Sep 21, 2008 The Founder's Award honors individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the industry as well as support and service to the SMTA. This year's award is being presented to Dr. Paul Vianco, Principal Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Labs.
Paul Vianco has been an active member of the SMTA since 1992. He has been active locally and served on the Board of Directors as Secretary for three years and the National Treasurer for three years. Dr. Vianco is a member of the SMTAI Technical Committee where he has taken the lead in bringing the SMTA into the age of lead-free. He has organized the extremely popular Lead-Free Symposium since its inception and has recruited some of the finest papers presented in our industry. Paul also served as Editor of both the SMTA Lead-Free and BGA Compendiums. The Lead-Free Compendium is an SMTA best seller and contains hundreds of articles that were all reviewed and selected by Paul for inclusion. Paul was the chair of our Lead-Free Workshops in Boston and serves on the Journal Review Committee. He has spoken at various chapters and has taught courses for the SMTA. In addition to his SMTA participation he has worked with various other associations and also somehow made time to author the third edition of the Soldering Handbook (American Welding Society.)
The Member of Technical Distinction Award recognizes individuals who have made significant and continuing technical contributions to the SMTA. This year our Awards Committee selected two individuals to receive the 2008 Member of Technical Distinction Award. The first award honors Bev Christian, Director, Materials Interconnect Research, Research In Motion.
Bev joined SMTA in 1994 and has been active in the SMTA locally, nationally, and internationally throughout the last 14 years. He has assisted the SMTA in delivering current, applicable technical programs both as an organizer (e.g. International Soldering and Reliability Conference) and a researcher and presenter. His wide knowledge base covering materials, alloys, failure modes and the environment, among others has made him an excellent resource for many colleagues in the industry. Bev is always willing to share his technical expertise and knowledge. In November 2007, he volunteered to arrange a local chapter event at RIM. The highly successful chapter event brought 125 attendees, including eight presentations, plant and lab tours. The popular and informative event covered a wide range of topics, from ergonomics to test to joint analysis. He has been the technical anchor for the Toronto chapter for more than five years.
Our second Member of Technical Distinction Award honors David Hillman, Senior Materials and Process Engineer at Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
David Hillman has made significant contributions to the industry by advancing the science of soldering. He is the chairman of the J-STD-002 and -003 solderability committees. He has done significant work on lead-free soldering, notably with his involvement in NASA/DOD lead-free soldering evaluation for high reliability applications. His involvement with the SMTA has been significant, including "Best Presentation" at SMTAI 2006 and 2007 Conferences, and other conference presentations and involvement. He has chaired technical sessions and presented at SMTAI conferences from 2003 through 2007 on various soldering issues.
The Excellence in Leadership Award honors SMTA members who stand out as strong leaders in the Association. The 2008 recipient of this award is Dale Lee of Plexus Corporation.
Dale Lee has been a member of the SMTA for more than 20 years and has contributed in many ways making him worthy of recognition by the SMTA. He was a leader in the formation of Utah/Intermountain Chapter and served as Chapter President for three years. He has presented at many SMTA Chapters in the US and some international locations as well. His expertise spans a tremendous range from Design, Environmental Issues, PCBs, Assembly and more. Dale has been a speaker, chair or has co-chaired at nearly every SMTAI and SMI conference and was a speaker several times at the SMTA's Pan Pacific Conference. Dale has served two terms on the SMTA Board of Directors where he led the Planning Committee and continues to serve on the Technical Committee. Dale has gone on to support the Association by most recently chairing the Medical Electronics Symposium and supporting the formation of the Cleaning Symposium.
Bob Willis of ASKbobwillis.com, was chosen to receive the Excellence in International Leadership Award for his continuous commitment to SMTA with regard to the SMTA's international focus.
Bob Willis is being presented the 2008 SMTA International Leadership Award for his tremendous influence on the surface mount industry around the world. For 15 years, he has been providing training and consultancy service for the electronics industry. Based in England, he successfully organized lead-free seminars and production lines at leading exhibitions in the UK and Europe, including many multi-company projects. He has also provided training and consulting services throughout North America, Africa, Australia, and Asia.
The 2008 SMTA+ Corporate Partnership Award is being presented to Circuits Assembly Magazine. Circuits Assembly Magazine has been a corporate member of the SMTA since 1993. During those many years they have been constant and continuous supporters of the SMTA. Circuits Assembly editors have served on the SMTAI Technical Committee for many years. As such they organize the Contract Manufacturing Symposium and offer many suggestions on topics and speakers for the entire program.
Circuits Assembly has supported Frances Stewart as a chapter officer of the Atlanta Chapter (and also a past SMTA Board member). For the 2006, 2007, and 2008 Atlanta Expo (Vendor Day) Circuits Assembly went above and beyond in their support. This included covering printing and mailing costs for a number of the brochures advertising the Expo.
�Circuits Assembly� has been a �best friend� to the SMTA for many years. They were recognized by the SMTA in 1997 by receiving the SMTA Corporate A+ award and we are excited to recognize them again.
The Chapter of the Year Award recognizes an SMTA chapter that has shown exemplary commitment to our objective��Sharing the Knowledge�. The overall rating of each chapter is measured in the following areas: membership growth, regular meeting scheduling, timely reporting and communication, creative and informative technical programming, special projects, support of students and student chapters, contributions to the industry and community and volunteer service on SMTA committees.
We are proud to recognize for the 4th time, the Oregon Chapter as our recipient of the 2008 Chapter of the Year Award. The Chapter has taken home this award in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and now in 2008. Congratulations to the Oregon Chapter for their continued superior performance in meeting the local needs of our industry and for their commitment to the engineering students at Oregon State University and their student chapter.
For more information on SMTA Awards, visit smta.org/awards/awards.cfm or contact SMTA administrator JoAnn Stromberg: joann@smta.org or 952-920-7682.
The SMTA membership is an international network of professionals who build skills, share practical experience and develop solutions in electronic assembly technologies, including microsystems, emerging technologies, and related business operations.
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