During the lockdown in spring 2020, the FED Stuttgart regional group came up with the idea of using webinars to bridge the time without in-person events. With ten individual events already held, the 'short & sweet' webinar series has since become important for communication in the industry.
The team behind the seminars consists of Michael Matthes, regional group leader of the FED Stuttgart regional group, and his deputy Roland Schönholz. They not only organize - with the support of Yili Zhao from FED Event Management in Berlin - but also act as moderators. With the webinars, the Stuttgart regional group aims to:
- the continuous maintenance of the network in times of Corona
- providing members with brief, up-to-date information
- involving members in joint activities
- reducing the distance through online sessions
- increasing the number of participants and speakers
The 'short & sweet' webinars are held as GoToWebinars with participants muted during the speakers' presentations, which last a maximum of half an hour. There is a question function (chat option) for the participants. There is no bilateral video transmission, but there is a video recording. Participant questions will be answered at the end. There will also be information about upcoming events.
The variety of topics is comprehensive and covers practically all aspects of design. The response is correspondingly good, which is also due to the speakers. The first webinar (part 1) in the series was held back in April 2020. Since then, with the exception of the summer and Christmas break, there has been a webinar approximately every four weeks.
Connecting the EDA world with the mechanical world - for reliability assessment in just a few clicks Source:CADFEM GmbH&ANSYS, Inc.
The previous online webinars of the FED Regional Group Stuttgart were:
Part 1: Strategic Obsolescence Management in the Prototyping Process by Jens Arnold, Managing Director of beflex electronic GmbH, Frickenhausen.
Part 2: UL 746 + IPC 4101E - What's new? by Roland Schönholz, Technical Marketing, Technolam GmbH, Troisdorf, whereby tip laminates and prepregs tailored to each requirement were presented
Part 3: Overview of solder resist masks in digital additive technology through to functional 3D surfaces by Jürgen Wolf, Head of Advanced Solution Center, Würth Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG, Niedernhall
Part 4: Solutions for quality assurance and long-term storage of components in times of allocation by Holger Krumme, Managing Director Technical Operations, HTV Halbleiter-Test & Vertriebs-GmbH, Bensheim
Part 5: Detection of microvias with suboptimal ground connection by Dr. David Kurzmanowski, Würth Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG, Schopfheim, with a focus on reliability
Part 6: Reliability considerations for PCBA - Design for Reliability by Ronald Weber, Business Development Manager Electronics at CADFEM GmbH, Grafing, and Frank Weiand, Business Development Manager Electronics at CADFEM GmbH, Dortmund
Part 7: Design for Manufacturing (DFM) - Checks by Holger Schröter, FlowCAD GmbH, Feldkirchen
Part 8: NanoWiring, KlettWelding, KlettSintering, KlettGlueing by Olav Birlem, Managing Director of NanoWired GmbH, Gernsheim
Part 9: High-precision stencil printing in the future by Michael Zahn, Global Business Development Manager at Christian Koenen GmbH
Part 10: Brief presentation of the 'PCB Design Award 2020 winners' projects - what was so extraordinary? The two winners of the Design Award present their solutions.
Eagle V30 - module in cent format Source: CiBOARD electronic
Georg Scheuermann, TQ-Systems GmbH, winner in the 'High wiring density, high transmission rates, HDI' category, had to organize fast signal rise times with optimum heat management and cooling in his TQMLX2160A design. The layer structure had to combine impedance control with the simultaneous conduction of high currents. Due to the requirements for 25 GBit signals, the vias could not be stubs. How this was solved and why Megtron 6 was chosen as the material was explained.
Thomas Blasko, CiBOARD electronic GmbH, winner in the '3D/Installation Space' category, explained the Eagle V30 design, where the biggest challenge was the special geometry of the PCB and the available 3D installation space. A suitable layer stack for rigid-flex and high via density had to be found for this, on which impedance-controlled signals up to 1.25 Gbps and relatively high currents could be routed via narrow flex areas.
The FED Stuttgart Regional Group will continue the 'short & sweet' webinar series from February 2021. Other FED regional groups are now also offering online events, albeit less regularly and more sporadically. Examples of this are:
- The FED Hamburg regional group's webinar on 'Qualified rework processes - from requirement to secure and documented process' by Helge Schimanski, Fraunhofer ISIT, Itzehoe
- The virtual meeting of the FED Regional Group Düsseldorf with two presentations on 'Optimized layer stacks and via strategies for high-speed designs' by Hubert Kesternich, Aptiv Services Deutschland GmbH, Düsseldorf, and on 'Funding opportunities and grants for R&D, an overview' by Sophia Bäppler and Dr. Katja Hein, Jöckel Innovation Consulting, Darmstadt
- The online presentation of the FED regional groups Jena and Dresden on the topic: 'Optimized layer stacks and via strategies for high-speed designs' by Hubert Kesternich - Aptiv Services Deutschland GmbH, Düsseldorf
With no end to the pandemic in sight any time soon, online events are likely to remain the solution for communicating news in the industry for some time to come. Due to their favorable structure (short duration and one special topic each) as well as the variety of topics and regularity, the 'short & crisp' webinars are much more than a Corona-related emergency solution - they are exemplary.
