Henkel make an impact at ATExpo 2006

Four paper presentations, a jam-packed booth and an award win clearly gave Henkel "star of the show" status at last week's ATExpo event, held in Rosemont, Illinois' Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.

The hottest topic at the show was lead-free manufacturing.  Even though the RoHS compliance deadline has come and gone, many challenges with Pb-free production still remain.  Henkel materials expert, Dr. Brian Toleno, presented several papers at the event, one of which focused in on the use of next-generation underfills for enhanced reliability of lead-free devices.  The company's research has shown that the reliability of lead-free solder joints, which are by nature more brittle and prone to cracking especially when subjected to shock, drop and vibration stresses, can be dramatically improved through the use of specially formulated underfill systems.

The company's innovative work in underfill development for lead-free reliability enhancement has clearly been recognized by the industry, as Henkel's Loctite 3549 underfill material was honored with a Global Technology Award at last week's event.  .The awards program, hosted by Trafalgar Publications, judges product entries based on their outstanding contributions to the semiconductor packaging and electronics assembly markets. 

Throughout the three-day exhibition, Henkel's booth was crowded with visitors anxious to learn about the materials leader's modern manufacturing solutions and latest materials developments.   Lead free solder paste Multicore® LF328 and cross-over solder paste materials Multicore MP218 were of particular interest, as was the company's latest work on underfill development and its simple, one-step Macromelt encapsulation process.

"By all accounts, this year's Assembly Technology Expo and SMTAI conference were an overwhelming success for Henkel," says Doug Dixon, Global Marketing Manager for the company's electronics group.  "The chance to speak with customers one-on-one about their materials requirements combined with the opportunity to share our latest research and development findings was tremendous.  Winning the coveted Global Technology Award was just icing on the cake."