6/2/06 Contact: Cheryl Cobb, 334/844-2220 (cobbcher@auburn.edu)
David M. Granger, 334/844-9999 (grangdm@auburn.edu)

AU PROFESSOR JOHNSON RECEIVES $349,000 CONTRACT FROM CONCURRENT TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

AUBURN - R. Wayne Johnson, professor in the Auburn University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has received a $349,000, one-year contract from Concurrent Technologies Corporation for advanced electronics manufacturing research. Johnson will provide technical support in electronics manufacturing of advanced information systems, as well as conduct research in the backwards compatibility of lead-free electronic components used in tin-lead solder assembly.

Traditionally, tin-lead solder has been used to assemble electronics products. However, spurred by legislation in the European Union which bans the use of lead in many electronic products sold in Europe after July 1, 2006, much of the world-wide electronics component industry has switched to lead-free solder and component surface finishes. The primary driver for the ban on the use of lead in electronics assemblies is the proliferation of cell phones, computers, PDAs and other consumer electronics which end up in landfills after only one to three years of use. Although the European legislation exempted high-performance information technology products from the lead ban, the electronics component industry, which is dominated by consumer electronics, has already gone lead-free. As a result, many of the components now used in building high-performance systems are lead-free, although they are assembled with conventional tin-lead solder. There is a growing concern over the reliability of these systems, many of which must last for decades. Johnson’s research will seek to address these concerns.

According to Johnson, this program “builds on the electronics manufacturing expertise in the Laboratory for Electronics Assembly and Packaging at Auburn University and puts Auburn at the forefront of research in electronics manufacturing for complex information technology products.”

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