingMike developed nine (9) of the current entrepreneurship courses taught at the undergrad and grad programs in Entrepreneurship. He currently teaches: ENTR 543 New Venture Opportunity AnalysisENTR 621 Entrepreneurship and New VenturesMike may be reached at mstull@csusb.edu

Episode 42: A Conversation with X-Ray Expert Keith BryantKeith discusses the advantages of x-ray technology, its practical uses, and common mistakes made when using x-ray technology. Keith's Bio:A fully qualified engineer, Keith has over thirty years’ experience in Electronics Manufacturing. He is well known and respected for presenting technical papers at many high-profile events around the world and for his many published articles and interviews. He started his career in this industry with bare printed circuit boards in the early days of high-count multi-layer technology, moving through to running contract manufacturing operation. He had ten years’ experience with advanced materials and soldering systems before working with high technology x-ray and AOI Systems, again for 10 years. Then for almost 3 years Keith worked as a technology and business consultant, assisting many of the major industry names. From 2017 to 2019 he was Global Sales Director of the leading x-ray manufacturer. Last year reverting to a technology and business consultancy role allowing him to pursue other interesting projects, including i4.0 and working with an advanced x-ray tube manufacturer. He was Chairman of the SMART Group for 11 years and is now Chairman of SMTA Europe, in 2018 he was presented with the SMTA International Leadership award. Keith's Contact Information:Email: Keith@KeithBryant.net

Episode 41: A Conversation with Better Board Buying's Greg Papandrew About Ways to Buy Boards Better. Should you purchase boards overseas or domestically? What questions should you ask your board vendor? Greg answers these and other board-buying questions.Our guest is Greg Papandrew, co-founder of Better Board Buying. Greg is the author of PCB Basics for Buyers. Greg can be reached here:Greg Papandrewgreg@boardbuying.comhttps://boardbuying.com

Episode 40: A Return Conversation with SMT Guru Bob Willis. Thirty nine episodes after Bob's first appearance on Reliability Matters he returns to discuss life as a consultant in the electronics assembly industry. Bob can be reached at: Bob Willis2 Fourth Avenue,Chelmsford, Essex,CM1 4HA EnglandTel: +44 (0)1245 351502https://www.bobwillis.co.ukbob@bobwillis.co.uk

Episode 39: A Conversation with Advanced Assembly's Mark Hughes and Greg Ziraldo About Producing Reliable Assemblies Within a CM Environment.During this interview, we discuss two papers:Introduction to Reliability in Electronics: Tools and Metrics for Anticipating Device Failureby Mark Hugheshttps://tinyurl.com/rxmntruCosmic Mishaps: How Cosmic Rays Can Disrupt Your DesignPart 1: https://tinyurl.com/smccuf7Part 2: https://tinyurl.com/ro4e5ntPart 3: https://tinyurl.com/qp94aos

Episode 38: A Special COVID-19 Episode - A Conversation with Circuits Assembly Magazine's Editor in Chief Mike BuetowMike and I discuss the state of the industry amid the COVID-19 crisis. Mike provides a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of our industry and provides his view from Productronica and APEX.

Episode 37: A Conversation with IPC's President and CEO Dr. John MitchellDr. John Mitchell talks about the state of the industry, COVID-19 (Corona Virus), and the future of the electronic assembly industry.

Episode 36: A Conversation with "Board Talk" hosts Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall.Welcome to a special episode of Reliability Matters, recorded live at IPC APEX Expo, thanks to my friends at Scoop TV. You may hear some background noise as I’m not in my usual studio rather, I’m on a busy and rather loud trade show floor. Today, we are bringing back two previous guests, Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall of ITM Consulting. Phil and Jim host Board Talk, a popular broadcast where they field assembly-related questions and provide answers in a style only they can deliver.We’ll discuss how they go about “fixing” their customer’s problems and their new upcoming book, Trouble shooting electronic assembly, conversations from the board-talk crypt.

Episode 35: A conversation with Dr. Darren Williams of Sam Houston State University about cleaning processes and materials. Dr. Williams has been at SHSU since 2004 teaching Physical Chemistry, Forensic Chemistry, and graduate courses in Spectroscopy and Thermodynamics. He came to Huntsville from the US-DOE Pantex Plant in Amarillo. He taught at West Texas A&M University for four years after obtaining his Ph.D. from Oregon State University in 1997. He is originally from Fort Worth, and obtained his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin in 1992. He is the author of over two dozen research articles and book chapters covering a broad range of topics, such as cleaning process changes to reduce environmental impacts, contact angle methods for cleanliness verification, prediction of the spectroscopy of aged explosives, and chemical education improvements in Physical Chemistry. Dr. Williams leads the Cleaning Research Group at Sam Houston State University that studies all aspects of finishing and cleaning of high-value and mission-critical parts in the aerospace, medical, electronics, and manufacturing sectors. His lab has dry vapor spray, ultrasonic, vapor degreasing, and vacuum cycle cavitation cleaning equipment. The CRG formulates and tests azeotropic solvent blends, and measures flashpoint, viscosity, surface tension, and specific gravity. Much of the research is performed and published openly, but the CRG also performs contracted work under non-disclosure for external clients. Dr. Williams created the Product Quality Cleaning Workshop in 2018 to address the growing need for education on cleaning processes in industry. The next workshop is May 13-14th, 2020 at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX. Registration is now open at https://tinyurl.com/wcnjjw5