October 25 - 29, 2026
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center
Rosemont, Illinois, USA
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About the Awards
The SMTA International Technical Conference Awards recognize exceptional technical papers that advance the field of electronics manufacturing. Each year, submitted conference papers are evaluated for technical depth, practical relevance, and overall contribution to the industry.
Award recipients are selected by members of the conference Technical Committee and honored during SMTA International.
Best of Proceedings Award
"The Effect of Dwell Time on Thermal Cycling Performance of High Reliability Solder Alloys With a 55/125 °C Test Profile"
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Richard Coyle, Ph.D.
Nokia Bell Labs
"Sintering Cu Paste as Via Filling Materials for Through Glass Via (TGV)"
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Yoshinori Ejiri
Resonac
"The Relationship between Solder Joint Voiding and Reliability: A Review"
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David Hillman
Hillman EAS LLC
Honorable Mention
"Innovative Material Reinforcement Strategies for Advanced Packaging Solutions in Automotive Electronics"
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Anna Lifton
MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions
"Reliability of Additive In-Mold Electronics under Grade-3 Automotive Thermal Cycling and Sustained High Temperature"
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Pradeep Lall, Ph.D.
Auburn University
"Electromigration in Sn-Bi and SAC305- Like Solder Alloys"
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PJ Singh, Ph.D.
PJ Consulting
Best Practical and Applications Based Knowledge Award
"The Future of Electronics Packaging Is Chiplet Architecture"
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Charles Woychik, Ph.D.
NHanced Semiconductors
"Progression of AI Agents vs Human Experts: Analysis of Pick and Place Material Downtime Data for Proper Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and Guided Actions"
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Andrew Scheuermann, Ph.D.
Arch Systems
"Using the Pb-Free Solder Reflow Process as a Tin Whisker Risk Mitigation Protocol: A Statistical Assessment"
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David Hillman
Hillman EAS LLC
Honorable Mention
"Sinusoidal Vibration Testing of High-Reliability Mixed BGA Solder Joints"
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Jayse McLean
John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group
"Mitigating Solder Joint Defects Caused by the Warpage of BGA Assembly with Lower Temperature Soldering Phase II: Processing Optimization"
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Hongwen Zhang, Ph.D.
Indium Corporation
"Powder Influence in Lead Free Solder Pastes’ Rheological Behavior for Use in Jet Printing"
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Mathilde Buret
Inventec Performance Chemicals
Past Conference Award Winners
2024 Best of Proceedings Award​
"A Comparison of Thermal Cycling and Thermal Shock for Evaluating Solder Joint Reliability"
Richard Coyle, Ph.D., Nokia Bell Labs
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"Potted Assembly Interfacial Reliability and Predictive Models Under Inclined 25000g Mechanical Shock"
Pradeep Lall, Ph.D., Auburn University
(Co-authors include Aathi Pandurangan, Padmanava Choudhury, Ken Blecker, Auburn University)
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"A New Efficient and Easy-to-Use Thermomechanical Reliability Model for Lead-Free Solder Joints"
Jean-Baptiste Libot, Ph.D., Hooke Electronics
(Co-authors include Philippe Milesi, Hooke Electronics)
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Honorable Mention​
"Panel Level Package (PLP) – Scaling up Fan-Out Packaging"
Burton Carpenter, NXP Semiconductors
(Co-authors include Mollie Flick, KH Mao, Cliff Kuo, Vanessa Tan, NXP Semiconductors)
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"Thermal Shock Testing of High-Reliability Mixed BGA Solder Joints"
Jayse McLean, John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group
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"Thermal Cycling Hybrid, Homogeneous, and Resin Reinforced Low Temperature Solder Ball Grid Array Interconnects at a High Homologous Temperature"
​Richard Coyle, Ph.D., Nokia Bell Labs
