SMTA International 2010 Draws a Crowd to Orlando

Orlando, FL - A sunny climate of positive economic recovery for the electronics industry was quite evident at this year's SMTA International 2010 Conference and Exhibition which was held October 24-28 at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort. JoAnn Stromberg, SMTA Administrator, reported a 20% increase in registrations compared to past years.

As the Keynote Speaker this year, Tom Sharpe of SMT Corporation, presented a slide show of photos he took on a recent trip that documented the practices of counterfeiters in China. It served as a wake-up call to the alarming growth of counterfeit electronic components entering the worldwide supply chain.

The Technical Advisory Committee led by Rob Rowland of RadiSys Corporation came through with an outstanding technical program that lived up to this year's theme, "Discover the Difference of a Totally Focused Event." The program consisted of two days of 20 Tutorials taught by leading industry experts, followed by two days of 35 Technical Sessions organized in 6 tracks: Manufacturing and Assembly, Advanced Packaging and Analysis, Substrates, Soldering, Quality and Reliability, and Contract Manufacturing/Business Issues.

The event also included another 11 free Technical Sessions that were open to all attendees. They covered such topics as Reducing Manufacturing Variation, BGA Reballing, Selective Soldering, and the iNEMI Roadmap. The session on Printed Electronics was the most popular session in the Evolving Technologies Summit. On the final day the Lead-Free Symposium continued to be a big draw as it has in the past. The AIMS Harsh Environment Symposium, added this year, addressed the challenges of meeting expanding temperature ranges with increased vibration, higher package density and longer reliability.

Over 120 exhibiting companies filled the sold-out exhibit hall - a more than 30% increase over last year. The well-attended show floor maintained steady traffic throughout the event. Nordson DAGE's Hal Hendrickson, SMTAI Exhibitor Committee Chair, said, "SMTAI was a good show with good attendance and attendees who stopped in our booth represented a wide demographic range. The extra efforts made this year to drive attendees from the conference to the show floor were exemplary and proved to work very well. SMTA puts on an outstanding conference and the expo matched that quality. We are looking forward to Fort Worth in 2011."

The 2011 SMTAI Conference and Exhibition will be held at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, TX on October 16-20, 2011

Exhibit Hall at SMTA International 2010

Exhibit Hall at SMTA International 2010