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Whether in the defense, healthcare, consumer electronics, or communication industries, having a fundamental knowledge of electronic packaging reliability is now crucial in order to develop safe and durable products. In this webinar, the common overstress and wearout failure mechanisms found in electronics will be presented. The failure mechanisms to be discussed include fracture, fatigue, wear, time independent dielectric breakdown, dendrite growth, and more. The discussion of each mechanism will include a description of the failure, the common life models used to predict the failure, and methods to mitigate the failure. The presentation will conclude with a brief look into the next generation of electronics packages and the expected reliability concerns as packages become more advanced.
This presentation is part of a two-lecture mini-series covering electronics reliability failure mechanisms and validation testing. This lecture focusses on developing a fundamental background of electronics failures. The subsequent lecture will focus on developing validation tests based on the fundamental failure mechanisms presented here.
TAKEAWAYS:
- An understanding of the fundamental mechanical and electrical reliability concerns of electronics packages; once an understanding is developed, the mitigation techniques can be more easily conceived.
- A list of the common failure mechanisms in electronics packages and the common life stress models used to describe them.
- A glimpse into the future of electronic packaging and the reliability challenges that are predicted to arise.
Bio: Dr. Nathan Blattau
Dr. Nathan Blattau, Distinguished Engineer at Ansys, has been involved in the simulation and reliability of electronic equipment for over twenty years. Prior to joining Ansys, Dr. Blattau was the Vice President and Chief Scientist of DfR Solutions. He holds two patents and has authored over 20 papers and has presented on a wide variety of reliability issues within the electronics industry. His specialties include best practices in design for reliability, robustness of Pb-free, failure analysis, accelerated test plan development, nonlinear finite element analysis, and solder joint reliability. Dr. Blattau holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland.
We can offer Continuing Education Units (CEU) and Professional Development Hours (PDH), if requested. A small fee may apply for the credits.
Registration Fees:
IEEE Member: $100.00
Non-Members: $120.00
IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) and IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS)
Speaker: Mr. Bryan Knouse, Co-Founder and CEO of OWL Integrations
OWL’s mission is to improve the world’s resilience through connectivity. OWL does this through a unique blend of hardware, firmware, and software. OWL focuses on applications in disaster-resilient communications, carbon emissions sensor networks, and open-source powered aerospace networking platforms. OWL will discuss its low-bandwidth, low-cost, 915mhz LoRa terrestrial and aerospace communications and sensor network technology. OWL will discuss its technology roadmap toward SDR-based solutions, and how its open-source powered electronics will dramatically reduce the cost of distributed networking. To bring this technology to fruition, OWL works alongside academic research partners in Cal Poly University, University of Texas at Dallas, Arizona State University, and others. OWL is seeking to evangelize its approach and collaborative research and development partners as it enters a new stage of business and technological capability.
Bio:
Bryan is a Co-Founder and CEO of OWL Integrations. Bryan has led OWL to international grand prize awards in the IBM Call for Code and US Army’s xTechSearch competitions, and currently leads OWL’s efforts across several US Air Force research and development contracts. Bryan has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester. Bryan is passionate about technology, innovation, private-academic partnerships, and the ongoing shift to American semiconductor manufacturing.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Digital Signal Processing (DSP) for Software Radio
First Video Release and Orientation, Thursday, September 21, 2023, 6:00PM – 6:30PM. Additional videos released weekly in advance of that week’s live session!
Live Workshops: 6:00PM – 7:30PM EST; Thursdays, September 28, October 5, 12, 19, 26
Attendees will have access to the recorded session and exercises for two months (until January 26, 2024) after the live session ends!
IEEE Member Fee: $190.00
Non-Member Fee: $210.00
Decision to run/cancel course: Monday, September 18, 2023
Speaker: Dan Boschen
New Format Combining Live Workshops with Pre-recorded Video
This is a hands-on course providing pre-recorded lectures that students can watch on their own schedule and an unlimited number of times prior to live Q&A/Workshop sessions with the instructor. Ten 1.5 hour videos released 2 per week while the course is in session will be available for up to two months after the conclusion of the course.
Course Summary
This course builds on the IEEE course “DSP for Wireless Communications” also taught by Dan Boschen, further detailing digital signal processing most applicable to practical real-world problems and applications in radio communication systems. Students need not have taken the prior course if they are familiar with fundamental DSP concepts such as the Laplace and Z transform and basic digital filter design principles.
This course brings together core DSP concepts to address signal processing challenges encountered in radios and modems for modern wireless communications. Specific areas covered include carrier and timing recovery, equalization, automatic gain control, and considerations to mitigate the effects of RF and channel distortions such as multipath, phase noise and amplitude/phase offsets.
Dan builds an intuitive understanding of the underlying mathematics through the use of graphics, visual demonstrations, and real-world applications for mixed signal (analog/digital) modern transceivers. This course is applicable to DSP algorithm development with a focus on meeting practical hardware development challenges, rather than a tutorial on implementations with DSP processors.
