NTS Engineers Honored at IPC APEX Conference

Congratulations to Renee Michalkiewicz, Russ Shepherd and Debora Obitz on their recognition at the IPC APEX conference held in Las Vegas, NV this week.Renee Michalkiewicz, current chairman of the IPC TAEC committee, received an award for her leadership of the Technical Activities Executive Committee (TAEC), the top committee that makes IPC policy and procedure decisions. Additionally, Renee was recognized for her outstanding contribution to the D-33at Task Group in the development of IPC-6012D, Training and Certification Program. NTS developed the latest IPC-6012 training program and will be soon working to update the IPC-A-600 training program. These two documents drive Printed Circuit Board (PCB) production and conformance.Russ Shepherd and Debora Obitz also received awards for their outstanding contributions to the 7-12 Microsection Subcommittee in the development of IPC-TM-650, Method 2.1.1F, Microsectioning, Manual and Semi or Automatic Method. This method is at the core of the NTS materials laboratories capabilities. Russ is the current chair of this committee and will be stepping into two additional positions, Chairman of the IPC D-15 Flex Test Methods Committee and Vice Chairman of the 7-10 Testing Committee. Deborah participated as an expert panelist on the APEX Buzz session on Conformal Coatings.NTS Subject Matter Experts lend their expertise to the IPC through committee membership and participation in panels at the IPC APEX Conference. Our SME's will also be teaching a number of IPC courses at our Anaheim and Baltimore labs, click here to review the currently scheduled courses.Renee Michalkiewicz, Vice President / MIT (IPC-A-600 / IPC-6012)

• Expertise: Testing of PCB's, Soldering Materials and Coatings, Assembly Process Qualification, SIR, ECM, CAF, Developer of Latest A-600 and 6012 Training Programs
• Chair / Vice Chair: TAEC, 7-10 Testing Committee, 5-20 Assembly and Joining, 5-24 Assembly & Joining Materials

John Radman, Senior Applications Engineer

• Expertise: Test Techniques, Failure & Contamination Analysis, Counterfeit Component Analysis
• Chair / Vice Chair: 5-32a Ion Chromatography/Ionic Conductivity

Debora Obitz, Manager of IPC Training Programs / MIT (IPC-A-600 / IPC-6012)

• Expertise: Conformal Coating, Failure Analysis, Microsectioning
• Chair / Vice Chair: 5-30 Cleaning and Coating, 5-33b Solder Mask Performance, 5-33 Coatings, 5-33a Conformal Coating, D-30 Rigid Printed Board

Keith Sellers, Operations Manager - Baltimore

• Expertise: Failure & Contamination Analysis, Ionic Cleanliness
• Chair / Vice Chair: 5-32b SIR and Electrochemical Migration, 5-24a Flux

Russ Shepherd, Operations Manager / MIT (IPC-A-600 / IPC-A-610 / IPC-6012)

• Expertise: Failure Analysis, Microsection, Environmental Testing, Training
• Chair / Vice Chair: 7-12 Microsection, D-15 Flexible Circuits Test Methods, 7-10 Testing Committee, 5-32b SIR and Electrochemical Migration, 5-32e Conductive Anodic Filament (CAF)

Damon Rachell, Applications Engineer

• Expertise: Failure Analysis of PCBs, PCBAs, and components/ICs; SEM/EDS, Plating systems, solderability, reliability testing, scanning acoustic microscopy, DPAs, and ESS

Emi Lee, UL Program Manager

• Expertise: Material testing of polymers, solder resists and conformal coatings, films, laminates, and PCB for UL Recognition, Thermal aging of polymers per UL 746B for RTI
• Member of: UL STP 94, 746A-F, 796, and 796F