iNEMI Previews Highlights of 2007 Roadmap at IPC Printed Circuits Expo, APEX and Designers Summit.

Forum on lead-free processes and summit on reliability are also planned

HERNDON, Va. -- The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI), an industry-led consortium, will preview highlights of its 2007 Roadmap at the upcoming IPC Printed Circuits Expo, APEX and Designers Summit in Los Angeles, Calif. The iNEMI Roadmap will be featured in a conference keynote session at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 22.

The 2007 Roadmap will not be released to industry until after March 5, but this keynote session will provide a "sneak peek" at some of the key highlights and trends identified by the roadmap. It will also take a look at some of the details from the newest chapter -- Organic & Printed Electronics Technology.

Development of this latest edition of the iNEMI Roadmap involved more people from more countries than any roadmap to date. In 2004, iNEMI began proactively recruiting global participation in the roadmapping process. For the 2007 Roadmap, iNEMI broadened international input by holding a series of regional workshops to review work in progress and solicit input. In addition to the usual North American workshop, iNEMI also hosted meetings in Germany and China. The result is a much more global perspective than any previous roadmap.

Additional Meetings Scheduled

iNEMI has also scheduled additional forums and meetings, to be held as part of, or in conjunction with, the conference. The Optimizing Lead-Free Processes Forum (Tuesday, February 20, 1:30 -3:00 p.m.) will review some of iNEMI's Pb-free projects that focus on Pb-free processes in areas such as wave soldering, rework and mixed soldering. This session is one of the conference's free forums.

iNEMI is a co-sponsor of IPC's Reliability Summit: Keeping Industry Reliability Test Protocols Current with Rapidly Changing Markets (Friday, February 23, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.). This free one-day session will discuss current industry initiatives to standardize reliability testing, the challenges of keeping pace with new technologies and new markets, and plans for a path forward. This summit is organized in cooperation with the Government Electronics and Information Technology Association (GEIA), HDPUG and JEDEC.

Several iNEMI Technology Integration Groups (TIGs) will hold "gap analysis" meetings at the Printed Circuits Expo, APEX and Designers Summit. These meetings are the first step in mining roadmap results to develop the 2007 iNEMI Technical Plan and Research Priorities. Each roadmap chapter includes a list of gaps that are categorized and prioritized by iNEMI's TIGs and Technical Committee. These gap analysis meetings will be used to discuss and prioritize gaps, outline technical plans and identify potential projects. The TIG meetings are as follows:

* Heat Transfer -- Wednesday, February 21, 9:00 a.m.-noon

* Optoelectronics -- Wednesday, February 21, 1:00-4:00 p.m.

* Environmentally Conscious Electronics TIG -- Wednesday, February 21, 1:00-4:00 p.m.

* Board Assembly and Substrates TIGs (including discussion of test) -- Thursday, February 22, 8:00 a.m.-noon

For the latest information about iNEMI activities at IPC Printed Circuits Expo, APEX and Designers Summit, go to: http://www.inemi.org/cms/calendar/APEX07.html

About the iNEMI Roadmap

Since 1994, iNEMI has mapped the future manufacturing technology needs of the global electronics industry in an effort to identify key technology and infrastructure developments needed to ensure the competitiveness of the supply chain over the next decade. The iNEMI roadmap has become recognized as an important tool for defining the "state of the art" in the electronics industry as well as identifying emerging and disruptive technologies. It also helps sets priorities for research and development over the next 10 years, and is used by industry as well as by government funding agencies and university-based research programs.

For additional information about the 2007 iNEMI Roadmap (including ordering information), go to: http://www.inemi.org/cms/roadmapping/2007_iNEMI_Roadmap.html

About IPC

IPC (http://www.ipc.org) is a global trade association based in Bannockburn, Ill., dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its 2,400 member companies which represent all facets of the electronics interconnect industry, including design, printed circuit board manufacturing and electronics assembly. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of an estimated $1.5 trillion global electronics industry. IPC maintains additional offices in Taos, N.M.; Arlington, Va.; Garden Grove, Calif.; Stockholm, Sweden; and Shanghai, China.

About iNEMI

The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative's mission is to identify and close technology gaps, which includes the development and integration of the electronics industry supply infrastructure. Based in Herndon, Va., this industry-led consortium is made up of approximately 70 manufacturers, suppliers, industry associations and consortia, government agencies and universities. iNEMI roadmaps the needs of the electronics industry, identifies gaps in the technology infrastructure, establishes implementation projects to eliminate these gaps (both business and technical), and stimulates standards activities to speed the introduction of new technologies. The consortium also works with government agencies, universities and other funding agencies to set priorities for future industry needs and R&D initiatives. For additional information about iNEMI, visit http://www.iNEMI.org.

We are currently scheduling onsite press briefings at the conference. Please email Cynthia if you would like to schedule a meeting.