May 2010
Weiner International Associates is proud to announce the appointment of Dr. Jennie S. Hwang, the world’s most recognized and accomplished woman in the electronic interconnect industry, as an Executive Associate. Dr. Hwang has been involved in advancing the latest and emerging technologies in electronic packaging and manufacturing.
Dr. Hwang’s wide-ranging career encompasses international business operations, global market forecasting, worldwide manufacturing services, technology leadership, and corporate and university governance. Her work is highlighted by numerous national and international awards and honors.
Among her many awards and honors are U.S. Congressional certificates of recognition and achievements; elected to National Academy of Engineering; inducted into WIT international Hall of Fame; and named R&D Stars-to-Watch (Industry Week).
Her business experience spans across both corporate America and entrepreneurial companies as well as the public sector. She has held senior executive positions with Lockheed Martin Corp., SCM Corp., and Sherwin Williams Co. and has co-founded several entrepreneurial companies. Jennie has served as a board director for Fortune 500NYSE, NASDAQ-traded and privately-held companies. In this capacity, she has served on an Audit Committee, Governance and Nominating Committee, a Strategy and Technology Committee, and a Commercial Lending & Loan Committee. She is an inventor and author of 300+ publications including several internationally-used books (published by McGraw-Hill, European and Japanese publishers).
Her formal education includes the Harvard University Business School Executive Program, Columbia University Business School Governance Program and four academic degrees in both science and engineering - Ph.D., M.A., M.S., B.S in Materials Science & Metallurgical Engineering, Chemistry, Liquid Crystal Science and Physical Chemistry from Columbia University, Kent State University, Cheng-Kung University and Case Western Reserve University.
With extensive global-trotting experience, she is internationally recognized as a longstanding contributor to the electronics manufacturing and green electronics across industries covering aerospace, defense, automotive, medical, consumer, industrial, computer and communication sectors. She has also contributed to renewable energy sector. She has served as an advisor to the Department of Defense, NASA, Department of Commerce and other government programs. In this capacity Dr. Hwang interfaced with U.S. Congressional members on issues of interest including global competitiveness, innovation, science and technology, international trade and relations.
February 2010
Weiner International Associates is pleased to announce the appointment of John T. (Jack) Fisher, America’s leading electronic interconnect Technology Roadmap expert, as a Senior Associate.
Jack’s industrial and association experience adds a new dimension to the services Weiner provides to the PWB, EMS and packaging industries. It will avail clients the ability to evaluate and interpret global technology roadmaps in relationship to their own businesses and apply this knowledge to the development of their own focused paths forward.
Jack became associated with the IPC roadmap in the early 90’s and in 1994, while still with IBM Jack was appointed chairman of the IPC National Technology Roadmap for Electronic Interconnections a position he held until 2010. The IPC roadmap under Jacks direction has published roadmaps in 1995, 1997, and 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 and in 2009. Mr. Fisher was also a member of the iNEMI Technical Committee and is the chairman of the interconnection chapter for the iNEMI technology roadmap that was published in 1996, 1998 and 2000, 2002, 2004 2007 and 2009. Jack is also a member of the Applications and Packaging committee for the semiconductor industries SIA roadmap also called the ITRS or International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. This combination of experience makes Jack one of the few people in the industry that can bridge technology needs between all of the roadmaps and because of his experience; Jack understands the areas of compatibility and conflict between the roadmaps. Jack has developed a network of OEM technology roadmap developers in the U.S., Japan, and Europe and regularly analyzes OEM roadmaps to ensure that new PWB technology is developed ahead of the OEM need.
Mr. Fisher received the IPC’s Chairman of the Board Award in 1996 for his work in advancing PWB interconnect technology, and in 2007 Jack received the interconnect industry’s highest award, election to IPC’s Hall of Fame.
December 2009 was a busy month for Weiner International Associates (WIA).
During the last month of the year WIA completed its relocation from Danbury, Connecticut to Plymouth, Massachusetts.
On December 1, Gene H. Weiner, President of the well known consultancy, attended the fourth quarter Board of Directors meeting of Wong's Kong ing International (Holdings) Ltd in Hong Kong.
On December 3 he presented to the annual joint Hong Kong Printed Circuit Association and IPC conference and exhibition held in Shenzhen, China presented his company’s views of five new technologies and products that would make an impact on the interconnect’s fabrication and assembly industries.
The presentation, “Opportunities Presented by New Technologies and their Commercialization”, included would be such items as nano solder, nano spaces, print electronics, a major development in fabrication process equipment, and real time 3-D testing.
Co-authors of the paper were Executive Associates of Weiner International Associates Dr. Alan Rae, Dr. Jim Hickman and Marc Chason. Contributions to the presentation were also made by Lionel Fullwood of Wong's Kong King Distribution and Orbotech.