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2024 Best Practical and Applications Based Knowledge Award​
"Additive Manufactured Electronics for Next Generation Microelectronics"
Kenneth Church, NScrypt, Inc.​
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Honorable Mention​
"Sensors and Process-Performance Interactions for Additive In-Mold Electronics in Automotive Applications"
Pradeep Lall, Ph.D., Auburn University
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"Exploring Thermocouple Attachment Techniques for PCB Thermal Profiling"
Miles Moreau, KIC
​(Co-authors include Chrys Shea, Shea Engineering; Martin Anselm, Ph.D., Rochester Institute of Technology)
2023 Best of Proceedings Award​
"A Collaborative Consortia Project to Assess the Effect of Thermal Cycling Dwell Time on the Reliability of High-Performance Solder Alloys"
Richard Coyle, Ph.D., Nokia Bell Labs
(The work was a joint effort by a large group of co-authors as part of an iNEMI & HDPUG project)
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Honorable Mention​
"A Path to Ductile Low Temperature Solders for Mass production of Electronic Assemblies"
Keith Sweatman, P.E., Nihon Superior
(Co-authors include Xin Fu Tan, Qichao Hao, Stuart D. McDonald, Michael Bermingham, Kazuhiro Nogita, The University of Queensland; Qinfen Gu, ANSTO; and Tetsuro Nishimura, Nihon Superior)
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"Comparison of Electromigration in Tin-Bismuth Planar and Bottom Terminated Component Solder Joints"
Prabjit Singh, Ph.D., IBM Corporation
(The work was a joint effort by a large group of co-authors as part of an iNEMI project)​​
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2023 Best Practical and Applications Based Knowledge Award​
"Managing Thermomechanical Behaviour in Automotive Electronics"
Maurice Dore, Valeo​
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Honorable Mention​
"Intermetallic Compounds in Solder Alloys: Common Misconceptions"
David Hillman, Hillman Electronic Assembly Solutions
(Co-authors include Tim Pearson, Collins Aerospace; and Richard Coyle, Ph.D., Nokia Bell Labs)
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"Performance Comparison of Contemporary Stencil Coatings and Under Wipe Solvents on 0.4mm BGA Packages"
Chrys Shea, Shea Engineering Services
(Co-authors include Debbie Carboni, KYZEN Corporation; and John Hanerhoff, Garmin International)
2022 Best of Proceedings Award​
“Assembly and Reliability of a Novel High Density Dual Row MaxQFP"
Andrew Mawer, NXP Semiconductors
(Co-authors include Mollie Benson, X.S. Pang, Stephen Lee, J.Z. Yao, Alvin Youngblood, NXP Semiconductors)
"Effect of Strain Rate on the Ductility of Bismuth-Containing Solders"
Keith Sweatman, Nihon Superior Co., Ltd.
(Co-authors include Tetsuro Nishimura, Nihon Superior Co., Ltd.; Stuart McDonald, Xiaozhou Ye, Qichao Hao, Beatrice Negura, Xin Fu Tan, Kazuhiro Nogita, The University of Queensland)
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“Thermal Fatigue of QFN and Chip Resistor Solder Joints Assembled with SnPb, SAC305, and SnBi Solders"
Richard Coyle, Ph.D., Nokia Bell Labs
(Co-authors include Faramarz Hadian, Eric Cotts, Binghamton University; Xinzhi Feng, Martin Anselm, Ph.D., Rochester Institute of Technology; Richard Popowich, Nokia; Lenora Clark, ESI Automotive)
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“Thermal Fatigue Reliability of a 1206 Chip Resistor with High-Performance Pb-Free Solder Alloys"
Tim Pearson, Collins Aerospace
(The work was a joint effort by a group of co-authors as part of the iNEMI Alternative Alloys Program and the High Density Package (HDP) User Group)
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Honorable Mention​
“A Review of the Impact of Dopants in Sn-Bi Solder Alloys"
Aileen Allen, HP Inc.
(Co-authors include Helen Holder, Elizabeth Benedetto, HP Inc.)
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“Predicting the Saturation of Solder Joint Cycles to Failure with Thermal Cycling Dwell Times"
Jean-Paul Clech, EPSI Inc.
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“Low Melting Temperature Solder Interconnect Thermal Cycling Performance Enhancement using Elemental Tuning"
Tae-Kyu Lee, Ph.D., Cisco Systems
(Co-authors include Kendra Young, Portland State University; Nilesh Badwe, Raiyo Aspandiar, Satyajit Walwadkar, Intel Corporation; Young-Woo Lee, Hui-Joong Kim, Junk-Tak Moon, MK Electron Co., Ltd.)
