Dr. Ron Lasky's Blog
Test Your SMT IQ
Folks, Mary had worked at a small SMT “mom and pop” shop for 12 years. Business was always good and she moved up to CFO of the 60 per...
The Holy Grail of Soldering: Low-Temperature Reflow – High-Temperature Use
Folks, soldering enables modern electronics. Without solder, electronics would not exist. Copper melts at 1085°C, yet with solder we can bond copp...
The Limits of Mixing: A Real World Example
Folks, some time ago I posted on the limits of mixing. In modern manufacturing, there may be some applications that require two metal powders to be ev...
Calculating Small P Values in Hypothesis Testing
Folks, Let's continue watching Patty help Mark to determine small P values in hypothesis testing. The first part of this story is here. Patt...
In Hypothesis Testing, the P Value Can't Be Zero.
Folks, we haven't checked on Patty in a while… As Patty walked into her office, her phone rang. “Hello, this is Professor Coleman,...
Tin Pest in Medieval Culture
Folks, Readers may remember that I have had an interest in tin pest for some time. Tin pest can occur if nearly pure tin is exposed to cold temperatur...
Webinar on Voiding June 11, 9AM and 2PM EST
Folks, I will be presenting a workshop on “Understanding and Troubleshooting Voiding in Bottom Terminated Components (BTCs)." BTCs are one ...
Stencil Aperture Design for the Pin in Paste (PIP) Process
Peter writes, Dear Dr. Ron, I am trying to implement the Pin-in-Paste (PIP) process. The PWB is 63 mils thick, the component pin diameter is 47 mils, ...
The Area Ratio for Odd Shaped Stencil Apertures
Joey writes: Dear Dr. Ron, I have a stencil aperture with an unusual shape. See Figure 1. How do I calculate the area ratio? The stencil thickness is ...
Autonomous Vehicles Even Farther Out in Time
Folks, Readers of this blog will remember that I have been a skeptic of self-driving cars emerging in the near term. I am even less sanguine today. A ...
Thixotropy: An Important Solder Paste Property
Folks, To the SMT process engineer, the second most important thixotropic material in their lives is solder paste. If solder paste was not thixotropic...