On December 9 Weiner was appointed to the Advisory Council of Post University’s MBA program. He and several other new MBA Advisory Board members were hosted by the University Chancellor, Tom Samph, other University officers, The MBA Program Director and key professors at a dinner meeting at the Waterbury Country Club. Several years ago, Weiner actively participated in the formation of, approval, and establishment of the University’s MBA program in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Now, this new rapidly growing award winning program has graduated its first class, and has a current enrollment of 300 students.
Post University (www.postuniversity.com ), founded over 100 years ago as a business school, is now ranked 18th among online education suppliers according to the Online Education Database (OEDb), a national resource for online degree programs.
Looking Ahead
At the start of 2009 we wondered where the world's interconnect industry would go, where the bottom of the global industry recession would be, and who would survive and thrive.
We currentl see active recovery in Asia, especially in China where there is talk of another $1 billion investment for the interconnect industry by Nan Ya. There is some recovery in America and Europe, but the consolidation of PWB fabricators is continuing. However, we now know that much has vanished. Parts are still struggling.
Many of the survivors in America have established manufacturing relationships or purchased operations in China, albeit not all successfully. The interconnect business (and other industries) in China have dropped by more than 40% motivating the government to install a stimulus package equal to more than 6% of its GNP. The recovery there seems to be working well. Yet, there are reported labor shortages in Southeastern China. A new space has been created for companies that offer true PWB supply chain management.
It is now apparent that a number of suppliers to the printed circuit fabrication and design industry, especially on the supply-side, are morphing into a rapidly growing space that embraces similar and related technologies...the manufacture of photovoltaics and their modules. We see the continued development of chemical processes in the U.S. as well as the representation of Chinese equipment and materials suppliers for American (and other) prospects. Thin film PV solar panels have breached the 8% efficiency level. First Solar will put a major PV fabrication plant into the Philippines. Government initiatives in the U.S. may offset some of the hesitancy in moving into this business. It is more likely that we will see major EMS operations add solar module assembly to their range of services rather than solar panel production. The decline in chip manufacture is helping lower the price of silicon for cell manufacture.
New equipment for fabrication test and module building is appearing in Scandinavia as well as Japan and the U.S. - the latter from former PWB equipment makers and designers. The introduction of WKK’s automated solder mask exposure system and Maskless Technology’s high speed direct write primary imaging system are such examples. The former can expose liquid photoimageable solder mask in 5 seconds while the latter can image over 150 panels per hour with a pattern resolving capability of 50 microns. New system entries to the SPI ((3-D solder paste inspection) market will drive prices down.
The quality of Chinese fabrication and assembly equipment has improved beyond mere reverse engineering levels. Some of the better Chinese equipment makers will move to explore American and European markets in 2010 with 2-D AOI inspection, X-ray systems, and other SMT products.
In the final analysis 2010 will set the stage for a rebalance of growth and innovation in the next few years.
Stay tuned and revisit this page for further developing information.
June 29, 2009
Gene Weiner, President and CEO of Gene H. Weiner & Associates, Inc. (www.weiner-intl.com) is pleased to announce that Dr. Alan Rae has joined his consulting network as a Senior Associate. Dr. Rae is a recognized industry expert in multiple spaces of the high technology electronics industry with skills that include general and engineering management, strategic visioning, technology transfers and new technology/business development including ceramics and nanotechnology. Focusing on both technology and business development, his recent experiences include nano metals, carbon nanotubes, printable electronics, antimicrobial systems, and nano solder. Dr. Rae has been involved with the development and commercialization of leading edge technology for over 30 years, including executive management and leadership roles at TAM Ceramics, Cookson Electronics, and NanoDynamics. Dr. Rae has chaired numerous technical committees including Chair of NEMI’s Optoelectonics TIG, Chair of iNEMI’s Research Committee and JISSO’s North America Committee (coordinating international standards organizations). He is the Leader of ISO TC 229 TaskGroup on“Sustainability and Nanotechnology”.
Dr. Rae, holder of several patents and applications has received numerous honors from SMTA, IPC and the Society of Chemical Industry where he was awarded the Saville-Shaw Medal. A frequent publisher and speaker, Dr. Rae received a BS with honors in chemistry from the University of Aberdeen, and a PhD in metallurgy and engineering materials as well as an MBA from the University of Newcastle uponTyne.
Dr. Rae will broaden Weiner's services to help the consultancy’s clients evaluate and seize opportunities in a wide range of leading edge materials and microelectronic processes, including current and future uses of nanotechnology, ceramics, and nano tubes, as well as the materials, processes and possibilities of print electronics.