Indium Blog

Engineered Solders with a European Flavour

Alan Fairbairn
Guest Blogger
European Business Development Manager
Engineered Solders Materials

I hope I can bring a European flavour to Engineered Solders and give you a taste of the activities that are happening in this vibrant and diverse area. It is difficult to look at Europe as a whole because although the European Community is a strong economic and political union (in their 51st year), the many countries of Europe still have their own long-standing identities and industries.

For example, watch making is a key industry in Switzerland but really nowhere else in Europe. Germany is known for their medical and automotive markets. Even the small countries have their focal points. The Netherlands is the home to a major electronics manufacturer; Sweden and Finland both have cell phone manufacturing as major industries. Even Denmark hosts a major wind turbine manufacturer.

All of these industries can use Engineered Solders. The addition of preforms to solder paste gives joints the added solder volume they need. This solder fortification® application is widely used by a variety of circuit board makers. Thermal applications are also growing as the dissipation of heat becomes more and more important. Indium metal has a thermal conductivity of 0.87W/cm-C making it an excellent thermal interface.

The applications are virtually endless as we find new and growing applications every day.

The European office, based in the UK, was opened in 1990 and has been growing ever since by supporting the European Community with manufacturing and technical support.