Industrial partners support advanced electronics laboratory

Atlanta, GA--The Georgia Institute of Technology's Manufacturing Research Center and Packaging Research Center officially dedicated three cutting-edge electronics facilities on October 23 that will provide one of the most comprehensive module and board assembly facilities at an academic institution.

Electronics industry leaders, state officials, and re-searchers got a first-hand look at the three new facilities--the Center for Board Assembly Research Laboratory, the Next Generation Substrate Laboratory, and the Next Generation Module Laboratory--during a luncheon and laboratory tour on Georgia Tech's campus in downtown Atlanta.

In total, the laboratories represent a three-year, $30 million investment by the Georgia Research Alliance, Georgia Tech, the State of Georgia, the National Science Foundation, and many industrial partners, including, the Cookson Group, Motorola, Ford, and Siemens. The new facilities will allow students and professional engineers to conduct research in the next generation of semiconductor packaging and printed wiring board assembly.

The Electronics Assembly Business Unit of Siemens Energy & Automation (Norcross, GA) donated more than $1 million in assembly equipment for an advanced SMT (surface mount technology) manufacturing line.

The three labs are housed in Georgia Tech's Manufacturing Research Center. The Next Generation Substrate Laboratory--a $20 million, 5,000 sq-ft, class-1,000 cleanroom facility--is used for undergraduate, graduate, and industry engineer education, as well as for process research of next- generation, high-performance, low-cost electronic packages. The $5.6 million, 5,000 sq-ft Next Generation Module Laboratory provides a Class-10,000 cleanroom environment where substrates can be assembled and electrically tested as a complete system-level board or module.

The Center for Board As-sembly Research Laboratory has more than $3 million of industry-provided equipment and software to establish a state-of-the-art printed wiring board SMT assembly line.