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“Functional System Observations of Tin-Bismuth Low Temperature Solder Electromigration Behavior"
Kevin Byrd, Intel Corporation
(Co-authors include Brian Franco, Intel Corporation)
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"Improved Thermal Fatigue Reliability of SAC305 due to Mixed Metallurgy Assembly with a High-Performance Bi-Bearing Solder Paste"
Richard Coyle, Ph.D., Nokia Bell Labs
(Co-authors: Larry Mercanti, John Davignon and Robert Smith, High Density Packaging User Group Project)
2021 Best of Proceedings Award​
"The Effect of Peak Reflow Temperature on Thermal Cycling Performance and Failure Mode of Hybrid Low Temperature Solder Joints"
Richard Coyle, Ph.D. Nokia Bell Labs
(Co-authors: Martin Anselm, Faramarz Hadian, Sahana Kempaiah, Anto Raj, Richard Popowich, Lenora Clark, Jason Fullerton, Charmaine Johnson)
"Solder Ball Drift Behavior of Hybrid SnAgCu/LTS Solder Interconnects in Accelerated Thermal Cycling"
Luke Wentlent, Universal Instruments Corporation
(Co-authors: James Wilcox, Michael Meilunas, Universal Instruments Corporation)
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"Interim Thermal Cycling Report on Hybrid and Homogeneous LTS Solder Joints"
Richard Coyle, Ph.D., Nokia Bell Labs
(Co-Authors: Members of the iNEMI LTSPR Project Team)
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Honorable Mention​
"A Modified Coffin-Manson Methodology for Predicting Solder Joint Life in Eutectic Tin-Lead and Lead-Free Assemblies"
Jean-Paul Clech, EPSI Inc.
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"Hybrid Assembly and Reliability of Conventional Pb-Free BGAs Using Low Temperature Solder Paste for Temperature Sensitive IC Applications"
Andrew Mawer, NXP Semiconductors Inc.
(Co-authors: Mollie Benson, A R Nazmus Sakib, Nihaar Mahatme, Anirban Roy, Paul Ngan, Catherine Pronga)
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“Mechanical Shock Testing And Failure Analysis On Mixed SnAgCu-BiSn And Full Stack BiSn Solder Joints Of CABGA192 Components"
Jagadeesh Radhakrishnan, Intel Corporation
(Co-authors: Members of the iNEMI LTSPR Project Team)
2020 Best of Proceedings Award​
"Enhancing Thermal Fatigue Reliability of Pb-Free Solder Alloys with Additions of Bismuth and Antimony"
Richard Coyle, Ph.D. Nokia Bell Labs
(Co-authors: Charmaine Johnson, Dave Hillman, and Tim Pearson, Collins Aerospace; Michael Osterman, CALCE; Joe Smetana, Nokia; Keith Howell, Nihon Superior Co., Ltd.; Hongwen Zhang and Ji Geng, Indium Corp.; Julie Silk, Keysight Technologies; Derek Daily, Senju Comtek Corp.; Babak Arfaei, SUNY-Binghamton; Ranjit Pandher, Alpha Technologies; Andre Delhaise, Celestica; Stuart Longgood, Delphi Technologies; Andre Kleyner, Aptiv)
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Honorable Mention​
"Miniaturized Stacked Die QFN for Tire Pressure Monitoring System Applications"
Andrew Mawer, NXP Semiconductors
(Co-authors: Mollie Benson, Dwight Daniels, A R Nazmus Sakib, and Vishrudh Sriramprasad, NXP Semiconductors N.V.)
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"CBGA and CCGA Field Reliability Predictions Confirmed"
Jennifer Bennet, P.E., IBM Corporation
(Co-authors: Jim Bielick, Marie Cole, IBM Corporation)
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"Advanced SIR Testing for Trapped Solder Paste Flux Residue"
Karen Tellefsen, Ph.D. MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions
(Co-authors: Aurkie Ray, Anna Lifton and Paul Salerno, MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions)
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"Behaviour and Strengthening Effects of Sb in a Low-Bi Sn-Cu Solder Alloy"
Keith Sweatman, Ph.D. Nihon Superior Company
(Co-authors: Tetsuro Nishimur, Nihon Superior Co., Ltd.; Sergey A. Belyakov and Christopher M. Gourlay, Imperial College London)
Please contact SMTA Headquarters for a full listing of previous conference award winners prior to 2020.