DEK honors continuing education commitment

Upholding its pledge to support educational advance that promotes electronics innovation, DEK announces that it has donated a Horizon 03i printing system to California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo, further enabling the institution's "learn by doing" approach.

As the finishing touch on the university's complete surface mount assembly line, the DEK Horizon 03i will be used for both teaching and research in a cross-disciplinary environment that includes Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Materials Engineering. Students enrolled in Cal Poly's Microelectronics and Electronic Packaging class will gain insight into the system's operation, including the Horizon 03i's broad functionality for numerous applications, superior scalability and high accuracy mass imaging capability. In addition, undergraduate and graduate students who participate in various research and senior projects will utilize the system.

Commenting on the company's in-kind donation to Cal Poly, DEK Americas General Manager, Brian Lau, explains the contribution's significance. "DEK believes it is our responsibility to not only progress leading-edge technologies through our own internal efforts, but to also help foster the growth and development of tomorrow's engineers by supporting the outstanding research initiatives of leading academic partners like Cal Poly," says Lau. "DEK is honored to be a part of Cal Poly's superior curriculum, and is gratified that we can continue to deliver on our promise to further electronics education."

As the United States' top public-master's engineering school and the West's best public-master's university, Cal Poly is globally recognized for its unique and successful approach to educating exceptional engineers. Graduates of the institution go on to work at well-known technology firms such as IBM, Agilent Technologies, Cisco, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and Lockheed, among others. Partnerships with leading industry suppliers such as DEK play a large role in the university's success.

"Cal Poly relies heavily on our relationships with top technology companies like DEK to help broaden our research efforts and the educational experience of our students," explains Dr. Jianbiao (John) Pan, Associate Professor at Cal Poly's Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. "We are grateful for this generous donation – particularly in today's tough economic climate – and thank DEK sincerely for their long-standing partnership and support."

Since its delivery to Cal Poly, the DEK Horizon 03i has facilitated several lead-free soldering research projects and is currently being utilized for a study on LED technology.

For more information, visit DEK at www.dek.com.