Now with Jupyter Notebooks!
This long-running IEEE Course has been updated to
include Jupyter Notebooks which incorporates graphics together with Python simulation code to provide a “take-it-with-you” interactive user experience. No knowledge of Python is required but the notebooks will provide a basic framework for proceeding with further signal processing development using that tools for those that have interest in doing so.
This course will not be teaching Python, but using it for demonstration. A more detailed course on Python itself is covered in a separate IEEE Course routinely taught by Dan titled “Python Applications for Digital Design and Signal Processing”.
All set-up information for installation of all tools used will be provided prior to the start of class.
Target Audience:
All engineers involved in or interested in signal processing for wireless communications. Students should have either taken the earlier course “DSP for Wireless Communications” or have been sufficiently exposed to basic signal processing concepts such as Fourier, Laplace, and Z-transforms, Digital filter (FIR/IIR) structures, and representation of complex digital and analog signals in the time and frequency domains. Please contact Dan at boschen@loglin.com if you are uncertain about your background or if you would like more information on the course.
Benefits of Attending/ Goals of Course:
Attendees will gain a strong intuitive understanding of the practical and common signal processing implementations found in modern radio and modem architectures and be able to apply these concepts directly to communications system design.
Topics / Schedule:
Class 1: DSP Review, Radio Architectures, Digital Mapping, Pulse Shaping, Eye Diagrams
Class 2: ADC Receiver, CORDIC Rotator, Digital Down Converters, Numerically Controlled Oscillators
Class 3: Digital Control Loops; Output Power Control, Automatic Gain Control
Class 4: Digital Control Loops; Carrier and Timing Recovery, Sigma Delta Converters
Class 5: RF Signal Impairments, Equalization and Compensation, Linear Feedback Shift Registers
Speaker’s Bio:
Dan Boschen has a MS in Communications and Signal Processing from Northeastern University, with over 25 years of experience in system and hardware design for radio transceivers and modems. He has held various positions at Signal Technologies, MITRE, Airvana and Hittite Microwave designing and developing transceiver hardware from baseband to antenna for wireless communications systems and has taught courses on DSP to international audiences for over 15 years. Dan is a contributor to Signal Processing Stack Exchange https://dsp.stackexchange.com/, and is currently at Microchip (formerly Microsemi and Symmetricom) leading design efforts for advanced frequency and time solutions.
For more background information, please view Dan’s Linked-In page at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/danboschen
IEEE Boston/Providence/New Hampshire Reliability Chapter
Speaker: Alfredo Díaz González of Oxford Instruments America, Inc.
Material properties affect the performance of electronic devices. Material characterization techniques can be used to analyze a wide range of properties. Mainly, we will focus on Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) based techniques that are commonly used to characterize materials. For example, Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS) is used to identify chemistry distribution within a surface while Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) provides information about the grain size, crystal structure and orientation, among others. This presentation will offer an overview of some characterization techniques, discussing how the techniques work and what information can be obtained from them. Some examples of applications will be shared to illustrate how they can solve research problems.
Location: This Meeting is to be delivered in-person at MIT Lincoln Lab Main Cafeteria, 244 Wood St, Lexington, MA 02421, and virtually.
At registration, you must provide a valid e-mail address to receive the Webinar Session link approximately 15 hours before the event. The link will only be sent to the e-mail address entered with your registration. Please double-check for spelling errors. If you haven’t received the e-mail as scheduled, please check your spam folder and alternate e-mail accounts before contacting the host.
Please indicate in the registration survey if you will be attending in person so that we may plan for food and refreshments.
Agenda:
5:30 PM Networking
6:00 PM Technical Presentation
6:45 PM Questions and Answers
7:00 PM Adjournment
The meeting is open to all. You do not need to belong to the IEEE to attend this event; however, we welcome your consideration of IEEE membership as a career enhancing technical affiliation.
There is no cost to register or attend, but registration is required.
News & Announcements!
IEEE Boston Section
SPECIAL NOTICE – CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)
IEEE Boston Section recognized for Excellence in Membership Recruitment Performance

IEEE Boston Section was founded Feb 13, 1903, and serves more than 8,500 members of the IEEE. There are 29 chapters and affinity groups covering topics of interest from Aerospace & Electronic Systems, to Entrepreneur Network to Women in Engineering to Young Professionals. The chapters and affinity groups organize more than 100 meetings a year. In addition to the IEEE organization activities, the Boston Section organizes and sponsors up to seven conferences in any given year, as well as more than 45 short courses. The Boston Section publishes a bi-weekly newsletter and, currently, a monthly Digital Reflector newspaper included in IEEE membership.
The IEEE Boston Section also offers social programs such as the section annual meeting, Milestone events, and other non-technical professional activities to round out the local events. The Section also hosts one of the largest and longest running entrepreneurial support groups in IEEE.
More than 150 volunteers help create and coordinate events throughout the year.